During January 2025, Emerson focused on improving reliability in the flexcompute/tidy3d-notebooks repository by addressing a critical bug in the Autograd Grating Coupler simulation. Emerson implemented a file verification mechanism using Python to ensure that required simulation files are present before runtime, preventing build and execution errors. This approach emphasized disciplined dependency management and robust file handling, reducing unexpected downtimes and maintenance overhead. By prioritizing release-quality commit practices and supporting smoother CI/CD workflows, Emerson’s work enhanced the stability of simulation environments. The contribution demonstrated depth in Python scripting, version control with Git, and a strong understanding of reproducible research workflows.