Application for TU Darmstadt

About Me

Hi, I'm Valeria Toro. I studied Mechatronics and Cybersecurity and gained experience in IT during my academic and professional journey. While working through some of my courses, I had the opportunity to explore and apply concepts in artificial intelligence, which sparked a strong personal interest in the field. Due to life circumstances, I wasn’t able to pursue this interest further at the time but now I’m finally in a position to follow that passion. Applying to the Master's program at TU Darmstadt is an exciting step toward developing the skills and knowledge I've long wanted to deepen.

I made this page because I want to give my best in applying for the Master's at TU Darmstadt. My dad always told me, “If you're going to do something, give it your all”, and that's exactly what I'm doing. This is a big opportunity for me, and I want to show not just what I've done, but how committed I am to where I want to go.

My Path

Education & Work

2018–2023

B.Eng. Mechatronics (GPA 2.46)
U. Militar Nueva Granada

2022

Project Management and Strategic Thinking
U. of Central Florida

2022-2023

IT Support
Redes y conexiones electricas (Work)

2024

Cybersecurity Analytics (AZAV Certified)

2025

IT Support
Qualifyze (Work)

Achievements

Top 1% ICFES (HZB)

National Electric Car Competition

Top 1% Saber Pro (Staatsex)

TryHackMe DevSecOps & SOC lv 1

TryHackMe Security Engineer

Currently certifying: ISO 27001 auditor

Skills

Python

90%

C/C++

85%

TensorFlow

60%

Matlab

75%

OpenCV

70%

My Vision

My two biggest passions are cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. I believe both fields are essential to building the kind of digital future we can trust. My dream is to create solutions that combine the intelligence of AI with the resilience of cybersecurity, systems not only smart, but secure by design. I've already explored the cybersecurity side through projects and education, and now I want to build a stronger foundation in AI. This Master is my next step toward that vision.

My Projects

Artificial Intelligent Self-Driving Robot Car

Built an AI system that reads letters from images, computes the shortest driving path, and sends coordinates to a microcontroller to autonomously navigate a robot car.

Interactive Hand Strength Rehabilitation System

Paired a Velostat-embedded ceramic grip with Unity and Arduino to measure squeeze pressure, streaming real-time feedback into a game that makes hand-strength exercises engaging.

Game Using Machine Vision and IMU Sensor

Fused HebiCam (MATLAB) and smartphone IMU data to capture real-time movements, translating them into Unity space-game controls for smooth, responsive gameplay.

VR Game with Arduino Controller thumbnail

VR Game with Custom Arduino Hand Controller

Designed and built a DIY Arduino hand controller (Xbox-style) with buttons and joysticks, then integrated it into a Unity-based VR game to enable intuitive, tactile interaction and navigation in virtual environments.

AI Path Generator with Random Points

Created a MATLAB app where users place random points and a Hopfield network computes an efficient route through all points, demonstrating AI for solving combinatorial optimization.

Code Repository

Here, you'll find links to some of the programming projects I've developed separated by programming language

Why TU Darmstadt

I first heard about TU Darmstadt from alumni who spoke highly of the university's strong academic standards. That led me to explore it further, and I was impressed by the research projects in Artificial Intelligence. I really want to join a research group and contribute to innovative work,especially at a university known for the quality of its research and recognized as a leader in modern AI. I’m particularly interested in developing AI models for cybersecurity applications, and I believe TU Darmstadt offers the ideal environment to both learn from experts and start my own research.