Hi, I'm Kaylani!
I'm a student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign pursuing my Bachelor's in Computer Science with a minor in Game Studies & Design. I'm passionate about increasing diversity across the field of Computer Science, with a particular interest in video games, AI, and other innovative areas. Nationally recognized for my aspirations in technology, I aim to make my dreams a reality by being the first in my family to graduate from college. Feel free to reach out to chat!
Education
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with a Minor in Game Studies and Design
May 2027
- GPA: 3.8/4.0
- Relevant coursework: Data Structures, System Programming, Algorithms, Computer Architecture, Discrete Structures, Linear Algebra, Computer Graphics
- Clubs: Association for Computing Machinery, HackIllinois, Women in Computer Science, Adventure Club
- Honors: James Scholar, President’s Award Program Scholarship, State Farm Computer Science Scholarship
Work Experience
Lead Teaching Assistant
As a Lead Teaching Assistant at Girls Who Code, I had the opportunity to teach daily interactive lessons in p5.js, introducing programming fundamentals and game development principles to over 300 high school students from historically underrepresented backgrounds in tech. Beyond teaching, I provided personalized feedback on student projects to help them grow technically and creatively. I also built meaningful connections through one-on-one check-ins and group sessions, creating an inclusive and supportive learning environment that encouraged curiosity, confidence, and community!
Leadership Experience
Infrastructure Chair
As Infrastructure Chair for ACM at UIUC, I led the development of the organization’s internal management platform using React, TypeScript, and AWS Lambda, improving reliability to 99.9% uptime and enhancing the experience for over 1,000 members. I implemented organization-wide technical standards and deployment pipelines across seven development teams, ensuring smoother collaboration and scalability. Currently, I’m overseeing a full UX redesign of ACM’s website to make it more intuitive and accessible, addressing long-standing discoverability issues and helping members more easily navigate events, resources, and tools!
Co-Director
As Co-Director of HackIllinois, the largest student-run hackathon in the Midwest, I led a 50+ person team to plan and execute an event that brought together over 800 participants. I introduced structured weekly goal-tracking and cross-team discussions to keep progress on schedule and ensure smooth collaboration across all departments. Beyond logistics, I focused on fostering a strong sense of community through mentorship and team-building initiatives, helping maintain high engagement and enthusiasm from staff throughout the event cycle!
Projects
See my programming skills in action through my passion projects, ranging from fun games to play in your downtime to ways to organize your life!
Recipe Sorter - HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
- Developed a data-driven recipe organization system, leveraging a spreadsheet foundation to create a searchable database
- Implemented advanced filtering and sorting algorithms to efficiently categorize and retrieve recipes based on attributes
- Designed a scalable architecture by using Google Apps Script to automatically update data when the app is loaded
Gamify - Java, HTML, CSS, Node.js, and Vue.js
- Conceptualized and developed a digital framework for life task management, applying game design principles to enhance user engagement and productivity
- Implemented a quantifiable progress tracking system, utilizing data visualization to provide users with tangible feedback
- Engineered a flexible task categorization structure, allowing for customizable ”quests” to accommodate diverse lifestyles
Melodify - Python (Flask, PyTorch, & NumPy), HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
- Created a web app that makes custom music from text prompts and delivers personalized song recommendations based on listening history and preferences
- Integrated ChatGPT AI’s natural language processing to interpret mood, genre, and emotional tone from user input, feeding data into a PyTorch model for custom audio generation
- Streamlined team communication through regular syncs, retrospectives, and progress documentation, which improved development velocity and reduced cross-team blockers
Casino Simulator - Java
- Utilized Java to make a gambling simulator where players wager money to guess randomly generated winning numbers, with their balance updating in real-time based on their success or failure
- Featured an innovative shuffle mechanic that allows players to reshuffle numbers at will, while automatically triggering a shuffle after 10 rounds to maintain game fairness
- Incorporated strategic gameplay elements with clear win/lose conditions, ending when players either deplete their funds or reach a predetermined winning threshold
Go Fish Simulator - Python
- Created an AI algorithm for bot players, employing array-based data structures and search algorithms to mimic human-like decision-making in card selection and matching
- Devised an efficient card management system, utilizing custom functions to parse and manipulate card attributes for streamlined gameplay and scoring mechanisms
Skills
- Programming Languages: C/C++, Java, Python, HTML/CSS, JavaScript, Assembly, C#
- Tools & Technologies: GitHub, Docker, Unity, AWS, Azure, Cloudflare
- Technical Applications: Website Development, Game Development, Cybersecurity, Robotics, and Data Science
- Multilingual: English, Spanish, Assyrian