I'm Gabriel Zhang, an Informatics student at UC Irvine. I'm learning about networks and how the systems we use every day connect.
- Networking and infrastructure
- Design and prototyping
- Photography and film
I've worked with control systems at CenterPoint Energy and technical documentation at Netlist. Outside of work, I'm drawn to design, photography, and using my hands to turn ideas into something tangible.
Education
University of California, Irvine
B.S. Informatics · Human Computer Interaction specialization
Expected December 2026
CenterPoint Energy
Control Systems Operations Support Intern · June – September 2026
During my internship at CenterPoint Energy in Houston, I supported the infrastructure used by control systems operations. My work included documenting hardware, installing servers, connecting network cabling, and helping troubleshoot telemetry communications.
Hardware Tracking & Asset Visualization
I audited and cataloged 500+ control system hardware entries and built an asset visualization dashboard. The dashboard organized equipment records to help engineering teams track inventory and plan installations.
Server Deployment & Physical Layer Infrastructure
I installed enterprise servers in production racks, connected Cat5e/Cat6 cabling for out-of-band (iLO) management, and routed fiber-optic links to top-of-rack network switches.
Telemetry Monitoring & Communications Diagnostics
I monitored real-time telemetry across 50+ Remote Terminal Units (RTUs) using EMS State Estimator dashboards. I performed server hardware diagnostics and assisted with reprogramming local RTUs to troubleshoot communication anomalies.
Netlist
Technical Content Creator Intern · January – June 2026
During my internship at Netlist, I worked on a knowledge-sharing project aimed at making onboarding and everyday technical information easier to navigate. I interviewed team members, developed a project proposal, and prototyped a shared reference repository while learning how to turn workplace feedback into a practical project plan.
Understanding everyday workflows
I interviewed team members across different functions to understand how they shared information and where they ran into repeated questions or communication gaps. I organized their feedback into user stories and use cases to help shape the project proposal.
Learning project planning
I learned how to use PMI charts to consider the positives, negatives, and interesting aspects of potential solutions. I also learned to define SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives. These tools helped me think through project priorities and set a clearer direction for the proposed work.
Building a shared reference
I prototyped a centralized knowledge repository and drafted baseline technical documentation to explore how a shared reference could support onboarding. I used Claude and Perplexity to assist with research and explored ways to organize information so team members could find answers more easily.
TENA
December 2025 – June 2026
- Role
- Design Lead
- Tools & focus
- Figma, web design, prototyping
Problem & Goal
TENA is a nonprofit, and I led the design of a responsive landing page to help people learn about its work and get involved. I refined the information architecture and visual identity with a target of increasing volunteer interactions by 20%.
Design Approach
I translated ambiguous requirements into Figma prototypes and built stakeholder consensus through weekly design reviews. The design focused on making the website clear and accessible across devices while keeping it aligned with the project's goals.
Key Contributions
- Information Architecture: Restructured legacy content into 3 modular impact pillars (Care Navigation, Health Fairs, Workforce Readiness) with dedicated conversion paths.
- Design System & Handoff: Delivered a modular design system in Figma with documented responsive breakpoints, touch-target guidelines, and engineering handoff specs.
- Accessibility & Responsive Design: Audited color contrast and refined layouts and components for diverse audiences, with WCAG 2.1 accessibility in mind.
- Stakeholder Presentation: Presented the website to the stakeholder, explaining the design decisions and how they supported the project's goals.
KapeChat
September 2024 – May 2025
- Role
- Design Team Member
- Tools & focus
- Fieldwork, sampling, interactive prototyping, usability testing
Problem & Goal
UC Irvine students struggle to secure accessible, relatable mentorship due to fragmented cold-outreach channels. KapeChat centralizes discovery, matching, and coffee chat scheduling into an approachable end-to-end platform.
Research & Key Insights
- Approachability Gap: Students felt intimidated reaching out to alumni without shared context.
- Scheduling Friction: Back-and-forth messaging caused high drop-off before chats occurred.
- Feature Ideation: We mapped out core features with information architectures and flows.
Key Contributions
- Interactive Prototyping: Built mid-to-high fidelity Figma prototypes simulating mentor browsing, filter states, and booking flows.
- Usability Testing & Iteration: Conducted evaluative sessions that directly identified confusing icon-only controls and color fatigue, leading to labeled action bars and consolidated dashboard steps.
- Design Presentation & Documentation: Co-authored the project case study and delivered the live design presentation to an audience of 100+ attendees.
Photography & film
Outside of design and technology, I create original scripts, short films, and event photography.
- Collaborations with 10+ collegiate athletes
- Event photography featured in 5+ published pieces
- Original media reaching 50,000+ interactions
Selected photographs & films
A collection of my work will be added here soon.
For collaborations, get in touch.