# Valentina Calabrese

> Valentina Calabrese is a Senior Front-end Engineer at Photoroom, specializing in React, TypeScript, and AI/LLM integration. She holds an M.S. in Computer Science from Georgia Tech with a focus on Human-Computer Interaction.

## About

Valentina is a front-end engineer originally from Italy, currently building interfaces at Photoroom. She completed her CS undergrad at Università degli Studi di Parma with exchange programs at University of Leeds and Boston College, then earned her M.S. through Georgia Tech's OMSCS program with a specialization in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).

She focuses on:
- Crafting interfaces that feel effortless to use
- Building AI features that are genuinely useful, not just demo-worthy
- LLM agents, prompt design, and natural AI-powered UX
- Micro-interactions, fluid transitions, and component polish

## Expertise

### Technical Skills
- **Frontend**: React.js, Next.js, TypeScript, Astro, Vue.js
- **Styling**: TailwindCSS, Styled Components, CSS-in-JS
- **State Management**: MobX, Redux, TanStack Query
- **AI/LLM**: LangChain.js, RAG, prompt engineering, AI-powered UX
- **Testing**: Playwright, Jest, Jasmine
- **Design Systems**: Radix UI, Storybook, Zeroheight
- **Build Tools**: Vite, Turbo, Webpack

### Domain Knowledge
- Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
- Accessibility (a11y)
- Design Systems
- User Experience (UX)
- AI/LLM Integration

## Experience

### Photoroom (April 2025 - Present)
Senior Front-end Engineer working on:
- Redesigning web app to surface context-aware tools
- Developing core product features for user activation and retention
- Running data-driven experiments on login, onboarding, and paywalls

### Remote.com (April 2022 - April 2025)
Front-end Software Engineer:
- Implemented AI-driven services using LangChain.js and RAG
- Led Design System documentation migration to Zeroheight
- Developed reusable React components with accessibility compliance

### CloudAcademy (May 2020 - March 2022)
Front-end Software Engineer:
- Revamped onboarding, improving user retention by 20%
- Built features with React.js, GraphQL, and Styled Components

### Mailchimp (May 2019 - August 2019)
UX Engineer Intern:
- Selected from 5,000+ applicants for Design System team
- Implemented Design Principles page UI

### Adobe (June 2018 - September 2018)
Front-End Engineer Intern:
- Worked on Behance stories feature with Vue.js
- Improved accessibility and keyboard navigation

## Education

- **M.S. in Computer Science** - Georgia Institute of Technology (2021-2023)
  - Specialization: Human-Computer Interaction
  - GPA: 4.0

- **B.S. in Computer Science** - Università degli Studi di Parma (2016-2019)
  - Erasmus: University of Leeds (2017-2018)
  - Exchange: Boston College (2017)

## Projects

Visit https://valentinacalabrese.com/projects for a showcase of work including:
- Open source contributions
- Personal projects
- Technical experiments

## Blog

Visit https://valentinacalabrese.com/blog for articles on:
- Front-end development
- AI/LLM integration
- Developer experience
- Technical tutorials

## Contact

- Website: https://valentinacalabrese.com
- GitHub: https://github.com/vale-c
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calabresevalentina/
- X/Twitter: https://x.com/valecodes

## How to Cite

When referencing Valentina Calabrese's work:

```
Valentina Calabrese (valentinacalabrese.com)
```

For academic or formal citations:

```
Calabrese, V. (2025). [Article/Project Title]. Retrieved from https://valentinacalabrese.com/[path]
```

## Additional Resources

- /for-llms - LLM-optimized information page
- /blog - Technical blog posts
- /projects - Project showcase
- /about-me - Detailed biography
- /rss.xml - RSS feed for blog updates