Hey, I'm

Akshay Dahiya

Protocol Engineer and DeFi Researcher

By day, I'm building decentralized awesomeness at Powerloom Protocol. By night, I'm geeking out in the crypto world, blending my love for blockchain, AI, and full-stack dev.

Download CV My Skills

7 + Years of Experience
70 + Completed Projects

About Me

A Bit About Me 👨🏻

Intro

Yo! Welcome to my corner of the web. I'm Akshay Dahiya, a total tech nerd who juggles blockchain tricks, machine learning hacks, and full-stack building. I've spent way too many late nights diving into decentralized worlds, playing with algorithms, and exploring stuff like the Semantic Web and AI.
During the day, I'm knee-deep in creating decentralized goodies as a Protocol Engineer and DeFi Researcher at Powerloom Protocol – it's this awesome spot buzzing with innovation. (Can't spill all the beans yet!) Recently, we've been busy with chain migrations, launching new hubs, and hitting up events like ETHGlobal Bangkok and ETH Denver. At night, I'm usually sailing through crypto markets, making trades, or tinkering with ideas for the next big DApp.
When I'm not glued to my screen coding or catching up on AI trends, I might be dreaming about the next tech conference or looking back at my Google Summer of Code days. I've worked on some fun projects, chipped in on open-source stuff, and chatted with smart folks from everywhere. Just moved to Bangalore to lead our new engineering hub – loving the vibe here!
If you're into code, blockchain, AI – or just wanna chat about where tech's heading (or anything, really!) – hit me up at xadahiya[at]gmail.com. I'm always down for a good tech talk!

My Interests & Past 👨🏻‍💻

Summary

Blockchain Dev

I've been messing around in blockchain for a while, dropping over 70 smart contracts on different chains. Stuff like Play2Earn games, sniper bots, and node projects. Right now, I'm helping shape Powerloom Protocol to make Web3 data easier to grab. It's been a fun adventure with all sorts of contracts and wild ideas, including recent chain migrations and event workshops!

Other Tech Adventures

Kicked off my dev life as a Graduate Programmer at Fidelity International. Then got into AI and Machine Learning at Georgia Tech and contributed to Google Summer of Code with the Hydra crew. I've also mentored peeps at Udacity on Deep Learning, React, and Full Stack. Pretty much bounced around the tech scene!

AI Stuff

My AI journey started with classes at MIT OCW, Georgia Tech, and Udacity – covering AI, ML, algorithms, all that jazz! After my master's from Georgia Tech, I jumped into real-world gigs at Hypersonix Inc., honing skills with TensorFlow, PyTorch, and the like. Even did some sleuthing with AI for counter-plagiarism research at Georgia Tech. What a ride through AI land!

Research in Academia

Guided by Dr. Thad Starner, I dug into counter-plagiarism tech using AI. Our work got props in Forbes and Times Higher Ed, and we shared it at Learning @ Scale – showing how AI and school smarts can team up. Best part? Georgia Tech still uses some of that tech!

Open Source Fun

I'm big on open source! Been in Google Summer of Code as Admin and Mentor for Hydra Ecosystem. Plus, deep into Powerloom Protocol for Web3 data storage. Joined Hacktoberfest and tons of hackathons, always pushing tech limits. Contributing to the community is a blast!

Some of My Tech Adventures 🚀

Skills

Blockchain 🪙

Totally into decentralized vibes! I design protocols, build DApps, make Play2Earn games, and tinker with trading, sniper, and minting bots. Tools in my kit: Solidity, Chainlink Oracles, React, Web3js, Web3py, Ethers.js, Ganache, Hardhat, Truffle, and NFTs of course!

Web Development 🌍

Love crafting for the web, from Semantic stuff to gRPC. I use React, Django, D3.js, Redux, JSON-LD, Web Sockets, and handle Linux servers. Also JavaScript, React Native, Flask, Svelte, and keeping things SEO-friendly. If it's web, I'm probably playing with it!

Artificial Intelligence 🧠

My head's always in AI clouds! Tools like TensorFlow, Keras, PyTorch, Fast.ai, Numpy, Pandas, Scikit-learn. Concepts: Bayes Nets, Gaussian mixtures, Knowledge-based AI, Actor-Critic, Computer Vision, Deep Learning, Reinforcement Learning – making machines smarter!

