Gianluca Di Paola

Computer Engineer

About me

Hi, I'm Gianluca, an M.Sc. student in Computer Engineering at Politecnico di Milano, specialising in ICT Technologies, Business and Innovation.
My bachelor's degree at Politecnico di Milano gave me strong foundations in computer science, engineering, mathematics and electronics. In my Master's I focus on software engineering, software security, databases and performance evaluation, and I received a merit-based tuition fee exemption for my academic results.
I build native iOS and macOS apps in Swift (Skené, developed with technical supervision from Bending Spoons), distributed systems in Java, and LLM-based agents and generative AI projects. Alongside engineering, I'm interested in business and management, which my Master's track combines with ICT, and in science in general.
I'm looking for internship and software engineering opportunities, as well as research positions such as a PhD. Feel free to get in touch.

Education

Master of Science Degree in Computer Engineering, ICT, Business and Innovation
Politecnico di Milano · 2025 – Present
  • Current GPA: 3.83/4.0 (28.69/30)
  • Honors: merit-based tuition fee exemption awarded by Politecnico di Milano for particularly high academic merit
  • Relevant coursework: Advanced Software Engineering, Software Security, Advanced Database Systems, Advanced Computer Architectures, Performance Evaluation, Process and Service Design (with Camunda), Technologies for Information Systems, Design and Implementation of Mobile Applications, Flutter App Development, Algorithmic Game Theory
Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering of Computing Systems
Politecnico di Milano · 2021 – 2024
  • Relevant coursework in informatics: Software Engineering, Object-Oriented Programming, Algorithms (fundamental and for bioinformatics), Data Structures, Finite State Machines, Software Defined Networking, Databases and Design, Computer Architecture, Operating Systems, Human-Computer Interaction
  • Relevant coursework in engineering: Calculus I & II, Linear Algebra, Geometry, Physics, Probability & Statistics, General Chemistry, Automation, Logic & Algebra, Information Systems, Business Economics & Organization, Electronics
High School Diploma in Scientific Studies
Liceo Scientifico Statale Benedetto Croce

    Projects

    Native iOS, iPadOS and macOS app to discover and track TV shows. Team of two (30/30) for Prof. Luciano Baresi's course, with technical supervision from Bending Spoons. Local-first SwiftUI app (MVVM, layered architecture) with SQLite and iCloud sync and no custom backend; TMDB API, QR-code library sharing, notifications and widgets; 90%+ unit-test coverage on core components.

    Swift
    SwiftUI
    MVVM
    Repository pattern
    SQLite
    CloudKit
    TMDB API
    Unit testing

    Team of four (30/30 cum laude): distributed digital version of the Codex Naturalis board game in Java, with MVC architecture, TCP and RMI communication, a JavaFX GUI and a text UI. Advanced features include live chat, multiple matches, and periodic saving with crash recovery.

    Java
    JavaFX
    Maven
    TCP
    RMI
    MVC
    GUI/TUI
    Virgin of the Rocks Reconstruction
    Generative AI · Multidisciplinary Project · 2025

    Multidisciplinary Project (30/30 cum laude) with the Archivio di Stato di Milano; advisor: Prof. Maristella Matera, working closely with PhD student Luca Cordioli. Transcribed and translated, with the archive's paleographers, the late-15th-century commission contract, which describes a polyptych; benchmarked three text-to-image models and rebuilt each panel with Imagen 3 through iterative prompt engineering.

    Generative AI
    Text-to-image
    Imagen 3
    Flux 1.1 Pro
    Reve Image 1.0
    Prompt engineering

    Team project, open source: an extension for the Newelle assistant in which an LLM agent opens web pages, scrapes and cleans their content, and answers showing the source page, so users can verify each answer. Includes optional integration with Newelle's built-in RAG.

    Python
    GPT
    LLM agents
    RAG
    Newelle
    Open source

    Solo project (30/30): memory-constrained route-planning engine in C for inputs up to 50 MB, with a custom data structure (a sorted dynamic array with binary search) and greedy backward-recursion path planning, within strict time and memory limits. Validated on 111 test cases and analyzed with Valgrind and Cachegrind.

    C
    GCC
    GDB
    Valgrind
    Big-O notation
    Unix Shell

    Team project (29/30) following the full User-Centered Design cycle: needfinding, focus group, personas and scenarios, low- and medium-fidelity Figma prototypes, heuristic evaluation, and usability testing with SUS and SEQ questionnaires.

    Figma
    User-Centered Design
    UX
    Usability testing
    HTML
    CSS

    Team project (28/30): VHDL stream-processing module that reads and updates an asynchronous RAM, driven by a 10-state FSM (52 flip-flops, 0 latches) and synthesized for an Artix-7 FPGA in Vivado; it meets a 20 ns clock constraint with 16.2 ns of slack.

    VHDL
    FPGA
    Artix-7
    Vivado
    Hardware design
    Git

    Solo open-source project: bilingual (EN/IT) static portfolio built with Next.js 15, React 19 and TypeScript, styled with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui, and deployed on Cloudflare Pages. All content lives in standalone data files, so updates need no code changes; the focus is on responsive design, performance and accessibility.

    TypeScript
    Next.js
    React
    Tailwind CSS
    shadcn/ui
    Framer Motion
    Cloudflare Pages

    Experience

    Reply Student Tech Clash: AI Agents
    Reply · EBEC Milano · BEST Milano · 2024
    • Finalist team, 2nd place, in a 6-hour hackathon on AI agents.
    • Built a GPT-based agent that assists users with complex search tasks on polimi.it content, and presented the solution in a complete deck.
    TOP: Tutoring Online Program
    Harvard University · Bocconi University · Bicocca University · CIAI · 2023
    • Delivered specialized tutoring to a student in difficulty, adapting the learning approach to the student's needs.
    • Awarded an open badge certifying the skills and knowledge acquired.
    Reply Student Tech Clash: Metaverse
    Reply · EBEC Milano · BEST Milano
    • Finalist team: contributed to the Metaverse challenge with a presentation on its future applications.
    Water and Data Analysis with Bioindicators
    Sicily Region · ICS Maredolce · 2021
    • Led a team analysis of the Oreto river with bioindicators, organizing and analyzing the data in Excel.
    • Provided the Sicily Region with up-to-date data on the state of the river.

    Certifications

    Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE)
    CEFR level C1 · 2023

    Certification of advanced English proficiency issued by Cambridge English.