"I took a 30-minute nap in a stairwell."

-Makala Hieshima

"This is Life with Lisa Ling" S3, Ep 5

Friendly and outgoing, Makala can strike up a conversation anywhere from a game of League of Legends to a Bring Me the Horizon concert. When she's not on the rift or headbanging, you might find her looking for new restaurants to try or dressing her blue pitbull Baby in seasonal attire.

As a full-stack developer, the languages Makala programs in are as diverse as her hobbies. She is self-motivated, and will tackle any obstacle placed before her (preferably with the assistance of Starbucks). She once programmed an audio visualizer for a 360-degree LED circuit in a language she'd never used before without internet access.

Makala graduated in June 2019 from Carleton College in Northfield, MN with a Sociology & Anthropology major. Following graduation, she started her career full-time in the cyber security industry as a User Experience Engineer at CrowdStrike, and has since been promoted twice--she is currently an Engineer III.

"I took a 30-minute nap in a stairwell."

-Makala Hieshima

"This is Life with Lisa Ling" S3, Ep 5

Passive

Rally the Troops

Allies gain health, cooldown reduction, and enthusiasm when in proximity to Makala.

Communication, cooperation, adaptability, patience, receptiveness, motivation to excel.

Q

I'm In!

Makala efficiently programs a solution to a problem, doing damage by outshining the competition.

Python, Java, HTML, CSS, JavaScript (Ember.js), TypeScript, Arduino, C, C++, MATLAB.

W

How Can I Help You?

Makala conducts user experience research with her target user base; each usage increases the effectiveness of I'm In.

In-depth interviewing, surveys, participant observation.

E

It's a Trap!

Potential clients must stop to admire easy-to-use, aesthetically-pleasing products.

InDesign, Illustrator, PhotoShop, Lightroom, photography, film, marketing.

R

Churros

Makala finds a plethora of churros and distributes them to her team.

Churros.

Education

Carleton College Class of 2019

Bachelor of Arts, Sociology & Anthropology

Senior Thesis on Kanaka Maoli Perspectives on Hapa Identity.

Coursework, Computer Science

CS 111: AP Computer Science, CS 201: Data Structures, CS 231: Computer Security, CS 361: Evolutionary Computing & Artificial Life.

Coursework, Studio Art

ARTS 110: Observational Drawing, ARTS 114: Introduction to Architectural Drawing, ARTS 274: Printmaking.

Work Experience

Computer Science & Cyber Security

Makala discovered her passion for computer science in her high school robotics club. Driven to further explore programming, she began attending hackathons on the recommendation of her robotics mentor. Since then, she's won sponsor prizes or placed in the top 3 of 8 separate events, excelled as a senior-level support technician at Carleton College's ITS Department, and interned at AuSim as a Software Engineer. Her final summer before college graduation, she interned with CrowdStrike as a Threat Hunting Intern, then secured a post-graduation job with the company as a User Experience Engineer. More details are available in her resume.

Media & Design

Makala has previously worked as both a freelance photographer and freelance graphic designer, and has participated in a variety of photography and videography competitions.

Extracurriculars

Developer's Exchange

As 2016-17 Director of Hackathons for Carleton College's Developer's Exchange, Makala organized CarlHacks Gives Back--the third iteration of Carleton's annual hackathon.

Dance

At 3-years-old, Makala began training in classical ballet at the West Coast Ballet. Since then, she's trained with the Royal Ballet of Antwerp and the Gelsey Kirkland Academy, founded a Jazz Contemporary Dance Company, and regularly choreographed for and performed in Experimental Dance Board during her time at Carleton.

Martial Arts

Makala earned her third degree black belt in Dynamic Circle HapKiDo by the age of 16, is self-taught in throwing knives, and hopes to expand her training to other forms of martial arts in the future.

Rickroll 2.0

A virus which opens the "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video--intermittently at first, then increasing in frequency to the point of a shutdown of the host machine.

Evil Twin Attack

Created an evil twin to a verified university access point, booted users off the original access point to force connection to the evil twin, then monitored and redirected network traffic.

Chill Blue & Chill Two

Anxiety relief applications activated by changes in heart rate.