I am a Masters' Student at ETH Zürich in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, but I am much more!
If you want to know more about me, just scroll down or contact me!
I'm an electronical engineering student, currently pursuing my master's at ETH Zürich after graduating cum laude from the University of Rome Tor Vergata.
What I love most about engineering is understanding what is really going on inside the everyday devices around us. My first encounter with STEM was at the age of 8, when I found the Scratch booth at Maker Faire Rome. Even that young, it felt like a revelation. In high school I became fascinated by the progress of modern technology, and this interest deepened at the EPFL "Build your own robot" workshop. There I improved my Python skills and, most importantly, saw how abstract theory can become a tangible, working autonomous system. That realisation carried me through my bachelor's, and it still fuels my motivation for my master's at ETH.
But I'm much more than my engineering side. I've been saber fencing since 2011, and I think it has shaped my personality. I like a good competition because it keeps me improving, and I've learned never to give up and to adapt. In a match you have milliseconds to choose your next move based on all the previous touches, and then you have to stick with it: a small hesitation can cost the point. But if your opponent changes strategy, you have to find the counter almost immediately.
I also love Model UN, because it lets me rewrite the narrative, even if only in role play, of the world's biggest problems. After taking part in several simulations as a delegate, I moved on to directing them. It has been a great chance to grow personally and to build my soft and teaching skills. Directing committees in Rome and in New York City has been a true honour, and watching young delegates learn to debate gives me real hope for the future.
This is far from everything about me. If you'd like to know how all my side quests helped me become who I am on the way to the main quest, I'd love to hear from you!
Valeria
Expected June 2028
Sep 2023 – Jul 2026 · 110/110 cum laude · GPA 28.8/30
Aug 2018 – Jul 2023 · 100/100
Some of the things I love the most and some of the things I'm going towards.
Research, hardware and a few things I built to understand how they work.
MATLAB · 5G NR · Signal Processing
First-authored a paper on 5G UL passive localization exploiting SRS as illuminators of opportunity, accepted at IEEE ISAC Lisbon 2026. Re-engineered an existing active DL radar MATLAB simulator into a 5G UL passive localization system; the structure-aware strategy improved detection probability from 49% to 77% over a conventional blind approach.
VHDL · Xilinx Vivado
Designed and synthesized state machine architectures for digital hardware, working through synthesis constraints, timing analysis and power consumption.
Problem Solving · Critical Thinking
Designed training plans and provided technical/tactical coaching for young competitive athletes. Officiated national competitions, demonstrating rapid decision-making and impartial rule enforcement under high pressure.
Leadership&Teamwork · Public Speaking · Time Management
Designed training plans and provided technical/tactical coaching for young competitive athletes. Officiated national competitions, demonstrating rapid decision-making and impartial rule enforcement under high pressure.
Python · Tinkercad · micro:bit
Built at the EPFL robotics workshop: a mobile robot with ultrasonic obstacle avoidance and a radio remote that steers with a second micro:bit's accelerometer.