Tanaka Makoni Photo

hi, I'm Tanaka!

Building tools that make tech more human and ideas more real.

Experience

The Jay Hurt Hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Davidson College, Davidson, NC
Student Consultant • May 2025 - July 2025
  • Built automated payout and transaction logging with n8n/Zapier across Forest Systems, Bill.com, and Excel.
  • Evaluated AI website builders and presented recommendations for the Hurt Hub redesign.
  • Partnered with Jan Black Marketing & Photography to redesign a client site improving navigation, content protection, bookings, and engagement by ~30%.
Truist Immersive Learning Experience
Virtual Externship
Extern • October 2025
  • Completed an immersive externship exploring how Truist uses technology, data, and design to build client centered financial products.
  • Collaborated with a student team to analyze a real business case and present recommendations to Truist professionals.
  • Networked with software engineers and product leaders to learn about early career opportunities in fintech.
Algorithms for Learning in Physics Applications (ALPhA) Lab
Davidson, NC
Undergraduate Researcher • May 2025 - July 2025
  • Explored latent space representations in TPCNet to capture key features of 3D AT-TPC point clouds.
  • Applied ML techniques including linear/logistic regression, SVMs, K-means, and t-SNE.
Residence Life Office
Davidson College, Davidson, NC
Resident Advisor • August 2025 - Present
  • Foster an inclusive, supportive residential community by mentoring first-year students through academic, social, and personal transitions.
  • Plan and run programs that build connection, promote well-being, and strengthen campus engagement while upholding community standards.
GrantFinder
Davidson, NC
GigHub Consultant • January 2025 – February 2025
  • Conducted in-person interviews with campus departments and offices that distribute student grants and gathered qualitative data on available funding opportunities.
  • Reviewed departmental reports and student survey feedback on past grant distributions to identify trends and categorize grants for the AI knowledge base.
  • Organized, documented, and structured findings to strengthen the AI’s ability to match students with relevant grants.
  • Collaborated with team members to ensure collected data aligned with overarching project goals and improved system accuracy.

Projects

Multi Healthcare

A secure digital platform streamlining patient data, appointments, and care coordination across multiple healthcare providers.

Visit Site
Personal Finance Assistant
CLI + automation toolkit

A finance assistant for budgeting and transaction automation. Explore the code and workflows in the repository.

View Repo
HCI Design Portfolio
Coming soon: design case studies

A collection of UI/UX and HCI design work. Visit to explore case studies, prototypes, and process notes.

View Portfolio
School Data Project

Interactive dashboard visualizing North Carolina school district expenditures with charts and insights.

View Full Project

Skills

Education

Davidson College

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (Class of 2028)

Relevant Coursework: Data Structures, Algorithms, Software Design, Linear Algebra, Discrete Structures, Game Development, Human Computer Interaction

Honors & Awards: Belk Scholarship Recipient

Harare International School

International Baccalaureate Diploma (Class of 2024)

Relevant Coursework: Mathematics Analysis & Approaches HL, Physics HL, Economics HL, Chemistry SL, Language and Literature SL, Spanish SL

Honors & Awards: Renaissance Award; HIS Merit Scholarship Recipient