About Me
From a young age, I was influenced by the technological advances occurring around me. It all began in my elementary days; I was, of course, lacking in experience, but I was open to new ideas. On my eighth birthday, I received a brand new Dell computer with Windows Vista. I was thrilled with excitement and began to use the machine to play semi-educational games. I eventually became more curious about advancing technology around me and wanted to learn more. I decided to cross into the unknown and dismantled my computer at the end of seventh-grade. With the help of online resources, I learned about many internal components including the central processing unit, motherboard, power supply, graphics cards, and much more. My love for computers grew as I supplied my arsenal of knowledge with new information. I discovered my dream to become a software engineer through lessons with Codecademy and various other resources. From there, I began to find opportunities that I am still grateful for. I assisted in a few researches, met numerous talented individuals, attended various hackathons across the Midwest, and worked on many projects.
Experienced with the folowing: Python, C, C#, SQL, JavaScript, Java, Kotlin, Windows, Linux, ASP.NET, and Flutter
Projects
Overall First Place winner at CornHacks2022
Ha11y is a Google Chrome Extension that can determine how accessible a website is to a user before they even open it. By taking into consideration the user’s disabilities, Ha11y is able to analyze each site and save the user both time and frustration. Note that Ha11y supports all of the disabilities under the Deque University’s WCAG rule explanations.
Overall First Place winner and Heath Track winner at CornHacks2021
The problem we identified for our project was the high number of suicides in the U.S. In 2019 alone, about 47,511 people died of suicide–which is 14.5 deaths per 100,000 population. Suicide was also ranked the 10th leading cause of death in 2019. To mitigate this problem, we wanted to create an application that would intervene in times of crisis. We decided to name this application Teddy. Teddy is a crisis intervention AI intended to step in during emergency situations. Our goal for Teddy is to intervene, assist, and provide comfort during user’s times of need. Teddy works by utilizing a Dialogflow chat agent. This allows Teddy to get the information needed to quickly and accurately direct users to helpful resources. Teddy extracts both sentiments and keywords to correctly identify what resources are the best fit for the person. After identification, Teddy successfully redirects individuals to the correct resources by providing them with positive reinforcement and necessary feedback immediately.
Particiating at my first virtual hackathon at RamHack 2020
Similar to Snapchat’s Shazam, CarDabra decided to move the focus from music to cars. Using a mobile device, you are able to aim your camera at an unknown vehicle and get back the model and make of that car. Not only that, but CarDabra will help you find that car at the cheapest price given transfer fees between one point to another. All of this is done in the palm of your hands.
CrossGuard
https://devpost.com/software/crossguardWinner of "Best use of AccuWeather", "Best use of GCP", and "The Smart Cities Track" at HackKU 2020.
This cross-platform mobile application aids disabled individuals, more specifically the blind, to navigate the busy streets on foot. Upon opening CrossGuard, the application prompts the user to state their destination. After confirming the destination with the user, CrossGuard outlines a route from their current location to their destination using Google Maps. CrossGuard then gives the user a summary of the weather conditions so the user is prepared and can determine whether or not it is safe for them to travel in the conditions. Then the application switches from the map to the user’s camera. As the user travels along the route, CrossGuard warns the user of upcoming intersections and alerts them when it is safe to proceed. Until the user reaches their destination, CrossGuard will continue to update them on directions and distances. Once the user has safely reached their destination, CrossGuard notifies them with a message saying “You have arrived”.
First Place Winner for HackUNO 2020.
Uno, the smart assistant, helps you pick out an outfit perfect for the weather. While using a Google Home or an Alexa device, you can simply ask to “Talk to Uno”, and Uno will take it from there. Based on your location, your local weather, and your gender, Uno suggests clothes that will keep you comfortable all day long. With over 1.5 million combinations of responses, Uno can suggest outfits that contain anything from a formal suit to a casual sweater. With up to five days of forecasting, Uno considers wind speed, temperature, and precipitation for the most optimal outfit.
ScrapShot
https://devpost.com/software/scrapshotWinner of the "Green Track Price" at CornHacks 2020
ScrapShot determines whether or not an item is recyclable based on live image recognition. The user earns points for each item scanned. Once the user collects enough points, they can enter a raffle of their choosing. They can also add friends and compete to earn the most points. The app also has a map of recycling plants in the area to help the user locate where they can recycle their items.
Contributed to an open source project
While taking my Software Engineer 260 and 261 courses, I had the opportunity to work Pitivi, a free and open-source video editor for Linux. At the time, there was no way to focus on a specific part of the timeline with editor-friendly features. With the Scrum process and Python language, we developed a way for users to create an interval selection using mouse actions and keyboard shortcuts. We also incorporated a looping feature as well.
SimplySnap
https://devpost.com/software/simplysnapWinner of Best Automation Hack at HackKState 2019
SimplySnap is a mobile application that will allow you to summarize a textbook using your device’s camera. By taking a picture or uploading an image, you can get back the following key information: summary of the text, HashTag suggestion, sentiment, and who/when/where information.
