Angelica Willis is a computer science graduate student at Stanford University, specializing in AI. She has a passion for academic excellence and using software engineering to advance humanity. Angelica is a White House Champion of Change for Computer Science Education, a 2015-2017 Student Ambassador to the White House through the White House HBCU All-Stars program, a 2016 CODE2040 Fellow, a 2016 Apple HBCU Scholar, a 7017 Google Women Techmaker Scholar and the first NC A&T student to become a Stanford University Epicenter's University Innovation Fellow, in addition to maintaining a 4.0 GPA at NC A&T. Angelica conducted research in behavioral biometric authentication and computer mediated problem solving, and has interned with NASA where she worked on ecological forecasting research with space satellites to support reforestation in Rwanda. Angelica is spearheading an award-winning initiative to develop an entrepreneurship, design thinking and computer science centered Makerspace for at-risk youth, underrepresented communities and NC A&T students in eastern Greensboro, NC.

When Angelica graduates, she would like to become a Software Engineer who contributes to ambitious, exploratory and ground-breaking projects that will positively and dramatically affect the technological advancement of mankind. She would also like to continue mentoring the next generation of innovators.

Favorite Quote: "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." Henry Ford

L: Myself and Apple CEO Tim Cook
M: Myself and Sebastian Thrun, Stanford University Professor and Udacity CEO
R: Myself and fellow White House Champions of Change outside of the White House

Education

Stanford University
Major: Computer Science, Focus: AI | Expected Graduation Date: June, 2019

North Carolina A&T State University | GPA: 4.00
Major: Computer Science | Graduation Date: May, 2017

Research

Behavioral Biometric Authentication:
• Worked on Active Authentication and Behavioral Biometric Authentication research (Java) within an Agile project environment
• Developed data science solutions for large biometric data sets with several thousand data points each
• Researched implemented the use of Genetic Algorithms to optimize Behavioral Biometric algorithms to reduce space complexity by 95%

Computer-Mediated Problem Solving:
• Developed Machine Learning software (Java) for education based computer mediated problem solving
• Created Natural Language Processing feature extractors for the machine learning system Conducted statistical analysis for experiment results

Publications

Behavioral Biometric Authentication:
• Robert Stokes, Angelica Willis, Kelvin Bryant, Zanetta Tyler, Anthony Dobson. Comparison of Biometric Authentication Software Techniques: GEFE vs. Angle Based Metrics. Modern Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science Conference, 2016. ceur-ws.org/Vol-1584/paper11.pdf

Computer-Mediated Problem Solving:
• Jung Hee Kim, Michael Glass, Taehee Kim, Kelvin Bryant, Angelica Willis, Ebonie McNeil, Zachery Thomas. Student Understanding and Engagement in a Class Employing COMPS Computer Mediated Problem Solving: A First Look. ecommons.udayton.edu/maics/2016/Saturday/11/


• Angelica Willis, Ashana Evans, Jung Hee Kim, Kelvin Bryant, Yesukhei Jagvaral, Michael Glass. Identifying Domain Reasoning to Support Computer Monitoring in Typed-Chat Problem Solving Dialogues. Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges, 2017.

Awards & Honors

• White House Champion of Change for Computer Science Education
• NC Governor's Student Excellence Award
• Google Edge 2014 Program Participant
• 2015-2016 White House Student Ambassador
• NASA DEVELOP National Program Participant
• Stanford University/VentureWell - University Innovation Fellowship
• Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society Highest Freshman GPA Award
• Computer Science Dept. Highest Freshman GPA Award
• Computer Science Dept. Highest Sophomore GPA Award
• Alpha Lambda Delta National Honors Society Induction
• Buick Achievers National Scholarship Winner (General Motors Foundation)
• Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Award Winner (Costco Scholarship)
• Great Lakes National Scholarship Award Winner
• Burger King Scholarship Award Winner
• TechXploration Youth App-a-thon- Most Interactive Mobile Application Award
• Hampton Roads Messenger - Community Development Award
• Greensboro Area Math and Science Education Center - Award for Academic Excellence | Award for Perfect Attendance
• Greensboro Area Math and Science Education Center - 25th Anniversary Logo Design Competition Winner

TECHNICAL SKILLS Java, C++, Python (Certification), SQL, C (basic knowledge level), HTML, CSS, Adobe Indesign, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat Professional, Adobe Flash, FTP, ArcGIS, Erdas Imagine, Cassandra, Agile Development, Genetic Algorithms, Machine Learning



Work Experience

Apple, Inc. - Computer Vision and Machine Learning Intern

• Cupertino, CA | June 2017 - August 2017
• Worked on the Computer Vision and Machine Learning team within the Camera and Photos app team
• Designed, trained and compared computer vision models as part of a con dential R&D project
• Created strategies for ltering millions of noisy data instances
• Side project: lead a design thinking workshop for a group of rst time Apple interns

Google - Applied CS Course Student Facilitator

• Greensboro, NC | August 2016 - Present
• Worked with Google Software Engineers to facilitate a Google CS class
• Assisted in student learning and problem solving skill development in Android, Data Structures and Algorithms

Apple, Inc. - Software Engineering Intern

• Sunnyvale/Cupertino, CA | May 2016 - August 2016
• Developed and completed an independent Machine Learning project focused on Natural Language Processing for fraud prevention
• Created machine learning algorithms to strengthen internal software with 99.6% accuracy
• Presented work to Apple’s Chief Information Officer (only 5 out of about 90 intern projects selected)
• Outcome: Algorithm to provide analytics 6 billion times per day to protect Apple employees

NC A&T Computer Science Dept. - Lead Teaching Assistant

• Greensboro, NC | August 2015 - December 2015
• Lead three sections of Computer Program Design classes labs per week (20+ students per section)
• Facilitated student learning surveys, graded and managed student assignments
• Assisted in ABET accreditation renewal preparation

Bank of America - Online Banking Development Intern

• Charlotte, NC | May 2015 - August 2015
• Worked on Behavioral Biometric Authentication research (Java) within an Agile project environment
• Developed software optimization techniques using genetic algorithms, to efficiently serve millions of online banking customers
• Outcome: Tests show a 20% reduction in fraudulent online banking behavior in test data

National Aeronautics and Space Administration - Intern

• NASA Langley, Hampton, VA | January 2013 - May 2013
• Conducted ecological forecasting research with NASA satellite data for use by the government of the Republic of Rwanda
• Used software like ArcGIS and Erdas to manipulate raw satellite data
• Created land cover classification maps from raw satellite data
• Wrote tutorials for NASA Geographic Information Systems (GIS) related software

Hampton Roads Messenger Newspaper - Web Developer

• Hampton, VA | May 2009 - May 2016
• Built and managed newspaper website used by 4,000+ unique monthly users and created community news content
• Designed article and advertisement layouts
.

N.C. A&T JUNIOR JOINS UNIVERSITY INNOVATION FELLOWS

Junior, computer science major Angelica Willis is the first North Carolina A&T State University student to be named to the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation's (Epicenter) University Innovation Fellows program.

Willis is one of 150 student from 52 colleges and universities in the United States to be chosen for this national program designed to empower student leaders to increase campus engagement with innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity and design thinking. This program is operated by Epicenter, which is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and directed by Stanford University and VentureWell.

Fellows design innovation spaces, start entrepreneurship organizations, host experiential learning events and work with faculty to develop new courses.

To do this, Willis has identified two strategic priorities: Provide a growth factor for student innovation; and promote student interdisciplinary exploration of entrepreneurship. Within these two priorities, seven projects have been identified.