# Andrew Tran

> Staff Software Engineer | Building AI Models and Agents at Takara Bio USA, Inc.

Location: San Jose, California, United States
Profile: https://flows.cv/andrewtran2

## Work Experience
### Staff Software Engineer (AI/ML) @ Takara Bio USA, Inc.
Jan 2026 – Present | San Jose, CA

### Software Engineer (AI/ML) @ Takara Bio USA, Inc.
Jan 2022 – Jan 2026 | San Jose, CA
• Lead cross-functional team to research, build, and drive adoption of deep learning vision models for single cell detection. Achieved 33% higher candidate counts and 0.7 percentage points lower doublet rates while eliminating user-facing analysis wait time. Use Python, PyTorch, and OpenCV for model development.
• Lead cross-functional team to research and build generative AI LLM agents and ML models to accelerate development and analysis of liquid handler chemistry protocol automation.
• Lead effort to research, build, and train AI optimization models using reinforcement learning. Utilize Python, PyTorch, Stable Baselines3 (SB3), and Gymnasium for model development.
• Architected and developed custom AI inference engine for serving fast, real-time model inference across all Takara instruments, with 10x faster I/O speed and at-rest encryption for proprietary IP on deployed hardware. Used Python, gRPC, ONNX, and OpenVINO.
• Develop computer vision algorithms for automated high-precision instrument calibration (auto-focus, alignment) and checks (verifying proper loading and reading IDs of consumables) using OpenCV and RapidOCR.
• Built and manage on-premises AI compute cluster using K3s, dstack, and MLflow to enable internal R&D model training and inference as well as experiment tracking.
• Responsible for establishing AI standards and delivering seminars highlighting and advocating for AI initiatives at Takara. Lead all instrumentation-related AI R&D efforts.
• Architected and developed control software for qPCR liquid handler instrument, utilizing C#, WPF, MVVM, Redux-like state management, and SQLite. Serve as sole technical product owner, taking user feedback, supporting in-house experiments, orchestrating cross-functional collaboration, and communicating with field service team to support in-field instruments.
• Designed modern UI/UX style system for use across Takara’s qPCR and single cell instrumentation using Figma.

### Game Developer @ Unknown
Jan 2017 – Jan 2019


## Education
### Master of Science - MS in Computer Science
Georgia Institute of Technology

### Bachelor of Science - BS in Electrical Engineering
UC Irvine


## Contact & Social
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/andrewitran

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Source: https://flows.cv/andrewtran2
JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/andrewtran2/resume.json
Last updated: 2026-04-12