I am a senior at the University of Central Florida's Burnett Honors College
majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics.
My goal is to pursue graduate school to earn a Ph.D. in Computer Science.
My research interests are in Computer Vision, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence.
I am versed in the following computer languages: Python, Java, SQL, Golang, SQL, C, and JavaScript. I also have experience with the PyTorch framework for Machine Learning.
Hello World! My name is Tina Tran, and I am a senior at the University of Central Florida’s Burnett Honors College majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics. Ever since I learned about the Go-playing Alpha Go program in high school, I have been interested in learning more about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). This passion has been all the more fueled by the recent explosion of AI-related media due to the infamous ChatGPT. I aspire to become a researcher and push forward the frontier of human knowledge on computational techniques.
Oftentimes others comment on my insatiable thirst for knowledge as the main reason for the multitude of various involvement I have done. However, I believe everything is only possible due to skills in time management, discipline, and perseverance I learned from my extracurricular activities. I am a Kung Fu student and intermediate trumpet player, both activities that require time and effort to improve. In addition, I have learned multiple computer languages when working on projects including Golang, SQL, JavaScript, Java, Python, and C as well as the PyTorch framework for Machine Learning and rudimentary MATLAB. These skills grown through my experiences will benefit me in my research career to avoid burnout and succeed at a technical level.
My current goal is to pursue graduate school to earn a Ph.D. in Computer Science. More specifically, I would like to explore Computer Vision. I am currently conducting research in the Computer Vision field to improve the perception of visual language models. I am also in the ML field studying reinforcement learning to solve the inverse scattering problem to optimize sensor placement in image reconstruction. I recently completed an undergraduate honors thesis on using transformers to create a scalable and efficient music recommendation system. In my undergraduate career, I was part of a group that won second place in The Perception Test Challenge 2024 on the Grounded-Video Question-Answering Task sponsored by Google DeepMind. I presented this work at ECCV 2024 at Milan, Italy. I was accepted into the BS-to-MS Program at UCF to earn my Master’s in Computer Science and I plan to go on to graduate school after I graduate in Spring 2024. In my future career, I hope to make impactful contributions in creating emerging technology in the AI sphere.
I am currently conducting research as a member of the Center for Research in Computer Vision under Dr. Mubarak Shah. My research topis is LLMs / VLMs. I am also in the department of Mathematics with Dr. Carlos Borges in connecting Reinforcement Learning with the Inverse Scattering Problem. I have completed a Honors Undergraduate Thesis with Dr. Rickard Ewetz in Machine Learning with music data.
I am involved in projects both in academics and outside. I am involved with Break Through Tech AI as an ML Fellow, recently working in a small group with LatitudeAI to research Bird's Eye View state-of-the-art research for autonomous vehicles. I led a team in developing a multimedia recommendation system. At my summer internship at Snap One, I used SQL queries to develop a documentation website for the Rebase data lake events. I also work on personal projects with my twin sister, another CS student at UCF. I coded this website using an HTML template.
Outside of academics, I am an active Kung Fu student taking online lessons. I am a brown-belt studying the Mi Zhong Luo Han style, which is within the Northern Shaolin category of Kung Fu. I also play the trumpet, though currently I am taking a break to focus on academics.
Never regard study as a duty, but as the enviable opportunity to learn. - Albert Einstein
My forays into the field of research has shown me the wonders of exploring unknown territory. I very much enjoy learning about new topics and discovering new information. However, research is extremely time-consuming, and I found that results do not always follow a linear path. Nevertheless, conducting research is a joy no matter the outcome, for the hard work done to get the project done is reward enough.
Its not the destination, it’s the journey. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Developing projects always involves time management and careful planning. Sometimes it involves task delegation and learning new skills. Being involved and producing these projects helps me to not only utilize and further develop the soft skills of self administration, but also learn hard skills such as new programming languages, libraries, and/or frameworks. In addition, these projects have involved getting help and/or working with a team of one or more people. Productive and efficient communication is necessary for smooth project development as well as in a research environment.
Of all the things I’ve done, the most vital is coordinating the talents of those who work for us and pointing them toward a certain goal. - Walt Disney
Kung Fu helps me to become more fit physically and challenges me to develop skills in discipline for training. I am proud to see how far I have come from as a premature child with Asthma who started during sophomore year of high school to the brown-belt of today. Physical health is important to maintain to ensure a healthy career and I often utilize discipline outside of Kung Fu when juggling all my academic work and projects. Kung Fu also has challenges to tackle such as trying to practice martial arts online via Zoom while attending school three hours away at UCF. Nevertheless, I try to practice little-by-little each day with hopes of one day earning my black belt.
Playing the trumpet is a fun hobby that I enjoy. I learn the importance of hard work and discipline similar with Kung Fu. Both are activities where dedication and perseverance are key.
Kung Fu lives in everything we do. It lives in how we put on a jacket and how we take off a jacket. It lives in how we treat people. Everything is Kung Fu. - Jackie Chan
Please feel free to contact me if you would like to connect, or are aware of any potential opportunities I may qualify for.