Melissa is a proud Marist class of 2021 alumnae with degrees in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, and Games & Emerging Media. While at Marist, she was the Vice President of the class of 2021, President of Game Society, a choreographer for Dance Ensemble, a model for the fashion department, and a tutor for programming lab. She went on to complete her Master’s in Cybersecurity at Syracuse University, spending her time there developing her research on Ethics and problems of Biometrics, Ethics and problems of Machine Learning, and analyzing the Ethics of bring-your-own-device policies. 

She is a former IBMer and has been featured on IBM social media multiple times. Most of her time was spent developing tests for IBM Z’s cryptography cards . She also learned the ins and outs of the IBM Z mainframe, from hardware to software and what it takes to test a massive computer like a Z! She’s happy to talk about the components and their purposes (Telum processor, I/O cards, etc) to anyone who is willing to listen. 

Aside from IBM, she also worked at varying game studios, being involved in the game development process from beginning to end in all roles- designer, programmer, artist, writer, director, anything that was needed, and was able to publish a few completed games. 
Her research interests include most security related things but specifically, ethics and legality in cyberspace, piracy and legality of video games, safety & impact of tools like ChatGPT, and knowing the ins and outs of large data breaches as they arise.

Outside of her credentials, she is a first-generation child of Polish immigrants and loves crossfit, powerlifting, dancing, playing games, her pets, and Disco Polo.