MIT senior Julianna Schneider is using her wide-ranging tech skills to build tools that solve problems she sees in her community, blending robotics research with software development and educational innovation. Schneider is double-majoring in artificial intelligence and decision-making and mathematics, and she draws on that interdisciplinary foundation in everything from lab work to student-focused digital tools, tells MIT News.
One of her recent projects is NerdXing, a class discovery platform created with the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing Undergraduate Advisory Group. NerdXing lets students search for a class and see what others have taken afterward, including combinations outside the standard curriculum. Schneider says it’s meant to make course planning more transparent, so freshmen or undecided students can explore options they might not otherwise consider.
Schneider’s path to tech started long before MIT. Growing up in Albania, she excelled as a classical pianist before discovering robotics at age 13. Her early interest in engineering led her to take on coding and building roles on her high school robotics team, earning regional and national awards. At 16, she built an app called VoluntYOU to connect English-speaking volunteers with local charities that posted opportunities only in Albanian. That platform went global, enabling volunteer projects on multiple continents.
At MIT, Schneider contributes to research in the Biomimetic Robotics Laboratory, working on robots that could assist humans in high-stakes environments. Her work includes developing controllers capable of operating on limited computing resources, which could make legged robots more usable in areas with scarce technology access.
Across her projects, Schneider emphasizes a consistent approach: identify real challenges in communities and apply technology to make people’s lives better. She hopes her work not only pushes engineering forward but also builds tools and systems that are accessible and meaningful to diverse populations.