HEY! I'M
Avi Baruch
About Me
Originally from Long Island, NY, I started at the University of
Maryland in 2023 and am currently a sophomore studying computer
engineering. On campus, I work as an undergraduate teaching fellow
and am a
student broadcaster for
the Big Ten Plus streaming service, working in camera operations and
in the control room. Outside of those responsibilities, I recently
took up embroidery, and
many trips to the craft store later, I have quite the collection of
thread and finished pieces. I also love to hike, kayak, and
travel - I've hit 6
countries over the last 2 years, and I can't wait to see more.
Stuff I'm Proud Of
These are some of the projects I've worked on more recently, I try to
update this page regularly with new updates. Like with the rest of my
site, click the Links to learn more
Basketball Tournament Mobile App
As the Tech Lead for the National Hillel Basketball Tournament,
I led a
team of four this
past year in building a real-time, cross-platform mobile app and
backend infrastructure that delivered live scores, team
standings, and tournament brackets to over
4,500 users during
the tournament weekend.
The event brings together more than 1,000 Jewish college
students from across the country at the University of Maryland
for a weekend of basketball and community building. It's
completely student-run, and something I've been involved in
since my freshman year — a project I've truly grown to love.
In my role, I designed the
database architecture
and selected the tech stack for the platform. We used Firebase
for authentication, analytics, storage, and our
NoSQL database. The
front end included a Flutter mobile app, as well as Vue-based
web apps for player and
fan registration.
These components were orchestrated with serverless cloud
functions that handled secure access, file uploads, and
real-time game and team stats calculations, among many other
responsibilities.
This year's tournament taught me a ton - from new technical
skills to leadership experience. I genuinely enjoy working on
this project, and I'm already excited for what's coming in 2026
as we roll out new and exciting features.
Better Testudo
Testudo is the University of Maryland's online course catalog
system, but one major feature I noticed was missing: a way to
easily learn more about the professors teaching each course.
That's where a tool called PlanetTerp came in — an open-source
platform built by other UMD students that allows students to
rate and review professors so others can make more informed
decisions.
I realized how useful it would be to surface this information
directly within Testudo. So, I built a Chrome extension that
integrates PlanetTerp's API to
display professor ratings
right next to their names in the course catalog. This simple
tool has over 300 downloads and helps fellow students save time
and make better course choices.
I wrote the extension in JavaScript, leveraging the browser's
built-in caching API to minimize unnecessary network requests
and reduce load on PlanetTerp's servers. I'm currently rewriting
the extension in TypeScript and adding new features - including
advanced filtering options to help students find the right
classes even faster. The updated version will be released soon!
Broadcast Graphics System
Since high school, I've been involved in live sports
broadcasting. It all started with a simple WebSocket server I
built to send single-character commands to a browser source with
a transparent background for displaying score and time
overlays.
From that initial version, the system steadily evolved. I built
a dedicated control panel to manage the overlays and designed a
more robust, two-way communication protocol that enabled the
graphics render page to send back status updates and other data.
Eventually, I rewrote the rendering engine to include an
animation controller, which supported tiered, programmatic
animations and made it much easier to add new elements like team
rosters, schedules, and more.
When I began working with the National Hillel Basketball
Tournament, I continued to
enhance the platform. I added support for sponsor ads to appear in-stream and
integrated the graphics system directly with our app's backend
to pull live score and stat data - eliminating the need for
manual updates and allowing for more complicated stats and
graphics to be displayed.
This has been a passion project I've worked on for over four
years. I continue to polish and improve it, and I'm currently
rewriting parts of the system with a focus on maintainability
and proper documentation. I plan to release it as an open-source
project on GitHub soon - I'll share the link here once it's
live.
Minilab Server Rack Build
This is a project I've wanted to build for years, and I finally
had the chance to make it happen: a custom 10” mini-lab style
server rack, built from wood and designed for portable
livestream production.
