Short Version

25
NYC
ENTP “The Debater”
Software Engineer of 3+ years
I turned my handwriting into this font! 😀

Professionally

Since graduating in 2023, I’ve been working at Spheryx, a startup that makes scientific instruments for the purpose of particle characterization using holographic microscopy. I was introduced to the company by a remarkable professor at NYU. It was there that I majored in Computer Science and minored in both Web Development and Physics.

I am a software engineer by title, but (per startup fashion) I wear many hats. Being in a smaller company allows me to be entrusted with responsibilities that are not typically given to the average engineer of my experience level at an enterprise. I mainly work on the frontend and backend of various desktop applications, which are paired with specialized hardware. I also manage a handful of products, conduct customer visits, handle IT issues, and even bartend during company parties!

A fundamental challenge of creating good software is finding the balance between efficiency, practicality, and aesthetics. There are usually multiple ways to solve a problem, but determining which solution is the best fit is just as calculative as coming up with them. The path to an answer is often littered with mundane but critical details. It was easy to blissfully disregard pedantic matters in college when working on small-scale projects, but my ignorance didn’t last long. By the second year at my job, I was being tasked with orchestrating full development cycles. I had to consider industry standards, marketability, costs, implications, etc., in varying contexts. Having to contemplate perspectives that I had never employed meant climbing some steep learning curves. I am no stranger to that. When I started college, I had never even taken a class in computer science nor physics. Yet I feared that having to concern myself with so many factors would make a project seem more convoluted. Instead, the picture became clearer. I could see the full trajectory of ideas, not just small, discrete steps. I am appreciative of how much multidimensional insight can make the process of reaching a balanced resolution feel less ambiguous, and I am hopeful that future roles will help me refine this judgement even further.

Career-encompassing affirmations:
1) Intuition is the reflection of knowledge absorbed
2) Feeling comfort in discomfort is necessary for growth
3) ASK! QUESTIONS! Even if it’s as simple as “what does that mean?”

Personally

New York is my third home so far. I was born in Brazil, and was raised there until the age of 8, when we relocated to South Florida. At 18, I moved to the city for college. I speak Portuguese natively, English fluently, Spanish conversationally, and French nervously.

I love cosmology, Latin cuisine, making lists, and the human experience.
I spend much of my free time birding, doing NYT crosswords, and entertaining my cats.
I struggle with reading the dozens of impulsively purchased books cluttering my shelves and getting through my watch-list faster than I add movies to it.