Hi, I'm Ember

software engineer • applied AI researcher

Ember Lu

About Me

I'm Ember, a Computer Science major at UCSC, 4x tech club lead, Cloud Intern @ HPE, and 2x AI/ML researcher! I'm currently seeking technical internship opportunities for Summer 2027!

Experience & Education

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)Software Engineering Intern

June 2026 – Present
  • Engineering an autonomous multi-agent pipeline with LangGraph, GitHub Copilot, and a Model Context Protocol (MCP) integration, backed by a VectorDB-powered RAG knowledge base, to automate codebase context retrieval and generate bug-fix patches.

Overture Maps FoundationSoftware Engineering Intern

Sept. 2025 – Dec. 2025
  • Adapted 3+ lightweight language and embedding models (Meta Llama, Microsoft Phi-3, Google Electra) into sequence-classification architectures, matching 3,000+ geospatial data points with 90%+ accuracy.
  • Built PyTorch optimization pipelines with LoRA fine-tuning to improve model efficiency, while documenting OKR progress to maintain cross-team visibility into performance gains.

PicnicHealthSoftware Engineering Intern

July 2025 – Sept. 2025
  • Shipped 2 foundational full-stack AI features (React, Node.js) that cut clinical trial record processing time by 95%.
  • Integrated 3+ API endpoints with REST controllers, real-time React/Apollo GraphQL components, Temporal workflow triggers, and PostgreSQL/Hasura data operations.

AIEA LabMachine Learning Researcher

May 2026 – Present
  • Researching autonomous vehicles through AI-driven modeling and systems work.

UCSC Biomedical AI LabMachine Learning Researcher

Jan. 2025 – Jan. 2026
  • Processed 150+ Hepatitis B capsid PDB files with MDTraj and MDAnalysis and scripted automated protein dimer identification via center-of-mass proximity.
  • Simulated protein structures with OpenMM and ChimeraX to generate PDB data for ML model training in a Linux server environment under Professor Razvan Marinescu.

UCSC Computational Ecology LabMachine Learning Researcher

Oct. 2024 – July 2025
  • Improved machine learning models in PyTorch and R to predict species movement, analyzed algorithmic fairness, and led software work to improve model efficiency under Professor Luca de Alfaro.

Girls Who CodePresident

Jan. 2025 – Present
  • Creating tech opportunities for underrepresented minorities on campus.
  • Leading speaker events, conference sponsorships, coffee chats, and mentorship opportunities.

Google Developer GroupVice President

Jun. 2025 – Present
  • Hosting quarter-long hackathons, workshops, and Google club collaborations.
  • Organized G-Hacks Hackathon and ongoing community events.

Santa Cruz Artificial IntelligencePresident

Aug. 2025 – Present
  • Creating AI research project collaborations and startup research opportunities.

Hack.dev (NVIDIA x ASUS Hackathon)Co-Lead

April 2026 – Present
  • Hosted the NVIDIA x ASUS Hackathon with NEMOCLAW, leading community hackathon operations and partnerships.

Computer Science B.S.
University of California, Santa Cruz

2024 – December 2027

Projects

Global Leadership Board for LM Geodata Performance

Global Leadership Board for LM Geodata Performance

July 2026 – Present
  • Building one of the first global leaderboards benchmarking small, scalable language models against standardized validation datasets for geospatial conflation, expanding into additional real-world domains.

Syllabi Wrapped project screenshot

Syllabi Wrapped | Node.js, SQLite, 1st Place @ HackDay

Feb. 2026
  • Built a full-stack web app that uses GPT to parse uploaded course syllabi into structured data, backed by a Node.js server and SQLite database, with a user interface twist.

  • Designed a Spotify Wrapped-inspired swipe slideshow to present grade weighting, deadlines, and course policies; won 1st Place at CruzHacks Hack Day.

CalmSense project screenshot

CalmSense | PyTorch, 3rd Place @ Santa Cruz AI Hackathon

Jun. 2025
  • Built a PyTorch neural network that analyzes real-time health data to predict oncoming anxiety attacks with 90% accuracy, with a web interface for guided breathing patterns to help alleviate symptoms.

Research publications and machine learning projects

Research Publications & ML Projects

  • Led a research team to build a RandomForestClassifier using data from 19 public health factors to determine COVID-19 risk levels by U.S. county.

  • Directed a team of 4+ in statistical analysis of the encrypted Voynich Manuscript to decode its unknown language and co-wrote a pending research paper discussing its results.

  • Python, Matplotlib, scikit-learn • 2020, 2022–2023

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Skills

Python
TypeScript
Java
JavaScript
React
C/C++
HTML
CSS
R
Node.js
PostgreSQL
Git
Docker
Flask
PyTorch