I am a senior at Duke University pursuing a B.S. in Computer Science with a minor in Creative Writing. My work lives at the intersection of technical depth and creative expression, driven by a belief that the most meaningful technologies are those that deepen learning, support sustainability, and empower the user. I am passionate about building AI systems that push the boundaries of technology while centering human trust, creativity, and connection.
I began coding as a freshman in high school, quickly falling in love with it, taking every computer science elective available and spending my free time building playful projects for friends and myself. These early projects included an ASMR meditation web app, a cat-themed version of brick breaker, and a geometric drawing app. My initial infatuation with coding grew into a lasting passion. At Duke, that passion has matured through rigorous coursework in algorithms, systems, and machine learning. Outside of academics, I have continued exploring through personal projects and professional experience.
Over the past few years, I have designed and deployed AI-driven systems across academic, professional, and personal contexts. As an Artificial Intelligence Intern at Splash Sports, I built production-ready RAG applications and modular frameworks for customizable AI agents. One of my projects, a Slack-integrated bug-fixing agent, was adopted across multiple teams and taught me that building responsible, trustworthy AI is as much about people as it is about code. Gaining user trust required constant iteration, thoughtful design, and humility, and seeing my work go to production pushed me to continue building beyond the classroom and the workplace.
My personal projects reflect my love for blending engineering with creativity. I have built VADMap, an emotional mapping platform powered by a custom RoBERTa model; Dream Catcher, a graph-based dream association tool; and Dance Partner, an application that tracks movement in real time and visualizes it through a skeleton and aura. Across these projects, I enjoy translating abstract ideas into intuitive, user-friendly experiences.
Human connectivity is a core throughline in everything I do. At Duke, I serve as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant for Design and Analysis of Algorithms, where I co-teach recitations and work to create classroom environments that encourage curiosity, persistence, and confidence. My experiences as a coding tutor, FEMMES+ mentor, DTech member, and Applied Machine Learning Engineer have strengthened my ability to collaborate across diverse teams while supporting inclusive growth in STEM.
Beyond computer science, I actively engage with philosophy, literature, and sociology, often balancing my semesters as a computer science major with humanities courses. These interdisciplinary explorations ground my technical work in broader questions about values, culture, and meaning.
In my free time, I am a DJ at WXDU and the founder of Allies With Advice, a mentorship platform for pediatric arthritis patients focused on improving digital accessibility. I also enjoy meditation, reading, and writing. Whether I am writing code, reading books, or creating art, I am motivated by a desire to always learn, grow, and build.
Contact me
Email: maya.markus-malone@duke.edu
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maya-markus-malone/
GitHub: https://github.com/mmarkusmalone
Hugging Face: https://huggingface.co/mmarkusmalone