Codex of a Magic Programmer

Trieu KhangTrat

ComputerSciencestudentatRhodesCollege,focusedoncybersecurity.LearningtotakewebapplicationsapartsoIcanbuildoneseventhecouldn'tcrack.

Ex nihilo · Per lucem · Ad stellas

GPA / Major

4.00

/ 4.0

Certification

ISC2

Certified in Cybersecurity

Projects

04

Since 2024

Gospels

A brief Book of Origins.

Where I come from, what I carry, and why I moved from building software to taking it apart.

  1. The call

    I came into software building things, and I stayed for the part where you find out how they break. My focus now is web application security — reading requests critically, forming a hypothesis, testing it, and being wrong a great many times before being right.

  2. The discipline

    Currently studying Computer Science at Rhodes College, where I keep a perfect 4.0 major GPA and 3.96 overall. I chase craft the way athletes chase milliseconds.

  3. The rite

    I won a 48-hour game jam, and I spend my weekends working challenges I don't already know the answer to — then publishing the notes unedited, dead ends included. Because mastery isn't declared — it's practiced, publicly.

  4. The waters

    Before the keyboard, there were lanes. I swam semi-professionally in Vietnam for years and collected national medals along the way. The pool taught me what I still carry into software: taper, then race.

Codex

Identity certificate

NameTrieu Khang Trat
StudyB.S. in Computer Science · Rhodes College
StandingGPA 4.0 major · 3.96 overall
Expected GraduationMay 2028
LocationMemphis, TN

Accolades

  • Jack U. Russel Award for Outstanding Work in Computer Science
  • Jane Donaldson Kepple English Essay Prize
Origins · waters · the full bookRead the Gospels in full
Relics

What I've been building.

Security work leads, because that's where my attention is now. Everything here is a personal project, a piece of coursework, or a competition entry.

Security

01

Self-directed study, run entirely against software I host myself.

Independent Study · June 2026 — Now

Web Application Security

OWASP Juice Shop — Field Notes

Black-box penetration testing against a locally hosted OWASP Juice Shop, worked one hypothesis at a time. The notebook is public — reasoning, dead ends, and pivots left in.

Scope note: every test runs against a deliberately vulnerable training app I host myself in Docker. No third-party, production, or live system is ever a target.

Burp SuiteffufPythonOWASP Top 10Docker

Everything else

03

Personal Project · Continuously Updating

Web Development

This Codex

The site you're reading. A hand-built Next.js codex with a shared WebGL orbit layer, scroll-linked motion, and no template underneath it.

You're looking at the demo.

Next.jsReactTypeScriptTailwind CSSThree.jsMotion

Rhodes Game Jam · Fall 2024

Game Development

The Saga of Zorathion

Winning entry at the Rhodes Game Jam — a mythic pixel-art action game built in Unity and C# from an empty project in 48 hours.

UnityC#BlenderAseprite

Rhodes College · Fall 2024

Academic Research

Sleep × Exam Performance

Coursework research on how sleep patterns relate to exam performance. Statistical modelling in Python and R, with plots built to be argued with.

PythonRStatisticsData Viz
4 projects · full write-upsSee all relics
Chronicles

A scroll of labors.

The work that shaped the craft, in order — with each entry labelled for what it actually was.

  1. Fall 2024

    The Saga of Zorathion

    Rhodes Game Jam · Memphis, TN

    Competition

    • Built the winning entry in Unity and C# against a 48-hour clock.
  2. Fall 2024

    Sleep × Exam Performance

    Rhodes College · Memphis, TN

    Coursework

    • Researched the impact of sleep on exam performance using Python and R.
  3. Fall 2024 — Now

    Student Assistant — Development Department

    Rhodes College · Memphis, TN

    On-Campus Employment

    • Ensure data integrity by reconciling reports, correcting duplicate entries, and performing accurate data entry.
  4. June 2026 — Now

    OWASP Juice Shop — Web Application Security

    Self-directed · Memphis, TN

    Independent Study

    • Perform black-box penetration testing against a deliberately vulnerable OWASP Juice Shop instance I host locally in Docker.
    • Maintain a public methodology notebook documenting the reasoning and testing behind each vulnerability class.
4 entries · in fullRead the full scroll
Canon

The arsenal, the craft, the creed.

The tools and disciplines I work in — security tooling first, then everything else I've picked up along the way.

