Full-stack Developer / Melbourne, AU

Hi, I'm Ishaan Kataria, a Full-Stack Developer from Melbourne

I build financial tools and real-time systems. Studying Commerce & IT at Monash, and I'm looking for a startup where I can ship from day one.

Get In Touch Resume

Selected Projects

Best Pitch · Canva Hackathon 2026

Belongity

Student Belonging Platform

Starting university is isolating, and most "belonging" support kicks in too late. Belongity matches incoming students into small peer "pods" before they even arrive, using onboarding quizzes to pair people who'll actually click, then keeps them engaged with weekly connection quests. It's mobile-first and built to feel warm, not institutional. We won Best Pitch at the Canva-sponsored hackathon at Monash's The Generator.

Next.js TypeScript Tailwind CSS Framer Motion
Live Demo View on GitHub
Live

StockAnalyser

AI-Powered Financial Text Analysis

I wanted a quick way to break down earnings reports and news articles without reading through pages of text. So I built a tool that takes any financial text, runs it through GPT-4o-mini, and pulls out sentiment, key insights, risk factors, and a summary you can actually act on. Three analysis modes, dark theme, and you can export everything as JSON.

Python FastAPI OpenAI API JavaScript
View on GitHub Live Demo
StockAnalyser dark-themed analysis interface
Sophiie AI Hackathon / Solo

SiteVoice

Voice-First AI Assistant for Tradies

Plumbers lose hours every week on admin when they should be on the tools. I built SiteVoice so they can create quotes just by talking. Say something like "Dave needs a hot water replacement, Rheem 250L, add a tempering valve" and it builds a full itemized quote with real pricing and GST. Shipped in a solo-only 33-hour hackathon, then refactored into a self-contained persistent app backed by SQLite with tool-call telemetry.

Python Streamlit OpenAI GPT-4o Whisper STT SQLite
Try the live demo View on GitHub
SiteVoice voice assistant interface for plumber quoting
Macathon 2026

SafeWalk

Walking-Route Safety Scorer

A lot of people change how they walk home at night based on gut feel. SafeWalk turns that into data. It scores walking routes for safety using ML heatmaps trained on incident data, layers in community-submitted reports, and surfaces the safer path rather than just the fastest one. Built across a Next.js frontend, a FastAPI backend, and a PostGIS database, with an XGBoost model doing the scoring.

Next.js FastAPI PostgreSQL / PostGIS XGBoost
Live Demo View on GitHub
HackMelbourne 2026

GroupChatWrapped

Spotify Wrapped, but for Your Group Chat

Everyone's group chat has a personality. GroupChatWrapped exposes it. Drop in an exported WhatsApp group chat and it generates a Spotify-Wrapped-style breakdown: who carries the conversation, the night-owl, the ghost, peak chaos hours, plus AI-written stats and shareable cards. Built in a weekend with Next.js 16, React 19, and the Claude API doing the narrative generation.

Next.js 16 React 19 Tailwind v4 Framer Motion Claude API
Live Demo
Ember elderly care dashboard showing medication tracking and video calling
UNIHACK 2026

Ember

Elderly Care Platform with Real-Time Translation

Built this with a team of 6 at UNIHACK. It's an elderly care platform where seniors can video call family with a single tap, and the call gets translated in real time across 13+ languages. We self-hosted the whole translation pipeline and got it under 550ms latency. Also has medication reminders, mood tracking, and a dashboard that nudges family when something seems off.

Next.js React Go WebRTC PostgreSQL Docker
View on GitHub
In Development

VolLab

Options Pricing & Calibration Workbench

Building an options pricing and volatility calibration workbench from scratch. Black-Scholes, Heston model, SVI surface fitting, all implemented from the ground up without black-box libraries.

Python Black-Scholes Heston Model SVI
View on GitHub

About Me

I'm doing a double degree at Monash in Commerce and IT because I couldn't pick one. Turns out that's a feature, not a bug. I think about problems from both the business and technical side, which means I build things people actually want to use.

I got into coding through wanting to automate stuff that annoyed me. That turned into building an AI voice assistant for tradies, pulling all-nighters at hackathons, and winning Best Pitch at a Canva-sponsored hackathon for Belongity. Currently exploring forensic technology, financial crime advisory, and software engineering.

I'm interested in startups and want to eventually build my own. Right now I'm stacking skills, shipping side projects, competing in hackathons, and looking for the right team to join.

Location

Melbourne, VIC

University

Monash University

Degree

B.Com / B.IT (Double)

Expected

Dec 2028

WAM

Distinction Average

Tech Stack

Languages

Python JavaScript TypeScript C# Go C++ HTML/CSS SQL

Frameworks

React Next.js Node.js FastAPI Astro Streamlit Tailwind CSS

Tools & APIs

Git / GitHub Docker PostgreSQL REST APIs WebRTC OpenAI API pandas matplotlib

Awards & Leadership

Honors & Awards

  • Best Pitch Canva Hackathon, Monash · 2026
  • 1st Place — LeadLab Leadership Simulation Beta Alpha Psi, Monash
  • 1st Place — INAAM Invest With Impact Pitch Monash Entrepreneurship Club
  • State Finalist — Public Policy Case Competition Economics Student Society of Australia
  • Top 10 — Sophiie AI Hackathon SiteVoice

Leadership & Activities

  • Sponsorship — Monash Algorithms & Problem Solving Firm outreach incl. Optiver for the Trade-a-thon
  • General Committee — Beta Alpha Psi Monash chapter
  • Sponsorship — Monash Entrepreneurship Club Partnerships & outreach

My Experience

See full resume

Housekeeping Attendant

Sep 2025 – Present

BASSCare Aged Care · Melbourne, VIC

Front of House

Jan 2025 – Jun 2025

Kolonaki Greek Restaurant · South Yarra, VIC

Let's Connect

Always happy to chat about opportunities, collaborations, or just cool ideas. If you've got something in mind or want to say hey, drop me a line.