London / UK · Evidence-led engineering portfolio

Zhifeng Li

AI/ML Engineer & Computational Scientist

Building reliable AI systems, evidence-grounded RAG products and scientific computing workflows.

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About / 01

Engineering with evidence.

I work where machine learning, numerical reasoning and dependable software systems meet.

I am an AI/ML engineer and computational scientist based in London, currently completing an MSc in Applied Computational Science and Engineering at Imperial College London. My work sits between evidence-grounded AI, numerical methods and dependable software delivery.

I am most useful on problems where models must operate inside explicit constraints: local inference, traceable retrieval, reproducible experiments, numerical validity and honest evaluation. I prefer systems that expose their assumptions, fail safely and leave a clear path from claim to evidence.

Across current research and team coursework, I have worked with local RAG, computer vision, deep learning, genetic optimisation and scientific simulation. This portfolio separates completed work from prototypes and ongoing research so that every case study can be assessed on the evidence actually available.

Experience / 02

Current focus & education

Current research is shown as work in progress; academic credentials are limited to facts documented in the portfolio specification.

Current research

2026 — presentIn progress

On-Device RAG Copilot for KYC/AML

Microsoft-linked MSc Independent Research Project

An in-progress, Microsoft-linked MSc research project building a local, evidence-grounded policy copilot for KYC/AML analysts with cited answers and explicit human-review boundaries.

Read case study

Education

Current

MSc Applied Computational Science and Engineering

Imperial College London

Applied AI, scientific computing, numerical methods and software engineering, including the current independent research project listed above.

First Class

BSc Computer Science

University of Nottingham

Undergraduate foundation in computer science and software development; degree classification recorded as First Class.

Capabilities / 03

Systems, models, evaluation.

Capabilities are described through demonstrated project methods, without percentages or unsupported seniority claims.

  1. 01

    Applied AI & evidence-grounded RAG

    Local inference, hybrid retrieval, citation verification, abstention and human-review boundaries for policy-facing AI workflows.

    Current KYC/AML independent research project
  2. 02

    Scientific computing & optimisation

    Simulation-aware optimisation, iterative numerical solvers, structural validity checks and controlled experimental comparisons.

    Genetic Algorithm Circuit Optimizer coursework
  3. 03

    ML & data pipeline engineering

    Reusable data, preprocessing, metrics, plotting and submission utilities supporting multi-task machine-learning experiments.

    Storm Prediction ML team coursework
  4. 04

    Parallel & performance-aware computing

    OpenMP-capable native tooling, seeded runtime comparisons and attention to the cost of validation and diagnostic checks.

    C++20 circuit optimisation workflows
  5. 05

    Software engineering & evaluation

    Typed boundaries, modular command-line workflows, reproducible tests and explicit separation between targets and measured outcomes.

    Portfolio, vision prototype and research evaluation harnesses

Projects 01—05

Selected projects

Five evidence-led case studies across local AI, computer vision, scientific machine learning, optimisation and product engineering.

01In progress2026 — present

On-Device RAG Copilot for KYC/AML

An in-progress, Microsoft-linked MSc research project building a local, evidence-grounded policy copilot for KYC/AML analysts with cited answers and explicit human-review boundaries.

  • Python
  • Microsoft Foundry Local
  • Local SLM
  • Hybrid RAG
  • Sentence Transformers
02Prototype2026

ArUco + MediaPipe Hand Tracking

A computer-vision prototype combining calibrated ArUco pose estimation, MediaPipe hand landmarks and a Kalman-based fusion path with real-time visualisation and recordable experiment outputs.

  • Python
  • OpenCV
  • MediaPipe
  • NumPy
  • Pandas
03In progress2026 — present

Campus Job Intelligence Radar

An in-progress product-engineering initiative defining an agent-ready development pack for a campus job radar, with planned specification, backlog and privacy/compliance workflows.

  • Product specification
  • Privacy & compliance
  • Agent workflows
  • GitHub
04Coursework2025–2026

Predicting the Unpredictable

Team coursework exploring four storm-prediction tasks across 800 example storms, supported by a shared Python package for data, metrics, preprocessing, plotting and submission workflows.

  • Python
  • PyTorch
  • scikit-learn
  • Hugging Face
  • NumPy
05Coursework2025–2026

Genetic Algorithm Circuit Optimizer

A C++20 team coursework system combining circuit simulation, genetic optimisation, structural validity checks and reproducible seeded sweeps with optional robustness extensions.

  • C++20
  • CMake
  • OpenMP
  • Python
  • Genetic algorithms

Contact / 05

Build something rigorous.

I am interested in software engineering, AI/ML, applied research, scientific software and data-intensive engineering roles.

The public CV contains an email address and GitHub profile, with no phone number or private project identifier.