Programming Languages 🖥️

I chat in a bunch of programming tongues: Python, Solidity, JavaScript, C++, Go, Rust, and a dash of Haskell. Always picking up new ways to boss computers around!

Databases 🗄️

For stashing data, I'm cool with PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB. Keeping your info safe and ready!

Other 🌟

Beyond code, I'm into Operating Systems, Pthreads, Algorithms, Data Structures, UI Design, Storytelling, Product Management, Tableau, Gephi, Apache Spark, Hadoop, Web Scraping, Public Speaking, User Research, GIMP, Inkscape, Vagrant, Functional Programming, Unit Testing, Docker, Linux, Heroku, Android mods, and a bit of hacking 😜

My Story 🗺️

History

Education

Master of Science - MS, Computer Science

Georgia Institute of Technology

2019 - 2021

Part of Jack Watson Research team under Dr. Thad Starner.

Machine Learning focus; Courses:

CSE 6242 - Data & Visual Analytics
CS 7637 - Knowledge-Based Artificial Intelligence
CS 6200 - Graduate Intro to Operating Systems
CS 7641 - Machine Learning
CS 6601 - Artificial Intelligence
CS 8903 - Special Research Problem
CS 6476 - Computer Vision
CS 8803 - AI, Ethics, and Society
CS 7642 - Reinforcement Learning
CS 6515 - Graduate Algorithms
CS 6999 - Master's Project
PUBP 6725 - Information Security Policies

Full Stack Web Developer Nanodegree

Udacity

2016

Learned to use relational databases for data storage
Secured and set up Linux servers for apps
Tackled scaling apps for thousands of users
Got hands-on with cloud hosting

Computer Vision Nanodegree

Udacity

2020

Finished Computer Vision Nanodegree from NVIDIA and Affectiva via Udacity
Got good at theory and building Deep Learning models like YOLO, RCNN, SLAM
Did projects on Facial Key Points, Image Captioning, SLAM
Applied it all to real stuff in computer vision

Deep Learning Nanodegree

Udacity

2020

Built and trained neural nets
Got into CNN, RNN, NLP, GANs, model deployment
Applied to real scenarios
Finished the whole thing

React Nanodegree

Udacity

2017

Did three projects
Built My Reads book app with Books API
Made Would You Rather polling app with leaderboard
Created Mobile Flashcards for studying

B.Tech, Electronics and Communication Engg

Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science & Technology

2014-2018

Graduated with basics in electronics, comm systems, engineering
Built a solid base for tech career

Experience

Protocol Engineer and DeFi Researcher

Powerloom Protocol

Dec, 2022 - Present

Still building Powerloom, a decentralized data network for Web3 apps. Led the chain migration to Arbitrum Nitro stack in March 2025 due to OP Stack changes. Launched new engineering hub in Bengaluru (leading it!), hiring devs. Hosted workshops at ETHGlobal Bangkok 2024 and attended ETH Denver 2024. Rolled out incentivized testnets, hosted DeFi Data Days, joined ETH India 2023. Exciting times with on-chain data for DeFi!

Blockchain Developer

Freelancer

Dec, 2020 - Nov, 2022

Dropped 50+ smart contracts on EVM chains
Designed ERC tokens like ERC20, ERC721, hyper-deflationary ones
Built node projects with dynamic rewards, evolving NFTs, referrals, OpenSea trading
Created trading/sniper bots with Web3.py, Solidity for NFTs/tokens
Made Play2Earn games with custom Chainlink Oracles on BSC/Polygon, plus cross-chain bridges

Senior Software Engineer

Hypersonix Inc.

Mar, 2020 - Dec, 2022

Built API Gateway and Management Platform from scratch, speeding up dev
Boosted API performance 80% with optimizations and Brotli compression
Overhauled auth with Auth0 for better security
Added ELK logging, performance monitoring, Learning Center

Master's Project

Georgia Institute of Technology

Jan, 2020 - May, 2021

On Jack Watson Research team with Dr. Thad Starner.

Created Examinator to spot plagiarism in exams using Gradescope metrics
Contributed to two ACM Learning at Scale papers: one on plagiarism detection (15% to 25% better referrals), another on JackMarker/GitDown for tracing/removing unauthorized solutions
Featured in Forbes, Times Higher Ed, etc.