Kusal Nirmala
I study the shapes patterns take — in a dataset, in a kata, in a well-built sentence.
Twenty-one, and still building form
I'm 21, reading for a BSc (Hons) in Artificial Intelligence, awarded by the University of Plymouth and delivered at NSBM Green University — while studying Software Engineering through a UK-affiliated programme alongside it. Before that came the slower groundwork: a Professional Diploma and a Higher Diploma in Software Engineering, both in, both finished before the degree began.
My near-term goal is straightforward — work as a Machine Learning Engineer, building things that actually ship. The longer-term one is quieter: I'd like to end up back in a classroom or a lab, on the research and academia side of the table.
Outside the coursework, I hold a black belt in Shotokan Karate, play guitar in whatever hour is left in the day, and keep returning to Dostoevsky the way other people return to a gym.
Two diplomas, then a degree
Professional Diploma in Software Engineering
Higher Diploma in Software Engineering
BSc (Hons) Artificial Intelligence
In progressBSc (Hons) Software Engineering (Top-Up) — Birmingham City University, UK. Not a step in the sequence above, but studied concurrently, with a focus on enterprise and full-stack development.
KaratePose_AI
In progress · Computer VisionThis is where my two disciplines meet. KaratePose_AI applies pose estimation and computer vision to karate technique — tracking joints and stances through video to analyse form, and eventually help correct it. It's early-stage work, built on years of Shotokan training and a still-developing AI education, more than it is a finished result.
The sketch on the right is exactly that — a sketch: the kind of joint-tracking overlay the project is built around, not a screenshot of output.
Read the full proposal →01 — guard stance → 02 — lunge punch (oi-zuki) → loop. Illustrative only.
Leading Team Hades
I led Team Hades through the SLIOT tournament, hosted at the University of Moratuwa, where we placed 2nd runner-up in the university category. Our entry was a tracking system for fishery boats, built around a LoRa module and a PCB we designed ourselves — long-range, low-power tracking for boats that spend most of their time well outside normal network coverage.
It was the first time I'd taken a project from a whiteboard idea through to working hardware, with a team depending on me to hold the schedule together.
Leo Club — District IT Teams
Leo Clubs International is the youth service arm of Lions Clubs International. Alongside coursework and competitions, I've supported two district-level IT teams — the same technical skills, applied in a service context.
IT Team Member
CompletedIT Team Member
Incoming
20th Annual District Installation Ceremony — "The Coronation, Chapter 01," Leo District 306B2.
What I'm building with
Core
AI / ML
Applied Engineering
Practice
The rest of the form
Karate
Shotokan Karate, Black Belt. Years on the floor before years at a keyboard — kata is where I first learned that repetition is how precision gets made.
Guitar
Six strings, mostly for myself. Practising an instrument and training a model aren't so different — small corrections, repeated often, until it holds.
Dostoevsky
Crime and Punishment started it. I go back to Dostoevsky for the same reason I go back to kata — both reward slow, deliberate attention.
Let's talk
Open to Machine Learning Engineer roles, research collaborations, or a conversation about Dostoevsky.
kusal.xn@gmail.com →