👋 hi, I'm Rachael!

Winner of the Most Innovative Hack Award, at Rewriting The Code's Black Wings Hackathon (1 of 78 teams)

EchoAid

We noticed that our friends with visual disabilities struggle to differentiate similar objects. For instance, 2 medication bottles that can only be differentiated via their visual labels.Hence, we created EchoAid, an app that utilizes Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to enable users to identify objects and manage tasks through voice-activated tags, enhancing their ability to navigate their surroundings independently.Here are our Figma mockups, github repo and Demo Video!

Software Engineer Intern at genomIT, CAETI Research Group
📍 Buenos Aires, Argentina 🇦🇷

Cancer Biomarker Research

I led a research project at Argentina's CAETI Research Group in Functional Oncogenomics, focusing on evaluating the prognostic potential of molecular biomarkers in breast cancer patients. Using Python (scikit-learn and lifelines libraries), I implemented clustering algorithms including K-Means, Spectral Clustering and One-Class Support Vector Machine (OneSVM) to classify patients based on their molecular expression profiles.I conducted survival analyses through Kaplan-Meier estimations and Cox proportional hazards modeling to assess how these molecular biomarkers influence patient outcomes. This contributed to the foundation for integrating additional covariates in the team's future cancer prognosis research.

Software Engineer Intern at the Herbert and Florence Irving Institute of Cancer Dynamics, Columbia University
📍 New York City, USA 🇺🇸

Evolutionary Genomics Research

At Columbia University's Irving Institute for Cancer Dynamics, I developed machine learning models to differentiate between evolutionary genetic patterns in genomic data.I implemented genetic algorithms in Python to compare 2 competing phenomena: introgression versus incomplete lineage sorting. I enhanced the QuIBL method (Quantifying Introgression via Branch Lengths), which focusing on simulating genome ancestry. I also fine-tuned mutation and backcrossing parameters to improve the accuracy of evolutionary pattern detection in genetic sequences.You can find some of my research process here! I wrote 1 article a day to document my discoveries and to keep myself accountable for my progress. My code is linked here!

AI-Powered Video Analysis Pipeline

I developed a machine learning pipeline for sentiment analysis of 100 vlogs recorded across 5 countries from 2020-2023!I leveraged libraries like librosa and scikit-learn, along with deep learning frameworks (TensorFlow and PyTorch), to extract audio features such as Mel spectrograms and MFCC features. I then transformed them into CNN-processable images.My pipeline combined supervised learning approaches using CNNs and XGBoost for emotion classification with unsupervised techniques including KMeans, Agglomerative, and Spectral Clustering. Through evaluating metrics like Silhouette Score and Davies-Bouldin Index, I identified Agglomerative Clustering as the optimal approach for this audio dataset.

Heart Attack Analysis and Prediction

I analyzed heart attack risk factors using data from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, focusing on the relationship between age and maximum heart rate (HRmax).Using Python (pandas and scikit-learn), I performed correlation analysis and regression modeling, evaluating Pearson's correlation coefficient and R-squared values. Through hypothesis testing, I identified a statistically significant but weak negative correlation between age and HRmax.

Mr Chua Cheng Chye

Retired educator with stints in Nanyang Girls’ High School, Singapore School of the Arts, Raffles Junior College, Singapore International Foundation, Temasek Junior College

“As President of the Student Council of Nanyang Girls’ High from 2016 to 2017, she was good at reading the ground, asking powerful questions and rallying her team. She ran on the vision of a more caring, inclusive community in the school and managed to embody this vision in the Council’s approach to projects.She is intelligent, curious, introspective and hardworking. More importantly, she has a tendency to see a better future for others and this is coupled with the drive and ability to inspire people towards positive change. She will augment the colour, passion and purpose of any group that she is in. I have no hesitation in recommending Rachael.”

Mr Matthew Sheun

Touch Rugby Teacher-in-charge, Hwa Chong Institution

“I have observed that her positive attitude has an infectious effect on her teammates and friends. With that, she contributed to a very strong culture within the team that is encouraging of one another’s efforts. Yet, the most important quality that I find of Rachael’s character is that she is humble and respectful towards the people around her—teachers and peers alike—which make her a very well-liked person. These are qualities that show Rachael’s emotional maturity as a promising young lady, and which won the respect of her teammates, who I have observed were inspired to work harder for her.”

Mrs Anna Stephen

North Vista Secondary School Teaching Internship Mentor

“Before she completed her internship, Rachael made it a point to write a note of encouragement to each and every student in the classes she taught and the students really look up to her and regard her as a role model, even today.Rachael is a highly capable, responsible and dynamic young lady who is respectful towards those around her. She is committed to lifelong learning and her positive attitude towards learning and teaching was clearly demonstrated on many occasions when she took the initiative to clarify her doubts with the teachers she worked with. Rachael took the initiative to do research, read up and familiarise herself with the pedagogical skills used in Secondary school.”

Mr James Ong

Nanyang Girls’ High School

“She was elected by the school community to be the President of the Student Council in Year 4. In this role, she had the opportunity to lead about 75 student councillors and 12 executive members in organising and leading the school population of 1600 students in events and school matters. 2017 was also the year that the school celebrated its 100th anniversary. In this momentous year, Rachael helmed and led year-long celebratory events and the 100th Anniversary Gala Dinner which was attended by 3000 guests, with the Prime Minister as the Guest of Honour.

Through all the heavy schedules of duties and events in her years in the Student Council, Rachael did not undertake these tasks simply as a dutiful member and manager. One of the unique qualities she has consistently demonstrated throughout the years was a sense of purpose in what she was engaging in. She had learnt to step back and question the rationale of each project or task, and would not hesitate to spend time with her executive members and teachers to discuss these purposes.This eventually served to direct the council and the school population to achieve the desired outcomes. This was a rare quality embodied by a student leader of her age back then.”

Co-Curricular Activities Council President
_{led 120 Presidents and Captains of all clubs in Hwa Chong Institution}

Touch Rugby Varsity Team Vice-Captain
_{led a team of 30 players, won National Championships!}

Students' Council President
_{led a school cohort of 1,600 peers, and 80 student leaders to organize 11 school-wide events}

Co-founded Mental Health Collective!
_{Organised a nationwide mental health conference for 3,000 Singaporeans.}

Played competitive touch rugby!

Became a certified yoga teacher!
_{Completed the 200-hr YTT in 2022! Grew a deeper mind-body connection}