# Nicole Shigiltchoff > Master of Engineering student at MIT, Full-Stack Software Engineer at Vibrantec AI Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/nicoleshigiltchoff Hello! I’m currently pursuing my Master’s thesis at MIT in Computer Science and Machine Learning, where my research focuses on leveraging large-scale electronic health record data to enable earlier and more accurate prediction of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC). I'm also working part-time as a software engineer at Vibrantec on the Weldon AI project, a personalized, chat-based wellness app. Previously, I worked as a software engineer at Capital One in the Enterprise Technology division, but I chose to return to academia to deepen my technical and research expertise and to focus on healthcare-adjacent and data-driven applications where machine learning can have meaningful real-world impact. I graduated undergrad at MIT majoring in Computer Science and Cognitive Science, and I most recently interned at Boston Dynamics AI Institute, where I designed and created Spot Tour Guide, a tool for studying human and robotic interaction. My previous research includes projects in laboratories at the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and MIT. I've also enjoyed being a teaching assistant for MIT's departments of Physics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and Urban Studies and Planning. Besides my continuing technical education and day job, I'm also the owner and manager of a small videography business. I achieved highest booking volume in Richmond, VA among peer videographers in August 2025 and am actively expanding my client base with new contracts in the Boston market. I also love to dance! I hold executive positions in multiple dance groups and crews in the Boston area. ## Work Experience ### Software and Machine Learning Engineer @ Vibrantec (Klearcomm and Weldon) Jan 2026 – Present | Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States Designing, implementing, testing, and deploying a nutrition estimation pipeline from photographs using the OpenAI API for Weldon AI, a personalized chat-based wellness app in development for organizational and personal use. Working full-stack across front-end and back-end components, owning system design and implementation end-to-end. Meeting regularly with client stakeholders and business teams to workshop and refine new features. ### Associate Software Engineer @ Capital One Jan 2024 – Jan 2025 | Richmond, Virginia, United States Independently designed and validated new algorithm to verify software compliance on associates’ computers, accounting for naming variation in version releases; algorithm under review to be released on 50k+ computers by mid-2025. Redesigned tech support browser extension to include options to personalize based on user roles; new extension adopted by 10k+ associates. ### Teaching Assistant, Classical Mechanics and Electricity and Magnetism @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology Jan 2021 – Jan 2024 | Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States Hosting weekly office hours to help students with completing homework and understanding course material, and leading test and quiz review sessions Communicating students’ progress to professors ### Laboratory Intern @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology Jan 2021 – Jan 2024 | Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States I'm analyzing macrophage behavior in response to exposure to M. tuberculosis to determine why macrophages often fail to annihilate this pathogen. In order to do this, I'm altering the length of macrophage binding proteins by designing a plasmid engineering and insertion protocol in mammalian cells. ### Student Researcher @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology Jan 2022 – Jan 2024 Bryson Laboratory, Department of Bioengineering: Developed a multi-module microscopy image analysis pipeline in Python to characterize phagosome composition of macrophage phagocytosis. Featured in MIT UROP Impact Report. Fedorenko Laboratory, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences: Generated linguistic stimuli and analysis pipelines (Python, Pandas) for fMRI experiments on the language network. ### Teaching assistant, Redesigning the Dormitory Food Economy @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology Jan 2021 – Jan 2022 | Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States Collaborated in curriculum development Facilitated ideation and mentored students in completing systems engineering models ### Laboratory Intern @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology Jan 2021 – Jan 2021 | Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States I worked to develop a protocol for efficiently inserting plasmids into Ideonella sakaiensis to fascilitate genetic engineering with this organism for the purpose of bioremediation. ### Laboratory Intern @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 | Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States I designed and created written stimuli for experiments testing properties of the human language network using open-source corpora and Python. I also contributed to quality controlling of these stimuli in Russian, as a native speaker. ### Robotics Intern @ The Boston Dynamics AI Institute Jan 2023 – Jan 2023 | Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States I designed and created Spot Tour Guide, a program that runs on Boston Dynamics Spot robots to study human-robot interactions in a natural environment. I used ROS 2 for robot manipulation and Python for decision making and controls. I implemented multiple external tools and packages, including ChatGPT, Facenet facial recognition, Google speech to text and text to speech. I also helped implement a program to turn Spot robots into interactive yoga instructors. I creatively mapped humanoid movements onto a quadruped robot and designed different poses and actions in Choreographer, a software used to implement complex movements and poses on Spot. When I wasn't working on a project, I choreographed and programmed small dances for Spot and performed them with a robot as a duet! ### Research And Development Intern @ Annexon Biosciences Jan 2022 – Jan 2022 | Brisbane, California, United States I determined the roles of protein subunits of human C1q in M. musculus by synthesizing combinations of mouse and human C1q in order to assist in creating a more accurate mouse model for classical complement-driven diseases. ### Laboratory Intern @ Carnegie Mellon University Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | Pittsburgh, PA I defined optimal properties of polymers (length, type, density) that can be attached to enzymes to prevent denaturation in unfavorable conditions. ### Laboratory Intern @ University of Pittsburgh Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | Pittsburgh, PA I created novel methods of analyzing machine learning algorithms with R to determine the potential location of self-nonself recognition genes in hydroids. With this project, I was recognised as a finalist in the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and as a Regeneron STS scholar in 2020. ## Education ### Master of Engineering in Computer Science Massachusetts Institute of Technology ### Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Cognitive Science, Biomedical Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology ### Bachelor of Science in Computer Science Massachusetts Institute of Technology ### High School Diploma Winchester Thurston School ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nicole-sh --- Source: https://flows.cv/nicoleshigiltchoff JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/nicoleshigiltchoff/resume.json Last updated: 2026-03-31