Hi, I'm Paloma Valdes.

A
Innovative and curious thinker who finds excitment in solving complex world problems with code and numbers 👩🏻‍💻

About

I am a dual-degree student studying Computing & Applied Mathematics at Saint Mary's College and Computer Science at the University of Notre Dame. My creative outlet is ideating, designing, and solving real-world problems with code and technologies. When I'm not coding, you will probably find me creating curated Spotify playlists or taking pictures of my friends with my digital camera!

  • Languages: Python, MatLab, HTML/CSS, MatLab, Bash
  • Databases: Microsoft Access
  • Libraries: NumPy, Pandas, OpenCV
  • Frameworks: Flask, Django
  • Tools & Technologies: Git, Docker, AWS

Looking for an opportunity to work in a challenging position that combines my skills in programming and data analysis, provides professional development, and creates exciting experiences and personal growth.

Experience

Outreach Committee
  • Oversaw 4 service events to serve South Bend community with a team of 5.
  • Researched and corresponded with local organizations to coordinate volunteer opportunities for first year engineering students.
  • Tools: Excel
Sept. 2024 - May 2025 | University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana
Research Assistant
  • Collaborated with a team of 4 to analytically approach modern graph theory problems and write proofs to be published in a final report.
  • Carried out meetings and effectively presented mathematical findings to team members for 12 weeks.
Jan. 2024 - May 2024 | Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana
Lab Member
  • Implemented Terminal and command line shell to establish SSH connections with Raspberry Pi, configure its operating system, transfer files, and interface Raspberry Pi with light sensor and webcam.
  • Analyzed real-time sensor data (light intensity, color reflectivity, motion) with OpenCV and Python to identify traffic patterns and environmental influences for autonomous vehicle simulation
  • Presented research process and sensor data at the 2025 Saint Mary's College Spring Symposium.
  • Tools: Python, OpenCV, Raspberry Pi
Aug. 2023 - Present | Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana
Co-Manager
  • Leveraged Square analytics software to extract, analyze, and interpret financial data, informing key business decisions and optimizing operational strategies.
  • Conducted troubleshooting and diagnostic testing on hardware connectivity, identifying and resolving interface and system bugs to maintain critical business operations.
  • Managed inventory and regularly made shipment orders in the inventory tracking system (Microsoft Excel Sheet).
  • Ensured daily operations complied with La Porte County's health and food safety regulations.
  • Interviewed, hired, and trained new employees.
  • Handled daily customer orders, complaints, insights, and inquiries.
  • Tools: Square Software
May 2021 - June 2025 | Michigan City, Indiana

Projects

iPhone Consumer Behavior Insights
iPhone Consumer Behavior Insights

A business tool for forecasting demographic trends for iPhone purchases.

Accomplishments
  • Tools: Python, Scikit-Learn, Tableau, PowerPoint
  • Trained and tested 4 distinct algorithms, achieving a peak accuracy of 90%.
  • Analyzed and visualized key consumer insights using Tableau and PowerPoint.
fake job predictor
Fake Job Predictor

This ML model predicts whether a job posting is fake or not.

Accomplishments
  • Tools: Numpy, Pandas, Matplotlib, Imbalanced-Learn, Wordcloud, NLTK, Scikit-Learn, Flask
  • Filtered for relevant data such as removing missing information and irrelevant columns.
  • Implemented the Multinomial Naive Bayes algorithm with 89.62% accuracy into the Flask web app for user interaction.
vitacare
VitaCare

A medical chat bot using generative AI

Accomplishments
  • Tools: Python, LangChain, Flask, Cohere LLM, Pinecone, Docker
  • Deployed web-app with modular coding, API integration, and cloud platform deployment.
  • Leveraged a semantic indexing system to retrieve medical data from over 40,000 text chunks.
cardvault
CardVault

E-commerce marketplace for trading cards.

Accomplishments
  • Tools: HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, Python
  • Users can sell and buy items and message other users, made possible with user authentication.
  • Dynamic item filtering and checkout process.
Screenshot of  web app
Soccer Analysis Model

An OpenCV model that aims at generating real-time game stats for a given soccer video.

Accomplishments
  • Tools: YOLO, OpenCV, Python
  • Trained AI/ML model with a 600 image dataset to analyze and predict performance.
  • Tracks player and ball movements for 3 kinds of real-time team statistics.
Screenshot of  web app
Airplane Crash Data App

A MatLab App that visualized crash data.

Accomplishments
  • Developed a user-friendly desktop tool for plane safety analysis by filtering and integrating 2,432 data points.
  • Utilized statistical analysis and data processing skills to identify plane crash trends.

Skills

Languages and Databases

Python
HTML5
CSS3
MySQL
Shell Scripting

Libraries

NumPy
Pandas
OpenCV
scikit-learn
matplotlib
NLTK

Frameworks

Django
Flask

Other

Git
AWS
Heroku

Education

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, Indiana

Degree: Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science

    Relevant Courseworks:

    • Fundamentals of Computing
    • Engineering Computing
    • Engineering Design

Saint Mary's College

Notre Dame, Indiana

Degree: Bachelor's of Science in Computing & Applied Mathematics
CGPA: 3.79/4.00

    Relevant Courseworks:

    • Database Systems
    • Discrete Math
    • Probability
    • Foundations of Higher Math
    • Linear Algebra & Differential Equations

Contact