Lara Marinov Hello! Buna! Guten Tag! Bonjour ! Buongiorno! Zdravo!

/’lɑːɹə m'e:ɹɪnˌɔːv/

I’m a B.S. student in Computer Science with concentrations in Software Engineering and Language Technologies at Carnegie Mellon University. I'm currently on an exchange semester at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). I’m passionate about solving real-world problems that involve both programming and human languages. My interests lie at the intersection of NLP and software engineering—where advances in AI can drive meaningful impact through the way we build and interact with software.

My research interests have focused on large language models (LLMs) and understanding how different design choices affect their behavior and performance. I’m especially interested in how we can make these models more efficient, interpretable, and aligned with real-world use cases. Outside of research, I’ve also interned as a developer in industry, where I gained solid experience working with large codebases, contributing to production systems, and collaborating across big, cross-functional teams. This combination of research and hands-on engineering has shaped the way I think about building and applying machine learning systems.