Computer Engineering @ Boston University · QuestBridge Scholar
I grew up in Huachinango, Puebla, as a little boy with big questions and no clear path for where technology, design, or college could take me. That journey carried me from Mexico to Miami and eventually to Boston, where I became a QuestBridge Scholar and now study Computer Engineering at Boston University.
Today, I'm a Creative Design Intern at Todd and a fellow at OpenTrade (YC S26).
I'm a first-generation, low-income builder who works at the intersection of product design, UI/UX, front-end engineering, design engineering, and growth. I've shipped production React/TypeScript work at State Farm, helped build an AI learning platform as a founding engineer at Sapling, and co-founded From Campus to Career, a bilingual platform that helps first-gen students find opportunities. I've also built neural-symbolic AI through Break Through Tech AI with MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and researched soft robotics, electronics, and hardware at BU.
Outside of internships and classes, I create. I've grown a community of 25K+ across LinkedIn and Instagram by sharing opportunities, honest career lessons, and the things I wish someone had explained to me sooner. I've supported 5,000+ students through conversations and resources, and I started the Cruzing Forward Scholarship because I know how much one opportunity can change a life.
I also serve as an Adobe Student Ambassador, a ColorStack Fellow, and VP of External Affairs for SHPE at BU. The mission is the same across all of it: make complex systems easier to understand and make opportunity easier to reach.
I love creative writing, visual design, chess, table tennis, baking, painting, K-dramas, Haikyu!!, riverside walks, and Snoopy. I'm bilingual in English and Spanish, and I carry Huachinango, Miami, and Boston with me into everything I make.
I'm still becoming, still building, and still telling stories. Stories are for the late hours of the night, when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased and nothing is left to remember except the story.
Four open-source projects built on one idea: the best opportunities don't live on job boards. They live in insider networks and word of mouth. These projects make them public.
Internships, programs, and resources for freshmen and sophomores. Many companies run early-career programs that require no prior experience. This is the curated list of them, in one place.
Your HQ for every hackathon worth joining: a community-driven list of open and upcoming hackathons, updated automatically. Live at hacking-hq.com.
Conferences undergrads can actually attend: free, scholarship-funded, or student-priced, across every major, not just tech.
The bilingual opportunity platform I co-founded for first-generation students. Live at fromcampuscareer.com.
I'm always happy to connect with people who build with heart. The fastest way to reach me is to book a time:
- Book a chat: calendly.com/josec-bu/personal-meeting-room
- Email: josec@bu.edu
- Substack: @jcpuffybear
- Instagram: @jobse.cz
- GitHub: Jose-Gael-Cruz-Lopez