Hello World!

My name is Dianella Sy, and I am a third-year undergraduate student majoring in Computer Science at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF).

Before my dad retired, he was a Computer and Network Technician at the school district where I attended elementary school, so from a young age, I was exposed to computers. I was introduced to computer science in fifth grade and took coding lessons through Code.org’s Minecraft Hour of Code Tutorials and created my own Flappy Bird Game. Because of my long-term interest in computer science, in my junior year of high school, I took AP Computer Science Principles, an introductory college-level course, where I learned algorithms, programming, computer systems, networks, and data analysis. I was interested in learning more about computer science, so after taking the course and passing the AP exam, I chose to major in Computer Science at CSUF, where my older brother also attended college.

During my second year at CSUF, I was the Treasurer for the chapter club, Association for Computing Machinery-Women, where I managed all financial affairs and budgeting, as well as maintained the agency accounts for the organization. I also encouraged and supported 15 women pursuing a computer science major and hosted 15+ technical workshops. In addition to being Treasurer, in the spring semester, I attended my first hackathon, FullyHacks 2025, where I won Best Game Project.

This summer, I participated in the 2025 CIC Summer Research Program at CSUF. During this seven-week research experience, I explored Pairs Trading by engaging in structured virtual lectures, working on a research project, collaborating with faculty and peers, and gaining valuable experience applying computer science concepts to real-world problems. In addition, I was also 1 out of the 100, from an applicant pool of nearly 900, selected to attend the CSU AI Summer Camp 2025 at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, sponsored by Amazon Web Services (AWS). I worked with a team of 5 to solve pressing challenges and opportunities in the CSU system, applied AI technologies through hands-on workshops and mentored projects, and pitched my team’s ideas and prototypes to my peers and mentors in a 2-day applied AI hackathon. At the end of the camp, my team and I were awarded as the third-place winners for our project, MathPath AI - Cal Poly Math Placement Assistant.

As a third-year student, I am a Computer Science Supplemental Instruction Leader, where I facilitate two group sessions weekly where students meet to improve their understanding of the course materials in the class, Computer Organization and Assembly Language. I am also the Webmaster and Open Source Team Lead for the CSUF chapter club, Association for Computing Machinery. As Webmaster, I maintain the Association for Computing Machinery CSUF’s website, acmcsuf.com, the largest open-source project for the chapter club, and update it with new information. I also guide students with issues listed on GitHub and mentor how to solve the issue, providing hands-on experience in contributing to open-source projects. As Open Source Team Lead, I present and organize weekly technical workshops for students, such as instructing them to make a first contribution to the acmcsufoss organization, hands-on coding, and real-world open source projects.

After I graduate, I plan to pursue a master's degree and a PhD while working as a software engineer. I am excited and looking forward to working in the same field as my dad, applying all of the topics I learned in fifth grade through Code.org, AP Computer Science Principles, and my college courses to the real world, expanding my technical skills, and gaining hands-on experience.