About Me
Hey! I'm Hussain Kagalwala, a sophomore at BITS Pilani, Hyderabad, and I love building things on the internet — especially the kind that have interesting systems and engineering challenges behind them.
My Journey
I started out with frontend development, trying to make clean and responsive UIs using React and Next.js. But pretty quickly, I got more curious about what happens behind the scenes: how realtime apps sync data, how large features are structured, and how systems like code execution platforms actually work. That curiosity pushed me into building more system-heavy projects.
Over time, I've built things like a LeetCode-style online judge where users can write, submit, and evaluate code, and a realtime 2D multiplayer metaverse using Phaser, WebSockets, and WebRTC. I really enjoy working on problems where architecture, performance, and reliability actually matter — not just how things look on the surface.
What I Enjoy Working On
- Realtime systems (multiplayer, presence, WebSockets)
- Backend-heavy features (async pipelines, background jobs, queues)
- Developer tools & platforms (dashboards, code execution, admin panels)
- Full-stack products where both UX and architecture are important
What I'm Learning & Exploring Right Now
Lately, I've been spending a lot of time leveling up my engineering fundamentals and exploring more "infrastructure-level" topics, including:
- GenAI for full-stack applications (building real products, not just demos)
- DevOps basics and deployment workflows
- Docker and containerization
- Redis for caching, queues, and background jobs
- System design and scalable backend architectures
My goal is to get more comfortable building, shipping, and operating larger, more reliable systems end-to-end.
A Bit Beyond Coding
Apart from coding, I've been quite involved in campus activities at BITS:
- Part of the core team at E-Cell, BITS Hyderabad
- Organizer for Launchpad, our entrepreneurship summit
- Worked with Enactus and the Innovation Cell on sponsorships and tech initiatives
These experiences taught me how to communicate professionally, work in teams, and take ownership of things — not just write code.
What I'm Looking For
Right now, I'm looking for software engineering / full-stack internships where I can:
- Work on real-world systems
- Learn from strong engineers
- And contribute to products that actually get used by people