About Me

Hey there! I'm David, a 22-year old Peruvian-American studying computer science (CS) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK). I'm currently a Master's Candidate in CS at UTK, having just graduated with my Bachelor of Science in CS and Summa Cum Laude honors in May 2026. During my time at school, I've built a strong foundation in artificial intelligence, machine learning, software development, and data structures/algorithms.

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I am currently working as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Tickle College of Engineering's Engineering Fundamentals (EF) program, where I get to lead lab sessions and mentor undergraduate students. I have previously worked the following roles:

• Gas Solutions Technology Intern at Southern Company
• Undergraduate Teaching Assistant at the Tickle College of Engineering's EF program
• Undergraduate Research Assistant for the Social Tactile & Assistive Robotics and Intelligence (STARI) lab

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My interests reside in large language model (LLM) safety and improving our day-to-day interactions with popular commercial models. I've observed recently how others rely on a chatbot for mental health and/or therapeutic purposes. Commercial chatbots are currently not equipped to handle the complexity of human emotions, which has led to tragic consequences over the last couple years. I would love to work improving safeguards on models to ensure they're safe for use before being deployed for production. I would also love to work on developing agentic tools equipped for these complex tasks to potentially lead to agents augmenting the work of therapists in the mental health domain.

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During my free time, I love to watch movies at the theater, produce music, stay active by going to the gym or running, serving at my church, and hanging out with family and friends.