My name is Sebastián A. Cruz Romero and I am from Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico, located in the south side of Puerto Rico. I currently reside in Mayagüez as I am a rising senior at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez majoring in Computer Science and Engineering.

While my academic training is in engineering and computing, I do have a keen interest in the life sciences and research. Particularly, my interests align in two things: computational approaches to biological phenomena. My last research project for the Computational Optics and Imaging Laboratory (COIL UPRM) under the mentorship of Dr. Heidy Sierra, we leverage the use of biomedical signals to detect abnormalities in a persons health vitals. Our work prioritized minimally or non-invasive ways to acquire medical data, therefore, the use of electrocardiography (EEG) or photoplethysmography (PPG) to estimate changes in blood volume that could be correlated with sepsis through oxygen saturation, blood pressure or heart rate. Our work was presented at the International Symposium on Intelligent Computing and Networking (ISICN) 2024 and can read our most recent publication in the following link.

Currently, I'm in Los Ángeles, CA participating in the Apple and NACME Inc. Artificial Intelligence-Machine Learning (AIML) Intensive Bootcamp hosted by the University of Southern California (USC) Viterbi School of Engineering and the School of Advanced Computing. Under the mentorship of Dr. Corey E. Baker I am provided with an introduction to computer science content to be qualified for positions as entry-level Machine Learning (ML) Specialists. Specifically, to to understand how to apply statistics and ML to solve real-world data science problems. If you want to learn more about the program, you can do so in the following link.