Keshav Shankar

About Me

Hey, I’m Keshav, an ECE PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh.

Growing up, I spent hours taking apart machines, fixing and building things with my dad. I discovered electronics and programming, which led me to become a computer engineer.

Specifically, I have found a passion in healthcare for the chance to create things that actually help people. I’m focused on building tools which range from devices and clinical software to assistive robots.

I’ve picked up many different skills, from designing low-level hardware and firmware to building user-friendly apps and intelligent control systems; However, engineering is only part of my life.

This site shares some stuff that doesn't fit on a resume or CV.

Activities

Soccer

I grew up playing lots of soccer. Now I mostly play IM and pickup.

Running

I ran in high school (xc and track) with suprising success. Check out my stats:

• 8× Varsity Letterman
• 6× Conference Meet Qualifier
• 6× District Meet Qualifier
• 3× State Meet Qualifier
• 2× All-Area Honorable Mention
• 1× Conference All-Star Team

Click here to see my Milesplit!

I still run for fun, with the occasional race.

Click here to see my Strava!

Music

Music has always been important for me. I grew up playing the saxophone and Indian classical drum (Mridangam).

Click here to see my graduation concert!

Now I mess around with with producing electronic dance music (EDM).

Projects

Here are a few projects I've worked on over the years.

DickerBot

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The Problem

When I was getting into robotics, I noticed that most tutorials assumed you already knew complex systems like ROS or low-level C. I wanted to learn, but but nothing seemed beginner-friendly enough.

The Solution

I built a tiny robot car that runs on an ESP32 chip and talks to your laptop over Wi-Fi. You control it using high-level Python, and it streams back live data from its sensors, no embedded coding needed.

The Takeaway

This was a hands-on way to learn WebSockets, embedded hardware, and robot control, and a reminder that tools should empower learning, not block it.

View on GitHub

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ArmSense

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The Problem

Millions of people live with limb loss, but robotic prosthetics that could help are way too expensive for most. I wanted to find a way to make them more accessible.

The Solution

I built a wearable armband that reads muscle signals from your arm and translates them into hand gestures, letting a robotic arm respond in real time. It’s portable, wireless, and built with affordable parts.

The Takeaway

This was my first deep dive into biosignals and machine learning. I learned how to take something complex and build a real, working prototype that could one day help real people.

View on GitHub

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Smart Door Lock

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The Problem

Keeping track of physical keys for shared spaces can be a huge hassle, especially for our IEEE club room at Pitt where only a few people had access.

The Solution

I made a device that opens the door when you scan your Pitt ID. It has an RFID reader, status lights, a display, and a motor to pull the handle, all controlled by a microcontroller.

The Takeaway

This project taught me how to combine electronics, hardware, and code into something real. I want to eventually make an app to unlock the door over Wi-Fi, no card needed.

View on YouTube

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IEEE Citation Creator

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The Problem

Typing citations by hand is the worst, especially during finals. No one remembers the right format, and it just wastes time.

The Solution

I made a small app that creates IEEE-style citations. Just fill out a quick form and it spits out the citation, and even copies it to your clipboard.

The Takeaway

This taught me how to build a GUI and connect it with backend logic.

View on GitHub

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