About Myself
Hi, I'm Karena. I am currently exploring new opportunities at the intersection of education and technology. I previously worked at Cruise as a Senior Applied Scientist II on the Behaviors team.
I am:
- A self-starter and eager to learn anything and everything
- Passionate about teaching, communication, and collaboration
You can sometimes find me running, hiking, learning something new, or in the middle of a good book.
Skills
Coding
Python 
Pytorch 
JAX 
Tensorflow C++ C++
SQL 
ROS Tools
Cursor 
Claude Code 
Codex 
Claude Agent SDK 
Figma 
Lucidchart 
Notion Career
Founder & Creator
joinCurioCity
Nov 2024-Present
- YouTube & X & Course Platform. Built an AI education platform teaching developers to use Claude Code, Cursor, and other AI coding assistants to create production-ready apps.
- Reach & Impact. Reached 2K+ learners across YouTube and X; taught 20+ students through project-based courses with exceptional reviews.
- Speaking & Teaching. Invited speaker and guest lecturer on AI coding tools for industry and university partners.
Technologies:
AI Education Content Creation Course Development
Tech Onboarding Consulting
KXC Consulting LLC
June 2025-Aug 2025
- Onboarding Hub Development. Developed a centralized, scalable, maintainable onboarding hub with high-impact tutorials, standardized templates, technical bootcamps, and clear documentation ownership.
- Impact & Results. Accelerated ramp-up for 80+ engineers, reducing reliance on SMEs, and achieving 30× higher documentation engagement across engineering teams.
Technologies:
Technical Documentation Onboarding Engineering Enablement
Senior Applied Scientist II
Cruise LLC
Oct 2021-Nov 2024
- Core AV Decision-Making Model. Re-architecture of the ml-model led to >40% impact for safety critical performance on the road; Developed and scaled core workflows for feature development, and testing and eval.
- Behavior Testing and Evaluation. Led team in designing and implementing a pre-merge behavioral testing protocol that has caught >5x behavioral regressions in simulation with >3x time improvement in eval workflows.
- Behaviors 101/201. Spearheaded the development of two courses on the end-to-end architectural design of the AV stack and standard engineering workflows. Organized and led 19 sessions with ~100 avg attendees per session.
- Autonomy Docs Website. Championed and led the creation of Cruise's Autonomy Org website, centralizing and making critical documentation accessible for the Perception, Behaviors, and Motion teams.
Technologies:
Python ML ROS C++
Educational Content Designer Contractor
Exponent, Teleport, Yscape
Present
- Content Creation. For the System Design and Data Structures courses for the interview prep start-up Exponent.
- Developer User Guide Design. For the Extraction-Transform-Load (ETL) startup Teleport and data startup Yscape.
Technologies:
Technical Writing Documentation Education
Prediction Engineering Intern
Lyft Level 5
Summer 2019
- Core ML Prediction Models. Innovated new ML models based and improved the accuracy of existing prediction tools by 30%.
Technologies:
Python ML Prediction Models
Education
Control and Dynamical Systems PhD
Caltech
2015-2021
- PhD Research. Created the notion of behavioral contracts to formally guarantee safety and progress of self-driving cars.
- CMS TAs Lead. Hosted workshop to mentor TAs and teach best practices. Created and designed CMS TAs website for source of best TA practices.
- Healthy Collaboration Workshop. Organized and hosted a workshop to encourage healthier collaborations at Caltech.
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Bachelors
Princeton University
2011-2015
- Library regular, E-Quad inhabitant, made friends, built and broke stuff, and investigated how nature could inspire robotics.
- Minors. Applications of Computing, Robotics and Intelligent Systems.