Cybersecurity

  • Burp Suite
  • ffuf
  • OWASP Top 10
  • JWT / Auth Testing
  • SQL Injection
  • Linux
  • Windows
  • Networking
  • Docker

Web Development

  • HTML
  • CSS
  • JavaScript
  • TypeScript
  • React.js
  • Next.js
  • Node.js
  • Express.js
  • PostgreSQL
  • Prisma ORM
  • Stripe
  • Resend
  • Sentry
  • Upstash (Redis & QStash)

Artificial Intelligence

  • LLM APIs (Gemini, Grok, OpenAI)
  • AI-Powered IDEs (Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Code)
  • Open-Source AI Agents (OpenClaw, AutoResearch)

Data Science & ML

  • Python
  • Linear Models
  • MLP
  • CNNs
  • RNNs
  • MDP
  • Q-learning

Game Development

  • Unity
  • C#
  • Blender
  • Aseprite

Web3

  • Solidity
  • Foundry

Languages

  • Java
  • C
  • C++
  • R

Tooling & Cloud

  • Git & GitHub
  • IBM Cloud
  • Google Cloud
  • Tableau
  • Excel
  • Microsoft Office
Burp SuiteffufOWASP Top 10JWT / Auth TestingSQL InjectionLinuxWindowsNetworkingDockerHTMLCSSJavaScriptTypeScriptReact.jsNext.jsNode.jsExpress.jsPostgreSQLPrisma ORMStripeResendSentryUpstash (Redis & QStash)LLM APIs (Gemini, Grok, OpenAI)AI-Powered IDEs (Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Code)Open-Source AI Agents (OpenClaw, AutoResearch)PythonLinear ModelsMLPCNNsRNNsMDPQ-learningUnityC#BlenderAsepriteSolidityFoundryJavaCC++RGit & GitHubIBM CloudGoogle CloudTableauExcelMicrosoft OfficeBurp SuiteffufOWASP Top 10JWT / Auth TestingSQL InjectionLinuxWindowsNetworkingDockerHTMLCSSJavaScriptTypeScriptReact.jsNext.jsNode.jsExpress.jsPostgreSQLPrisma ORMStripeResendSentryUpstash (Redis & QStash)LLM APIs (Gemini, Grok, OpenAI)AI-Powered IDEs (Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Code)Open-Source AI Agents (OpenClaw, AutoResearch)PythonLinear ModelsMLPCNNsRNNsMDPQ-learningUnityC#BlenderAsepriteSolidityFoundryJavaCC++RGit & GitHubIBM CloudGoogle CloudTableauExcelMicrosoft Office
Burp Suite·ffuf·OWASP Top 10·JWT / Auth Testing·SQL Injection·Linux·Windows·Networking·Docker·HTML·CSS·JavaScript·TypeScript·React.js·Next.js·Node.js·Express.js·PostgreSQL·Prisma ORM·Stripe·Resend·Sentry·Upstash (Redis & QStash)·LLM APIs (Gemini, Grok, OpenAI)·AI-Powered IDEs (Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Code)·Open-Source AI Agents (OpenClaw, AutoResearch)·Python·Linear Models·MLP·CNNs·RNNs·MDP·Q-learning·Unity·C#·Blender·Aseprite·Solidity·Foundry·Java·C·C++·R·Git & GitHub·IBM Cloud·Google Cloud·Tableau·Excel·Microsoft Office·Burp Suite·ffuf·OWASP Top 10·JWT / Auth Testing·SQL Injection·Linux·Windows·Networking·Docker·HTML·CSS·JavaScript·TypeScript·React.js·Next.js·Node.js·Express.js·PostgreSQL·Prisma ORM·Stripe·Resend·Sentry·Upstash (Redis & QStash)·LLM APIs (Gemini, Grok, OpenAI)·AI-Powered IDEs (Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Code)·Open-Source AI Agents (OpenClaw, AutoResearch)·Python·Linear Models·MLP·CNNs·RNNs·MDP·Q-learning·Unity·C#·Blender·Aseprite·Solidity·Foundry·Java·C·C++·R·Git & GitHub·IBM Cloud·Google Cloud·Tableau·Excel·Microsoft Office·

Certifications

Sworn attestations

Cybersecurity

  • Certified in Cybersecurity (ISC2)

Web Development

  • Back-End Apps with Node.js and Express (IBM)
  • Front-End Apps with React (IBM)

Cloud Computing

  • Introduction to Cloud Computing (IBM)

Data Science & ML

  • Machine Learning for AI (CoTAI)
  • Math Coding for AI (CoTAI)

Honors

  • Jack U. Russel Award for Outstanding Work in Computer Science
  • Jane Donaldson Kepple English Essay Prize
  • 4.0 major GPA · 3.96 overall · Rhodes College
Disciplines · certs · honorsRead the full Canon
Invocation

Let us build something worthy.

I'm looking for cybersecurity internships, and I'm always glad to talk shop about web application security. As an international student, any internship would run through my college's authorised CPT or OPT process — happy to walk a recruiter through it.

DropalineIusuallyanswerwithinaday.