Portrait of me! Short blonde hair, chaotic SIGGRAPH shirt, beach in the background.
Hi, I'm Jonathan!

I'm a Research Engineer at the MIT Media Lab in the Personal Robotics Group.

Formerly, I was a Software Engineer at Microsoft and Amazon, and I studied Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University for my undergrad and Northeastern University for my master's.


My research interests include computer graphics, especially mesh simplification, parallel programming, and computational geometry.

About

Hi! I'm Jonathan Merrin. I'm an AI-Augmented Learning Engineer in the Personal Robotics Group at the MIT Media Lab, based in Cambridge, MA.

I got my undergraduate degree in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, with a minor in game design. I then worked at Microsoft on the Microsoft Edge team (go MNTY FRSH!), where I worked on the full-page UI experiences of the browser (eg: the downloads page). While there, I was the team's accessibility champ, implementing features like screen-reader accessibility and high-contrast mode. I also had the great pleasure of designing the no-internet game for the browser, Edge Surf, and building the underlying engine for it.

I then moved to Amazon Robotics, where I worked on a computer vision team tasked with making the process of storing new inventory more efficient.

While in industry, I developed an interest in Computer Graphics. After some hobbyist learning, I got a master's degree in Computer Science at Northeastern University, with a focus in graphics. Throughout the degree, I did research with the very talented Professor Mike Shah. Together, we explored real-time mesh simplification strategies and error metrics.

In addition to my academics, I am passionate about teaching and making education more accessible. Throughout my years in school (both undergrad and master's), I was a TA nearly every semester, and I was involved in several educational initiatives, including aiding in the rollout of Professor Kosbie and Professor Stehlik's CS Academy at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) in Rwanda. I also currently serve on the Program Committee and the Young Leadership Committee for the ASYV.

When I'm not working or studying, I'm often playing video games or board games with friends, participating in game jams, or playing with my adorable cat.

You can check out my wonderful girlfriend's work here.

Research
Selected Publications

  • Dynamic Vertex Hierarchies and View-Based Simplification

    J Merrin. Master's thesis, Northeastern University.

    Link to paper.

Games

Video game development is both a hobby and a passion of mine. Listed here are some of the projects I'm most proud of -- I hope you enjoy playing them!

Pixel graphic of an orange-haired woman on a surfboard.

Edge Surf Game

While I was at Microsoft, I had the pleasure of ideating, pitching, designing, and developing the Microsoft Edge Surf game. If you're using the Microsoft Edge browser, you can play it when you don't have internet, or by visiting this link.
Illustration of a neon sign that reads 'Whiskey Tango Foxtrot'.

Game Jams

For the past several years, I've been developing games with a small group of friends. We mostly organize around hackathons and build complete prototypes in the span of a few days. I serve as lead engineer for the team and have a hand in everything, from design and ideation through to infrastructure and testing. You can check out all the games we've built on my itch.io page.

Some of my favorites include Justin Time: Man of the Hour, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, and Waiting For Godot-livery.