Hi! I'm Charlie 👋

Student. Analyst. Problem Solver.

🎓
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Information Science, Data Science & Statistics
Minors in Computer Science & Mathematics
💼
Synchrony Financial
Control Automation Team
PayPal Credit Modeling Team
✅
Certified SAFe® 6 Scrum Master

🔍 Currently seeking Summer 2026 internships in:

Operations Consulting Project/Product Management Data Analytics
Let's Connect See My Work
630[DASH]506[DASH]3045 • charlieliu316[AT]gmail[DOT]com
About Me

My Journey

I'm a student just trying to find my way through life right now. My passion for data analytics and machine learning started with curiosity—I was always trying to figure out how and why things worked, and if I could make them more efficient to save time and money.

When I joined the Control Automation Team at Synchrony, I got hands-on experience helping with automation scripts and processes. But what really caught my attention was getting exposed to Operations. I learned so much about what keeps a company running on the inside, and I became fascinated by it.

Now, I'm combining my technical skills with my interest in operations and efficiency, looking for opportunities where I can make an impact through data-driven decision making and process improvement.

2
Research Projects
3
Major Datathons
∞
Curiosity
1
Goal: Make Impact
Professional Experience

Work History

Automation Intern

Synchrony Financial | Champaign, IL
Control Automation Team
May 2025 - Present
  • Leading development of a generative RAG model to automate the Standard Review process by mapping controls with company standards, providing documentation insights to Standard and Control owners and saving weeks of manual review time
  • Mapped 10,000+ company controls to standards using AI, identifying gaps in coverage and redundant controls lacking requirements - stored in Excel with Tableau visualization in progress
  • Created and presented high-level workflows and project proposals to senior leadership for automation initiatives
  • Supporting user termination automation process that runs bi-weekly, saving several hours compared to manual completion
  • Side project: Conducted data analytics on IRR and IRS reports for third-party suppliers to identify risk trends

Incoming Credit Modeling Intern

Synchrony Financial | Champaign, IL
PayPal Credit Team
January 2026 - May 2026
  • Will work with credit line increase/decrease models using SAS databases
  • Focus on responsible credit extension, underwriting, portfolio management, and fraud mitigation
Portfolio

Featured Work

🏥

Healthcare Policy Knowledgebase Scraper

Salud Revenue Partners - Consulting Project

Built an intelligent web crawler that autonomously navigates healthcare websites to locate and scrape payer policy documents. Using LLM-guided navigation with Claude, the scraper adapts to website changes without constant updates, feeding into a RAG pipeline for a dynamic medical provider knowledge base.

Challenges overcome: Bot detection, client errors, disclosure pages, login walls, and complex site structures. Implemented robots.txt compliance and strategic workarounds for various edge cases.
Python Claude LLM Web Scraping RAG Pipeline
🧠

Bilingual Detection via EEG Analysis

Sandia National Laboratories Datathon - Fall 2024

Built machine learning models to predict bilingualism in Spanish, French, and German based on EEG electrode readings. Analyzed brain voltage patterns across different electrodes when subjects were exposed to word pairs in different languages, using the hypothesis that familiar languages would show different activity patterns.

Solo achievement: Completed independently in 24 hours after team members dropped out. Processed 50,000+ datasets and achieved 75% accuracy using logistic regression and random forest models. Conducted statistical analysis including t-tests, ANOVA, and AUC calculations to identify the most significant electrodes (F3, FC5, T7, C3).
Machine Learning Python Logistic Regression Random Forest Statistical Analysis
💳

Credit Limit Prediction Model

Synchrony Financial Datathon - Spring 2025

Developed an XGBoost model with hyperparameter tuning to predict Q4 2025 credit limit adjustments based on customer behavior patterns. Used an innovative cascading prediction approach, iteratively predicting each quarter using both actual historical data and previously predicted quarters to forecast Q4 limits.

Key innovation: Overcame limited direct numerical data by creating a timeline-based prediction pipeline that progressively forecasts from Q1 through Q4. Identified behavioral scores and current financial status as stronger predictors than historical delinquency, achieving high accuracy in credit risk assessment.
XGBoost Python Hyperparameter Tuning Time Series Feature Engineering
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Facial Recognition Bias Detection

University Research Project

Investigated bias in facial recognition systems against people of African descent using variational autoencoders (VAE) to analyze latent space representations. The goal was to decode latent space patterns to identify sources of bias in recognition models.

Key learnings: While final results were limited by hardware constraints and latent space restrictions when attempting to decode using GAN and LPIPS, gained deep understanding of VAE, GAN, LPIPS architectures and latent space analysis techniques for bias detection. Success is measured by the process and work put into a project, not just the end result.
Python VAE GAN LPIPS Machine Learning
🤖

LLM-Powered Data Analysis Automation

University Research Project

Developed an autonomous data analysis system that accepts natural language prompts and datasets, using GPT to decompose tasks into preprocessing, analysis, and model selection steps. The system generates and executes Python scripts with self-debugging capabilities, retrying failed steps by analyzing error messages.

Testing & findings: Identified critical limitation with image datasets due to token constraints when processing pixel data. Reported findings to development team, who are currently implementing solutions for multimodal data handling.
Python GPT LLM Agents Automated Testing
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IVR System Optimization

Synchrony Financial Datathon - Spring 2024

Analyzed 3+ million rows of call data to identify why calls were escalating from the IVR system to human operators. Discovered that Lost/Stolen reporting, waiver requests, terms changes, and fraud detection were the top reasons for escalation, representing significant cost to the company.

Impact: Recommended adding automated functionality for these four high-volume call types to the IVR system, which would significantly reduce staffing needs and operational costs. Also identified that paper statement requests were more common in phone interactions versus in-person.
Data Analysis Python Data Cleaning Process Optimization
💎

Diamond Value Analyzer

Interactive R Shiny Application

Built a multi-tab Shiny web application for diamond pricing analysis featuring three modes: price prediction using linear regression with confidence intervals, budget exploration to find diamonds within a price range, and interactive data visualization with ANOVA testing for statistical comparisons.

Features: Dynamic filtering system across all diamond attributes, real-time statistical modeling, custom scatter plots with user-selected variables, and automated statistical testing to identify significant price differences across cut, color, and clarity grades.
R Shiny ggplot2 Linear Regression ANOVA
Technical Expertise

Skills & Capabilities

Programming & Development

Started coding in 6th grade, rediscovered the power of programming in high school through AP Computer Science. While experienced in multiple languages including C++ and Java, I primarily use Python for its versatility in scripting, data analysis, and machine learning. Professional experience with SAS and SQL in enterprise environments.

Python SQL R SAS Java C++ Git/GitHub Cursor VS Code Jupyter

Tools & Platforms

Professional experience with enterprise analytics and productivity tools at Synchrony Financial. Familiar with cloud services and modern development platforms.

Tableau Microsoft Office Excel PowerPoint R Shiny AWS Bedrock Claude API GPT/OpenAI

Professional Skills

SAFe® 6 Scrum Master certified with experience leading datathon teams and preparing to lead projects at Synchrony. Strong communicator with client-facing consulting experience and proven ability to adapt under pressure—completed a solo 24-hour datathon after team departure. Skilled in conflict resolution, finding compromises that incorporate diverse perspectives.

SAFe® Scrum Master Leadership Problem Solving Communication Teamwork Adaptability Conflict Resolution Presentation Skills Project Management
Get In Touch

Interested? Contact Me Here

Email: charlieliu316[AT]gmail[DOT]com

Phone: 630[DASH]506[DASH]3045