Experience
Hitachi ABB Power Grids
https://www.hitachiabb-powergrids.com/Data Acquisition Developer Intern
May 2021 - Present
"Powering Good for a Sustainable Energy Future."
Over the 2021 summer, I had an excellent opportunity to help improve the Hitachi ABB Power Grids’ Velocity Suite, the energy industry’s premier analytical source for energy information. While working alongside several scrum teams, I had the chance to utilize Python, JQuery, JavaScript, and different APIs to web scrape vital energy data for our clients. Once the data is scraped, I populated and managed the data within the in-house Oracle and Azure databases. Internally, I was also able to automate power stations to buses mappings and reduced 50% of the workload for the analysts.
Nebraska School Activities Association
https://nsaahome.org/Design Studio Project Manager
August 2021 - May 2022
"NSAA activities…the other half of education."
Over a year, I manage a concept-to-launch development team to revamp the Nebraska Schools Activities Association’s Activities Portal. By following best practices for software development, I ensured that our products met or exceeded our stakeholder’s expectations. As our team developed a deep understanding of the business requirements and objectives, we could transition these requirements into a Django web application that helps manage student activities across Nebraska. We then conducted various user testing with High School Activities Directors, NSAA Staff members, and coaches across the state to test prototypes and proofs-of-concept.
Nebraska Department of Transportation
https://dot.nebraska.gov/Design Studio Associate Developer
August 2020 - May 2021
"Good Life, Great Journey"
I had the opportunity to continue the development of the NTIP, a twice award-winning application, built by a collaborative team of Design Studio and Nebraska Department of Transportation staff. This year our team is working to expand the use of heavy truck data, linkage to additional state datasets, and enhanced heat map functionality. To accomplish this task, we are using an ASP.NET framework and an Azure database for our backend. We are also using C# and Javascript to develop functionality.
"Let's talk about fulfilling Life."
Ameritas is a company that offers insurance, financial services, and employee benefits, and much more. During my time at Ameritas, I helped Amertas’ Investment Partners division reinvent their data analytics infrastructure from the ground up. By creating an application that helps analyze millions upon millions of portfolios, I was able to help Ameritas manage over 18 million dollars. To make this application, I used technology such as SQL, Python, and Splunk.
"If there is no struggle, there is no progress." -Fredrick Douglass
With conflicts occurring around the world, we can analyze how and when they start. While researching at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I was able to help the U.S Department of Defense investigate and understand how social unrest occurs, evolve, and propagates, to predict it accurately. With the help of multi-agent simulation, we were able to formulate an algorithm to predict social unrest. I also had the opportunity to conduct spatial processing on GeoTiff images to quantify climatological data and incorporate it into the algorithm.
Prairie Winds Kennel
Kennel Assistant
May 2016 – December 2019
"Who Let the Dogs Out" -Baha Men
As a kennel assistant, I help maintain the cleanliness of the facility to ensure that the animals are safe and healthy. I also worked with customers as the cashier and answered phone calls to provide the best overall experience.
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world" -Nelson Mandela
I had the great opportunity to work as a teaching assistant. The goal of this class was to familiarize K-12 teachers with problem-solving approaches using computer programming. We taught them how to write their programs, think analytically, and troubleshoot technical errors. With these tools, they would be able to create homework assignments that would, in turn, introduce K-12 students to the world of computer science. Throughout this class, the students used Python to demonstrate sorting algorithms, event-driven programming, GUI development, and much more.
"Research: the distance between an idea and its realization." -David Sarnoff
While researching at Doane, I observed digital images of maize seeds to distinguish physical changes within the seed. To help quantify maize exudates visually, I developed a Python script that outputted heat maps and analyzed concentrations of free amines on Ninhydrin Papers. With the help of many professors and students, I became a co-author of a publication.
Education
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
B.S. in Software Engineering with a minor in Mathematics
2018 - 2022
"In Our Grit, Our Glory"
While spending my time at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), I have expanded my knowledge, collaborated with numerous individuals, and particiating within many clubs.
Within my Software Engineering courses, I have learned about code development, testing, Agile processes, and documentation. I learned about UX within my Human-Computer Interaction class. Through my other computer science classes, I learned about database management, low-level languages, code verification, and much more.
Outside of classes, I am involved in the Computer Science Student Advisory Board; as a member of the Events Committee, I help develop and maintain events for the students in the Computer Science and Engineering department. During the fall of my sophomore year, I had the opportunity to be a captain of an intramural soccer team. I am also a member of Cultural Ambassador, a club focused on improving awareness for cultural diversity.
A Little More About Me
Alongside my interests in hackathons and software engineering some of my other interests and hobbies are:
- Gaming
- Soccer
- The Office
- Lemonade
- Becoming a ninja