Qin Zhao
Software Engineer at Google
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Summary
🤩
Rockstar🎓
Top SchoolQin Zhao is a seasoned software engineer with 17 years of experience, currently at Google in Cambridge, MA, and a PhD in Computer Science from the National University of Singapore. He brings deep systems and low-level expertise—demonstrated by sustained contributions to DynamoRIO/dynamorio and Dr. Memory—focusing on system-call instrumentation, thread creation, and memory-debugging improvements across Linux, Windows, macOS, and Android. Qin also contributes to front-end tooling, having improved browser API type definitions in the widely used Google Closure Compiler. Comfortable bridging research and production, he transitioned from a postdoc at MIT to long-term engineering at Google, combining rigorous academic training with practical, cross-platform debugging and performance work. Colleagues rely on him for subtle, correctness-first fixes in core tooling that meaningfully improve error reporting and analysis fidelity.
17 years of coding experience
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Computer Science, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Computer Science at National University of Singapore
Github Skills (25)
closure10
debugging10
debug10
javascript10
memory-allocation10
c-language10
memory-management10
memory-model10
google-closure-compiler10
dynamic10
instrumentation10
c1110
c1710
type-annotations10
system-calls10
Programming languages (6)
Github contributions (5)
DynamoRIO/dynamorio
Feb 2009 - May 2017
Dynamic Instrumentation Tool Platform
Role in this project:
Back-end Developer
Back-end DeveloperContributions:1000 commits, 14 PRs, 247 pushes in 8 years 3 months
Contributions summary:Qin focused on low-level system call instrumentation within the context of the "Dynamic Instrumentation Tool Platform." Their contributions involved modifying the core OS-level interactions, specifically the "post_system_call" functions, and the "create_clone_record" function, to properly handle system calls and thread creation in the target system. Furthermore, the user worked on implementing and maintaining the infrastructure for creating code cache and adding analysis for different modules in the system, and adjusting the related test cases accordingly.
instrumentationbinary-analysisprofilingwindowslinux
DynamoRIO/drmemory
Oct 2011 - Nov 2016
Memory Debugger for Windows, Linux, Mac, and Android
Role in this project:Back-end Developer
Back-end DeveloperContributions:238 commits, 49 pushes, 63 comments in 5 years 1 month
Contributions summary:Qin made several commits related to debugging and improving the Dr. Memory memory debugger. Their contributions focused on fixing specific issues in the code, such as handling unaligned memory accesses, and implementing enhancements to improve the tool's functionality, including adding a pattern mode and extending system call handling to improve error reporting. The user was also involved in fixing code in the core debugging and memory analysis logic.
memory-managementmemorylinux-windowswindowslinux
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