Master of Science - MS, Computer Science Aug 2022 - Present
University of New Mexico - Albuquerque, NM
Expected: May 2024
Hi! I'm Mari Aoki. I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science in May 2022 and am now working towards a Master's in Computer Science at the University of New Mexico. I am interested in using machine learning technologies to aid in space exploration and hope to one day apply these methods to benefit humanity.
I believe technology is a major human asset that carries great potential in making our lives easier and solving issues that were once seen as irresolvable. I knew I wanted to focus on STEM since I was a little girl but had a difficult time choosing a major when coming to college. I realized that my knack for computers, aptitude to see patterns, and love of puzzles were a perfect fit for studying computer science. Even though my skills are in computer science, I have an unwavering fascination with all things space. From planetarium visits at my local museum to astronomy units in science classes to watching space movies, my interest in space has been around for a long time.
My unique background of having been a full-time undergraduate student while training and competing as a Division 1 student-athlete and being involved in extracurricular activities has given me valuable experiences. It made me someone who is always seeking new opportunities and people, as well as someone who is able to manage priorities. Outside of work you might find me trying a new recipe, looking up new workouts, or reading about various ways to better manage my life and balance myself. I have always been surrounded by a great community and am always looking for ways to connect with others.
This site is an ongoing project, thank you for your patience.
University of New Mexico - Albuquerque, NM
Expected: May 2024
University of New Mexico - Albuquerque, NM
Minors: Mathematics, Japanese. GPA: 3.94/4.0
Activities and societies: UNM Swimming and Diving (Team Co-Captain), Society of Women Engineers, IEEE
Hellgate High School - Missoula, MT
4.0/4.0 GPA, Academic Letter and Varsity Swimming Letter recipient.
Activities and societies: varsity swimming, Math Club, National Honor Society, Hellgate HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America).
COSMIAC - Albuquerque, NM
Lead a distributed controls testbed project to demonstrate its potential for space solar power applications as part of the AFRL SSPIDR project. Worked with two high schoolers to teach them coding, robotics, and aspects of working on an engineering project.
NASA Ames Research Center - Mountain View, CA
Applied natural language processing (NLP) technologies to help NASA streamline the mission certification process for project managers. Developed Python scripts to store mission certification items in a Neo4j database, an API to fetch data, and a UI in React JS to display items on a web dashboard.
COSMIAC - Albuquerque, NM
Researched Keras models to improve solar panel detection for computer vision applications in space. Assessed strategies to convert Darknet model weights to TensorFlow-Keras implementation of YOLOv3 for object detection.
LinkedIn - Sunnyvale, CA
Developed contextual tooltips using Ember.js and JavaScript for Sales Navigator to aid onboarding process for new users to utilize the product quickly and efficiently. Wrote a report on benefits and future potential of using a Session Replay tool in Sales Navigator to better understand user onboarding.
Be Greater Than Average, LLC - Albuquerque, NM
Conducted a social media competitive analysis for 8 business competitors to increase reach and engagement with potential customers. Created a web scraping program to research over 60 keywords and phrases for search engine optimization (SEO) analysis. Assisted in data management using Zoho Customer Relationship Management software.
Lowe's - Bozeman, MT
Full-time temporary seasonal associate position. Operated cash registers, monitored self-check kiosks, and assisted customers in locating items and checking out.
The IEEE University of New Mexico student branch aims to provide professional development, networking, and career growth opportunities to UNM students. The organization hosts various workshops, social events, and presentations from local companies and faculty. As Webmaster, my responsibilities involved updating the club website and keeping our members informed of events and opportunities through social media and email.
The SWE UNM student branch aims to help foster the growth, success, and advancement of women within STEM fields and also provides the community with outreach events to get young kids excited about STEM. As part of the Social Media Committee I was responsible for maintaining the club website and informing members of our events and opportunities through social media.
I swam at the NCAA Division 1level at the University of New Mexico from 2018-2022. Being a student-athlete challenged me to better time-manage, prioritize, work through adversity, and work in a team setting.
Mentored high school students through NM Hacks during Major League Hacking Local Hack Days by attending workshops with them, providing resources, and providing encouragement. September to November 2020. Assisted in teaching and working on projects involving HTML, CSS, GitHub, and Adobe XD.
Volunteered at the Museum of Southwestern Biology in Albuquerque, NM. Assisted in cataloguing and imaging plant specimens for a project to digitalize Herbarium records and update specimen database in Excel.
My skills were developed during my time as an athlete, workshops outside of school, and class projects. I developed several soft skills through athletics such as persistence and teamwork. I am constantly working on bettering my technical skills in software engineering and machine learning through projects, classes, and workshops.
My most recent work from classes, internships, and projects are primarily in Python.
I have worked on natural language processing (NLP) and image classification tasks.
I've worked with EmberJS and ReactJS in past internships and have worked on various front-end tasks.
I've lead a couple small technical projects and also served as co-captain for a college swim team.
I work to reach my goals and find ways to push through adversity.
My time as a student-athlete in college has prepared me to balance many things in life.
I value work-life balance very much. Here are some things you may find me doing outside of school or work: