Open to full-time roles | Graduating May 2027

AI/ML EngineerSoftware EngineerData Scientist

Ariana Daka

Software engineer turned AI/ML engineer, building products where machine learning makes everyday things easier.

I'm Ariana, a software engineer turned AI/ML engineer. I spent four and a half years building web platforms and APIs in Kosovo, where I grew up as the youngest of six in a big family, and I'm now finishing an M.S. in Artificial Intelligence at NJIT. I like building products where machine learning makes something feel simpler, like Flyeasy, the app I'm building to help travelers meet the people on their flight. Outside of work you'll find me at tech events, a book club, or on a walk.

Resume (PDF)Contact

New Jersey, USACurrently authorized to work in the US

right now

Building Flyeasy (opens in a new tab)
Studying Deep Learning
Studying AI for Robotics

Skills and keywords

AI / ML

Python
TensorFlow
NLP
Data Mining
Regression
Classification
Information Retrieval
Text Ranking
LLM Integration (Claude, Gemini)
ML Models
Reinforcement Learning
Deep Learning

Data

Data Cleaning
Feature Engineering
SQL
PostgreSQL / Supabase
Database Design
Hadoop
Spark
AWS EC2
Time-Series Data

Software Engineering

Angular
TypeScript
JavaScript
React Native
PHP
PHPUnit
Full-Stack Development
API Integration
Cross-Platform Apps
Cloud Build & Deployment
Git Versioning

Professional

Cross-Functional Collaboration
Teamwork & Communication
Problem Solving
Agile Methodology
Technical Writing / Documentation

Education

Sep 2025 – May 2027

New Jersey Institute of Technology

M.S. Artificial Intelligence · Data Science department

GPA 3.917

Intro to Big Data
Data Mining
Python & Mathematics
Machine Learning
Reinforcement Learning

Expected graduationMay 2027

United States

2018 – 2020

Rochester Institute of Technology

M.S. Information Sciences & Technologies

GPA 3.92 · KAEF Fellow

United States

2012 – 2016

University of Prishtina "Hasan Prishtina"

B.S. Computer Engineering

Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Kosovo

Top 3 projects

OngoingSoloApr 2026 – Ongoing

Flyeasy

Mobile app that connects solo travelers with verified passengers on their exact flight, before takeoff.

Started at the NJIT Claude Builder Club Hackathon 2026

Cross-platform (iOS, Android, web) app: save a verified flight, see who else is on it, connect and chat before departure
LLM feature (Claude API) that suggests places to eat, rest or spend time at your terminal, based on layover length
Consent-first social model: connections are reciprocal and flights are verified against real airline schedules
Privacy by design: connections are mutual (nobody messages you uninvited), a single switch hides you from all lists without deleting anything, and either side can pause a conversation without losing history
Strict-TypeScript codebase on Supabase with a runtime-swappable theme system

React Native
Expo
TypeScript
Supabase (Postgres)
AeroDataBox API
Claude API

Visit the website (Flyeasy, opens in a new tab)code (Flyeasy, opens in a new tab)devpost (Flyeasy, opens in a new tab)

ShippedCourse

RL for Skin Cancer Decision Support

Replication and extension of a Nature Medicine reinforcement-learning model that treats missed melanoma as costlier than over-treatment.

NJIT Reinforcement Learning course · Team of 3 · Experimental replication

Python
TensorFlow
DQN
HAM10000

write-up (RL for Skin Cancer Decision Support, opens in a new tab)code (RL for Skin Cancer Decision Support, opens in a new tab)

ShippedHackathon

Canopy

AI meeting-to-action engine that turns conversations into traceable commitments, project trees and audio briefings.

Team of 4 · Backend and data (formatting, storage, API integrations)

Python
FastAPI
PostgreSQL
TimescaleDB
Google Gemini
ElevenLabs
Azure Speech
Next.js
TypeScript

demo (Canopy, opens in a new tab)code (Canopy, opens in a new tab)devpost (Canopy, opens in a new tab)

More projects

!readdit

News search that ranks articles with POS-tag cosine similarity and shows the storyline as a graph.

nlp
information-retrieval
Feb 2019

code (!readdit, opens in a new tab)

House Price Prediction

Solo machine-learning course project predicting house prices.

ml
regression
Jan 2026

code (House Price Prediction, opens in a new tab)write-up (House Price Prediction, opens in a new tab)

US Gun Violence Incidents Analysis

Data analysis of gun violence incidents in the United States.

Apr 2019

code (US Gun Violence Incidents Analysis, opens in a new tab)

Recruiter Inbox Digest

Python + Gmail API tool that finds recruiter emails buried in an inbox and extracts the company and role from each one.

automation
nlp
tooling
Jan 2026

code (Recruiter Inbox Digest, opens in a new tab)

Work experience

Feb 2023 – Jul 2025
Pristina, Kosovo
Litera
Software Engineer
Shipment-tracking platform for law offices
- Maintained a shipment-tracking web platform for law offices, integrating major US shipping vendors
- Built, deployed and tested 5 third-party APIs within a one-month deadline to keep the platform in service
- Fixed a critical data-integration bug that mixed up data for up to 10% of shipments
- Shipped fixes for security issues, preventing unauthorized access
- PHP 8
- PHPUnit
- SQL
Jan 2021 – Dec 2022
Pristina, Kosovo
KODE Labs
Software Engineer
- Upgraded Angular v9 to v13 and optimized code, cutting Google Cloud build time from 25 to 9 minutes
- Built a billing and invoice tracking system that improved customer cash flow
- Designed and built a project-progress feature combining signals from multiple sources into one view
- Worked with designers and managers to improve UX
- Angular
- TypeScript
- Google Cloud

Awards and scholarships

Selected Dec 2017

Kosovo-American Education Fund (KAEF) Graduate Fellowship

Funded graduate study at RIT starting Aug 2018

2018

RIT Graduate Assistant Scholarship

2025

NJIT Merit-based Scholarship

Interests and hobbies

tv
Seinfeld is the all-time favorite
video games
Sims, Final Fantasy, Witcher, Resident Evil
anime fan
Dragon Ball, Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail
music
Every genre, depending on the mood
outdoors
Walks in nice weather
people
Tech events and meeting people
books
Hoboken Silent Book Club

volunteering

Organizational and PR volunteer, National Youth Congress Kosovo (2018)
Helping clean up after church social gatherings.

fun fact

Picked up basic German as a kid by watching TV in German (Dragon Ball and Fox shows)

languages

EnglishGerman (basic)Albanian (native)