The Portfolio

Q: Hi Carmen! To start, could you introduce yourself and your educational background?

A: I hail from Campbell, CA, but I'm currently studying Cognitive Science, an interdisciplinary major that combines machine learning, philosophy, and neuroscience in a holistic study of how humans interact with the world around them, and Computer Science at the University of California, San Diego. I've been curious about technology since high school: I participated in FIRST Robotics and absolutely loved it. In college I started learning web development, and machine learning, and here we are now. My education definitely informs the way I approach not just technology, but working with people too. I'm a huge advocate of interdisciplinary learning -- the best ideas are cross pollinated across different fields, subjects, and philosophies -- and prioritize accessibility and user-forward development.

Q: Tell me more about your interest in technology. What are some things you have built?

A: This website is the second multi-page site I have designed and built from end to end by myself, and the one I'm most proud of. In the design and development process, I really tried to focus on accessibility and performance. Another project that I'm really proud of is an LLM benchmarking experiment I ran out of interest. With my co-author, I meticulously designed and conducted a series of "social experiments" on the metaphor generation capabilities of popular LLM models to assess their "creativity". It was a really fun bridge between my experiences with LLMs, social science research, and creative writing, and I feel that it is especially relevant now, with the discourse surrounding the use of Generative AI with creative tasks. You can find more of my projects here.

Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

A: I have a big milestone coming up this year: first I will be graduating college. In my professional life after, I hope to build accessible, high-performing sites for important causes.