Community & Drones

Teaching and mentorship alongside technical work — Tinkercad & 3D printing, Part 107 drones, hardware on the bench, hackathons & events, plus photography and writing on the web.

Teaching assistant & AI/tech intern

CompassPoint Mentorship

San Jose, CASep 2025 – Present

Hands-on programs spanning drones, robotics, data science competitions, and on-site events.

Lead TA for a high school drone-building program covering assembly, firmware, flight, and coordinated multi-drone work with safety compliance
Mentor for a WiDS 2026 Datathon team — problem framing, feature engineering, and modeling
Robotics instruction with Bittle X for 20+ youth; every participant finished their build
Drone imagery analysis for a City of Sunnyvale sidewalk audit supporting public works decisions
Logistics and tech support for Google Huddle cybersecurity hackathon

FAA Part 107 & UAV systems

Personal / program operations

California2025 – Present

Commercial remote pilot certificate with ongoing practice in safe flight and aerial data collection.

Part 107 certified for commercial small UAS operations
Drone hardware, flight systems, and survey-style captures tied to real community projects

Tinkercad · 3D design · printing · drones · teaching

Workshop, classroom & camera

I love iterating in Tinkercad and CAD workflows, running Bambu Lab and Prusa printers for real parts, and teaching robotics where 3D design meets code. Below is a candid slice of that work — large photos load lazily with placeholders so the page stays snappy.

Students at laptops: Tinkercad 3D design and block-based robotics coding with a small robot on the desk — After-school robotics — Tinkercad, block coding, and hardware in the same room

Classroom display showing Otto DIY block coding game on a large interactive screen — Otto DIY & visual programming on the classroom board

NASA winter camp — CompassPoint mentorship, 2025

Arduino Nano on a blue shield with jumper wires on a work surface — Arduino Nano — prototyping and wiring

Breadboard with Arduino, LCD display, LEDs, and jumper wires on a desk — Breadboard bring-up — displays, sensors, and messy real builds

Hand holding a small 3D-printed robot chassis with servos and battery holder near a laptop — Otto DIY build — 3D-printed frame and servos

Workshop table with Petoi Bittle robot kits, boxes, and participants assembling yellow and black robots — Bittle workshops — Kits, assembly, and collaboration

Laptop with robot control software and a small yellow quadruped robot on a desk — Calibration and bring-up — software meets mechanical

Two Bambu Lab 3D printers on a wooden bench, one printing small parts — Bambu Lab farm — iteration and production prints

Prusa MK4 3D printer actively printing pink parts on a wooden desk — Prusa MK4 — tuning profiles and mechanical parts

Hands holding a FlySky RC transmitter on a wooden deck outdoors — Part 107 ops — radio gear and line-of-sight discipline

Custom quadcopter frame with Pixhawk flight controller, wiring, and propellers on a deck — Build bench — flight controller, power, and zip-tie civilization

Colorful cartoon-style mural with octopus, shark, and mini-golf character on a San Jose wall — San Jose streets — mural hunting with the camera

Long blue wall with geometric mandala-style mural along a sidewalk — Urban geometry — pattern and light downtown

City street with brick building, arches, and planters under a clear sky — San Jose architecture — walking the city with a lens

Beyond the work timeline

Hardware, events & creative outlets

I'm tinkering with hardware alongside my software work — I love Tinkercad and end-to-end 3D design, and I run Bambu Lab and Prusa printers for real parts. I love attending tech events and joining hackathons whenever I can. I'm also a photographer — find my work on Instagram @iantoophotography — I post on X @ianktoo, and I'm exploring long-form writing on Medium.

Aviation

FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot

Certified for commercial UAS operations — airspace rules, safety, and mission planning for photography and operational support contexts.

Ground photography lives on @iantoophotography; aerials can expand here over time.