Portfolio · 2026

carlos
mbendera

i like building cool things.
Book a chat
the catalog
01 / Editions

The catalog.

  1. 01 · Feb 2026 - Present

    Setto

    Basically tinder for music recs. Powered by Apple Music.

    A swipe based personal DJ for Apple Music. Featured by Apple in the US and Canada.

    Featured by AppleBest New Apps · Hot This WeekTop 200 Music · US, Canada, UK and more
    WebsiteAppleApp Store
  2. Rhythm Snap running on iPad
    02 · Apr 2023

    Rhythm Snap

    An iPad rhythm game controlled by hand gestures.

    A rhythm game that uses the iPad's camera for hand gesture recognition. Built it because I kept snapping my fingers to music. Won Apple's WWDC23 Swift Student Challenge. 1 of 350 winners worldwide.

    WWDC23 Swift Student Challenge Winner
    GitHubGitHub
  3. Setto FM web radio running in an iMac
    03 · May 2026 - Present

    Setto FM

    a better way to find internet radio.

    An iOS radio app that makes internet radio feel human again. Spin a globe, tune into live stations, identify tracks with Shazam, and get better recs as it learns what you like.

    Field Guide
  4. Voyager demo thumbnail
    04 · Apr 2026

    Voyager

    A local agentic copilot for business travel.

    An agentic copilot for the business travel lifecycle. Plan, book, get approved, fly, recover from delays, expense it. The agent runs Qwen 2.5 7B locally via Ollama with 30+ tool calls wired up to Duffel, Mapbox, Foursquare, Tavily, MyTSA, and corporate policy checks. It renders the same UI components as the dashboard so the agent feels native, not bolted on.

    HackKU 2026 · Lockton Track Winner
    DevpostGitHubGitHubyoutubeDemo
02 / Background

The track record.

Where I’ve been

Work04 positions

Summer 2025
Apple
Vision Products Group. Real-Time Software Engineering.
Summer 2024
Apple
Vision Products Group. Technology Investigation.
Since 2023
University of Kansas
Undergraduate Research. Mobile App & AI Developer.
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2023–24
Specify Collections Consortium
Quality Assurance & Software Developer.
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Education04 schools

2023–26
University of Kansas
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.GPA 3.87
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2025–26
Korea University
Generative AI, LLMs, and Machine Learning.
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2024–25
University of Leeds
Exchange Semester. United Kingdom.
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2021–22
South China University of Technology
International Foundation Year, Computer Science.GPA 3.79
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03 / Highlights

The good stuff.

Y Combinator Startup School 2026 admit one ticket for Carlos Mbendera, Chase Center San Francisco, July 25 to 26
Featured · 2026

Y Combinator
Startup School.

Two days of talks, workshops, and meetups with founders and YC partners.

Attending · San Francisco
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Speaker
Deep Dish Swift
Extra Saucy Swift Audio APIs. Chicago.
’26
Speaker
Hello Swift Students, Apple Japan
Tokyo, Japan.
’26
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Hackathon
TreeHacks at Stanford
Vera, on-device AI wellness. Palo Alto.
’26
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Speaker
Community for Swift Students Korea
Seoul, South Korea.
’25
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Award
Swift Student Challenge Winner
Rhythm Snap. 1 of 350 students worldwide.
’23
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Competition
IMC Prosperity Trading Challenge
Top 1.6 percent. 221 of 13,614 worldwide.
’23
04 / About
Lawrence, KS
KU '26
Carlos Mbendera
Tokyo, JapanJan 2026

I like building things that make noise.

When I'm not coding, I'm at a radio station, or finding music I'll never shut up about. Most of what I build has audio at the center. I spent two summers at Apple on the Vision Pro audio team. Now I ship apps in that same lane.

I just graduated from the University of Kansas. Right now I'm shipping Setto.

Book a chatSend an email

On rotation

Radio

Grand Line Radio logo
Grand Line Radio
BFF.fm (San Francisco, CA)
June 2024 - Sept 2025
The Embassy logo
The Embassy
Leeds Student Radio (Leeds, UK)
Oct 2024 - Dec 2024
Jazz in The Morning / Grand Line Radio logo
Jazz in The MorningGrand Line Radio
KJHK 90.7 FM (Lawrence, KS)
August 2023 - May 2024