About Me

Hi! I'm Harry Yu, a Computer Science student at Brandeis with ADHD who gets hyperfocused on way too many projects at once. Currently juggling a startup internship, running a translation operation, building AI systems, and somehow still finding time to 3D print random stuff.

The ADHD Journey

My brain works in bursts of intense curiosity followed by "oh wait, what was I doing?" moments. Computer Science at Brandeis (graduated!) has been perfect for this – there's always a new algorithm to obsess over, a system to break and rebuild, or a completely unrelated tangent that somehow becomes my new favorite thing.

The beauty of ADHD in tech? When something clicks, I'll hyperfocus for 14 hours straight and emerge with a working prototype. The challenge? Remembering to eat, sleep, and not start three new projects before finishing the first one. (Spoiler: I usually start the three new projects anyway.)

How I Channel ADHD at Work

Software Engineer Intern - REON Technology Inc.

June 2023 - 2024 | Chelmsford, MA

Perfect startup environment for ADHD brain! One day I'm deep in Docker containers, next I'm analyzing battery data, then suddenly I'm doing woodwork because "software engineer" at a startup means "whatever needs fixing."

  • Built Battery Management Systems
  • Created bash scripts for data processing (automation = fewer manual tasks to forget)
  • Raspberry Pi integration (hardware + software = dopamine hit)
  • Made safety videos (learned video editing wasn't just for YouTube)

Channel Operator & Translator - Bilibili

November 2020 - Present | Online

What started as "I'll just ask this dude to translate this one video" became managing 7 people and 164 videos with 180M views. Classic ADHD project scope creep, but hey, it worked out!

  • Team management (learned to delegate before burnout)
  • Business partnerships (turns out hyperfocus helps with negotiations)
  • Built payroll automation (because manual spreadsheets are ADHD kryptonite)
  • Cross-platform content strategy (4 platforms because why not complicate things?)

Skills I've Hyperfocused On

My skill set is... eclectic. When ADHD brain finds something interesting, I dive deep. Sometimes too deep. Like spending 3 days perfecting a bash script that saves 5 minutes of work.

Code & Logic

  • Java & Python (learned Python in a weekend hyperfocus)
  • Docker (containers are contained chaos)
  • Bash Scripting (automation better than repetitive tasks)
  • Product Design (UI/UX rabbit holes are dangerous)

Creative & Physical

  • 3D Modeling (bingeing blenderguru videos)
  • Video Production (learned editing for DIY Perks, kept going)
  • 3D Printing (satisfying instant gratification)
  • PC Building (like expensive LEGOs for nerds)

Quick Facts

  • 📍 Based in Waltham, MA Beijing, China
  • 🎓 B.S. Computer Science, Brandeis University '25
  • 🗣️ Fluent in English & Mandarin
  • 🧠 ADHD-powered hyperfocus sessions
  • 📚 Learning 5 things at once, mastering 1.5

Currently Juggling

  • 🎓 Finishing CS degree finally done with school!
  • 💼 Software Engineering @ REON Technology
  • 🎬 Content operations @ Bilibili (almost 5 years now!)
  • 🏗️ President of PC Building Club (we actually build PCs with the funds)
  • 🤯 Pretending I have it all together

Why I Blog (when i remember to)

Writing forces me to actually understand what I built during my 3am hyperfocus sessions. If I don't document it, I'll forget how it works in 2 weeks. ADHD memory is... very selective.

  • Document before I forget (future me will thank present me)
  • Highly educational criticisms from netizens (at times)
  • Share the chaos so others feel less alone in their project graveyards
  • Practice explaining things without saying "it just works" 37 times

Current Chaos (aka "Active Projects")

Welcome to my ADHD project graveyard and nursery! Some are thriving, others are "I'll get back to that soon" for 3+ months. You can kind of see that in the blog dates, 2020, then 2023. At least I'm consistent on being inconsistent haha

🤖 AI Chat Platform

Running my own LLMs (Qwen) at ai.harryyu.devbecause why pay OpenAI when you can pay electricity bills instead?

RTX 3090Ti humming in my room | LLM, Docker, DevOps

Reality check: Spent more on power than I would've on API calls, but learned tons about LLM deployment!

🏛️ 3D Cultural Heritage Scanning

Photogrammetry project that started as "let's scan this statue" and became a deep dive into Indian history

dSLR photography, 3D modeling, cultural preservation

Plot twist: Getting permission took longer than the actual scanning. Harvard Art Museums are thorough!

🎮 CS Robot Competition

2v2 real robot Counter-Strike because regular programming wasn't complicated enough

Computer vision, pathfinding algorithms, multi-robot networking

Current status: Robots can see each other, sometimes they even move. Victory conditions still negotiable.

🤖 Discord Homelab Bot

Because manually checking if servers are down is for people without ADHD and coding skills

API calls, webhooks, automation scripts

Works great! Except when I forget to restart it after server updates. Ironic. Working on a script to automate that.

The Homelab Situation

Started with "I'll just run a Minecraft server" and ended up with a full datacenter in my room. The electricity bill is educational.

🏠 Main Server

Games, LLM models, web services, VPN

Fan noise is the sound of productivity

🌐 xhttp VPN

Deployed on Japanese VPS because reasons

Docker containers across continents

📁 NAS Server

File hoarding with style

Automated because manual backups don't happen

Automation Adventures

  • Subtitle Automation Pipeline: LLM-powered video translation that downloads, processes, and translates automatically. Works 80% of the time, breaks spectacularly the other 20%.
  • 3D Printing Automation: Bambulab A1 mini printer experiments in automated workflows. they already almost perfected it.
  • Personal Website: Building harryyu.dev with React, TypeScript, and Node.js. "Learning React and TypeScript, slowly rubbing" - past me was optimistic about timelines.

Let's Connect!

Always down to chat with fellow developers, especially those who understand the struggle of having 47 browser tabs open and 12 half-finished projects. Whether you want to discuss a blog post, share your own ADHD project adventures, or just rant about why Docker containers are both amazing and terrible, hit me up!