Ricky Tran

Q. Tell me about yourself!

Hi I'm Ricky! I'm a 4th year Computer Science student at York University, currently interning as a Software Engineer at RBC. I previously worked at TD as a "Quality Engineer Intern" and a small startup called MyRide901 as a Software Engineer Intern.

On my spare time I like to play video games, read comics, and tinker with my new 3D printer! I can't say no to a game of chess and I also enjoy going to the gym and working out, but I don't do it as often as I should (I'm working on it).

My end goal is a little hard to describe, but I'd like to be a reliable software engineer with all the skills and good habits I imagined when I first started computer science.

Q. What made you choose to go to York?

BSc Hons. Computer Science at York University

Sep 2021 - Present

Honestly, it was between going to York or going to TMU for Computer Science. I chose York because I heard that the Computer Science program was better than TMU's (still not sure if this is true) and I was really inspired by Christopher Nguyen's story.

I pretty much knew I wanted to do Computer Science since I was in high school. I really liked my computer science classes and I thought software engineers were all cracked experts who just somehow knew everything— and I wanted to be like that too.

The only thing that bummed me out when I started university was that everything was online because of the pandemic, so I didn't get to meet any of my classmates or professors in person until second year. All the hackathons I wanted to go to were all online too. Regardless, I did meet some really cool people later down the road that I'm still friends with to this day (hey Gurpreet, hey Bryan lol).

Q. Do you have any work experience?

Software Engineer Intern at MyRide901

Markham, ON - 3 Months

This was my first internship and I can't even describe how lucky I was. After 500+ applications (including some to U.S. roles—so the number's a little bit inflated) and with June right around the corner, I thought it was time to give up. But then I got an email from the co-op program saying that a small startup was looking for last-minute interns. I applied, got an interview, and got the job! I got to wear a lot of hats, so I was doing everything from frontend work, writing some scripts for data reporting, and some backend work. Although it was a short internship, I learned a lot about what software engineers actually do and a little bit about how startups worked.

Machine Learning Intern at TD Bank

Toronto, ON - 4 Months

Lady luck smiled on me once again and I somehow landed an internship at TD Bank for Winter 2023. On paper, I was a "Quality Engineer Intern" but oddly enough, I spent the entire 4 months building and testing machine learning models. I ended up learning a lot about machine learning, a little bit about the AI/ML industry, and even got to present my work to a bunch of different teams to have it adopted across the department. I also met a lot of really cool people along the way (hey Isaac, sup Pravin). Overall, I really enjoyed my time at TD and I felt like it took me a solid step forward in becoming a good engineer.

Software Engineer Intern at RBC

Toronto, ON - 12 Months

My most unexpected surprise was getting an internship at RBC for Fall 2024. I applied to some postings thinking, "there's no way RBC would hire me." Well, an OA and short interview later, I got the job! I was really excited to work at RBC because of all the great things I kept hearing about the mentorship, culture, and work. It was a little daunting to hear that I'd be staying for a full year— but looking back, it was one of the best decisions I've made. Working for 12-months has also been great since its allowed me to really invest myself into a big project and "own it" in a way. I'm now the go-to wizard for it lol. All of the support and mentorship I've received along the way has been honestly insane and I feel like I've learned so much in such a short time. If I could go back in time and pick my first co-op, RBC would be my first choice.

Little tidbit: One of my highlights so far was accidentally becoming a co-op representative for RBC at UoftHacks lol.

Q. What projects have you made?

2021 - 2D Alien Splash Game

My very first project starting university was a 2D-platformer game I made using Python and Pygame. It's kind of like Space Wars but simpler and played horizontally. I thought about becoming a game developer at first and decided to make a game to test out the waters and see if it was a good fit for me or not. I learned two things: I don't like game development and I suck at making game art...

2022 - Grade Report Discord Bot

I don't know what possessed me to take 6 courses at once starting university, but I did and I needed a way to keep track of all my grades, how much I needed on my finals to pass, and somewhere I could set reminders for my assignments. I ended up making a Discord bot for all of that and this was the first time I noticed how much value I could bring writing code. I originally made the project for myself, but I ended up sharing it with some friends and they loved it. I plan on revisiting this project later and improving it.

2023 - Hack the North

My first in-person hackathon! Sleep-deprivation has never hit any harder than my time at Hack the North, but it was probably the best hackathon I've been to so far. I got to see a lot of amazing projects that I didn't even know was possible to make under 36 hours and I got to hang out with some really cool people throughout the event. My team and I ended up re-creating Nintendo's DS Pictochat, but with a twist—combining geocaching and chat features so users could leave behind or discover messages and drawings in real-world locations, all through a browser-based experience. Although we didn't win any prizes, it is still one of the most memorable weekends I've ever had and honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better experience.

Unofficial 3D Printing Guide

I recently got into 3D printing and thought I'd make a guide for anybody who's interested in joining the hobby as well! This covers the different printers to choose from when you're starting out, the filaments you'll need to print with, safety steps, troubleshooting, and more. I plan to add more features to this to allow users to search through common printer issues and resolutions, adding local storage for a better user experience, and more not only to support the community, but to also get as many people into 3D printing as possible.