# Michael Cao

> Glean | Stanford CS | KP Engineering Fellow

Location: Stanford, California, United States
Profile: https://flows.cv/michaelcao

Engineer at Glean and Stanford BS/MS graduate. Interested in foundation models and systems engineering.

## Work Experience
### Software Engineer @ Glean
Jan 2024 – Present | Palo Alto, California, United States
Assistant Core

### Engineering Fellow @ Kleiner Perkins
Jan 2024 – Jan 2024
https://fellows.kleinerperkins.com/

### CS194W Course Assistant (TA) @ Stanford University
Jan 2023 – Jan 2024
CS194W: Software Project

### CS111 Course Assistant (TA) @ Stanford University
Jan 2023 – Jan 2023 | Stanford, California, United States
CS 111: Operating Systems Principles

### Software Engineering Intern @ Databento
Jan 2023 – Jan 2023 | New York, New York, United States
• Implemented and deployed a reliable WebSocket API, saving millions of API calls/day by eliminating busy-polling
• Enhanced monitoring service efficiency and ensured staying under usage quota
• Collaborated closely with frontend and product leads to align project requirements with business objectives

### CS193X Course Assistant (TA) @ Stanford University
Jan 2023 – Jan 2023 | Stanford, California, United States
CS 193X: Web Programming Fundamentals

### Python Development Intern @ Akuna Capital
Jan 2022 – Jan 2022 | Chicago, Illinois, United States
• Built a full-stack web app using Python and React, enabling traders to configure parameters for new expirations
• Implemented an asynchronous per-parameter handler strategy to allow for efficient parameter creation
• Established robust input validation, error handling, and error reporting and achieved 80% test coverage
• Designed a flexible and effective PostgreSQL database schema for storing parameter configurations

### Founder, Executive Director @ See Your Dream
Jan 2018 – Jan 2022 | Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area
See Your Dream, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, equips hospitals and their staff with VR experiences to improve the hospital experience for pediatric patients and alleviate anxiety. 

• Created interactive VR experience using Unity and C# to prepare pediatric patients for MRI scans 
• Worked closely with Gillette Children's Hospital in MN and conducted 10 patient pilot study
• Product in use at Gillette and Phoenix Children’s Hospital
• Earned $10K in seed funding by winning 1st Place at the Minnesota Cup Youth Division in 2019

### CS198 Small Group Leader @ Stanford University
Jan 2021 – Jan 2021 | Stanford, California, United States

### CS106 Associate Section Leader @ Stanford University
Jan 2021 – Jan 2021 | Stanford, California, United States

### Software Engineering Intern @ DoorDash
Jan 2021 – Jan 2021 | San Francisco, California, United States
Intern on the Cx Growth team. Assisted with the migration from monolith to microservices through deploying multiple gRPC endpoints written in Kotlin to serve store menu and data to SEO pages (Food Near Me, Grocery in SF, etc.). Implemented a read-through caching scheme for Redis with optimizations such as partial caching and batch loading for request deduplication.

### VP of Projects @ Stanford XR
Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 | Stanford, California, United States
Oversaw a group of student teams working on a year-long VR/AR project, providing them with hardware, resources, and mentorship from industry partners.

### Immerse Bootcamp Lead @ Stanford XR
Jan 2020 – Jan 2020 | Stanford, California, United States
Led a 10-week XR bootcamp—specifically designed for freshmen—to introduce them to the foundations of immersive media and the development/applications of XR.

### Immerse Bootcamp @ Stanford XR
Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | Stanford, California, United States

### Software Engineering Intern @ UnitedHealth Group
Jan 2020 – Jan 2020 | Minnesota, United States
Intern on the Image Processing and Rapid AI Team at Optum/UnitedHealth Group. Worked on full stack web development (React, Kotlin, PostgreSQL) and developing deep learning models in TensorFlow for a variety of image processing use-cases.

### Research Intern @ Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare
Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area
Introduced Virtual Reality (VR) in pediatric care as a tool for Child Life Specialists to reduce pain and anxiety in patients. Trained ~15 Child Life Specialists, Rehab Therapy Specialists, and MRI Technicians to use VR.

### Co-Founder & CEO @ Solupal
Jan 2017 – Jan 2019 | Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area
Led team to develop an eco-friendly, water-soluble plastic bag alternative and helped raise $12K in seed funding from various competitions. Awards: MIT Launch Global Finalist, MN Cup Youth 2nd Place, Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest Company of the Year.


## Education
### Master of Science - MS in Computer Science
Stanford University

### Bachelor of Science - BS in Computer Science
Stanford University

### Mathematics
University of Minnesota

### High School Diploma
Mounds View High School


## Contact & Social
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/cao-michael
- Portfolio: https://mcao0620.github.io/

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Source: https://flows.cv/michaelcao
JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/michaelcao/resume.json
Last updated: 2026-04-11