The rack houses a mini PC, travel router, audio interface, and a
flush-mount power strip with room for additional gear. All the
mounting components are 3D printed, some based on open-source
designs and others modeled by me in Fusion 360. The internal
power strip was originally meant to be embedded in a desk, so I
designed a custom bracket to secure it inside the rack. With
outlets on both the front and back, the entire setup is powered
by a single cable, making deployment simple and efficient.
This rig contains everything needed to launch a full
multi-camera livestream in just minutes. Add a video switcher,
keyboard, mouse, and monitors - all of which plug directly into
the rack making it easy to go live quickly. I built this system
to make livestream setups faster and more portable, which is
essential for the many events I broadcast, including
sports,
competitions, and
performances.
In the future, I plan to add port passthroughs for USB, HDMI,
and SDI, as well as integrated fold-out monitors to make this a
truly all-in-one broadcasting solution. You can learn more about
my video production work below.
Gamshow Buzzer System
A fun engineering challenge came my way when I was approached by
the National Hillel Torah Bowl committee to build game
show-style buzzers for their annual quiz competition. Torah Bowl
is similar to Quiz Bowl, but the questions are based on the
Bible and other Jewish texts. Teams of three face off, and the
first player to buzz in gets to answer.
My primary goals for the buzzer system were simplicity, low
cost, and reliability. I chose the Raspberry Pi Pico W as the
microcontroller due to its affordability and ease of use,
pairing it with breadboard buttons and 3D-printed enclosures
(printed at the university makerspace). Each team had its own
independent unit with three buttons wired to a
central control
board
. An addressable LED strip mounted on the front of each
table indicated which player buzzed in by changing that portion
of the strip a different color, and the system automatically
reset after five seconds.
One of the trickiest parts was preventing both teams from
buzzing in at the same time. I solved this using a clever
hardware trick: an audio cable connected the two units, with
just enough pins to share ground and a digital signal. Each side
used a transistor to simulate a button press on the opposing
unit, effectively locking its inputs once one team buzzed in.
Despite being a last-minute project with a tight timeline, the
system worked flawlessly and added a fun, fast-paced energy to
the event. I was also recruited by the organizing board to
livestream the competition - you can see the buzzers in action
and read more about the broadcast here.
Live Video Production
With 4+ years of experience in live video production, from sports
broadcasts to award ceremonies and game show events, I have covered
all kinds of live events. Let me help you produce a professional
livestream for your event! I am based in New York and College Park MD,
and have availability year round, you can get into contact with me via
email at
baruchavi18@gmail.com
or by phone at
(516) 218-1696
Featured Work
B1G+ Sports Broadcasts
As a student broadcaster working for Big Ten Plus, I get the
opportunity to gain experience running a collegiate sports
broadcast in roles such as graphics operator, director, and
camera operator. This ongoing experience give me new valuable
tools and skills to add to my toolbox.
National Hillel Basketball Tournament
In addition to my role as Tech Lead for the tournament which you
can read more about above, I run all livestream over the weekend
where we broadcast 9 consecutive events, complete with
commentators, live graphics, multiple angles and more. You can
see the broadcasts from the 2025 tournament
here
National Hillel Torah Bowl Gameshow
Torah Bowl is similar to Quiz Bowl, but the questions are based
on the Bible and other Jewish texts. Teams of three face off,
and the first player to buzz in gets to answer. I was recruited
to livestream the championship match of the event. To enhance
the viewing experience, I added wireless tabletop mics for all
participants, and built custom graphics to display the questions
and answers on the screen along with a splitscreen view when
teams buzz in. With 3 cameras, we covered both teams and the
host, you can view the replay of the stream
here
A Cappella Performance
I have a growing portfolio of musical and other performance events I've livestreamed. These events are ran either compltely on my own or with an assistant, a 2 camera show with graphics is standard and is always customizable as needed by the client. See a recent show of the Kol Sasson group's spring concert
here