Concentration: Data Science and Analytics

Tell us a bit about yourself and your IT background.

During my undergraduate program at Manipal University in India in 2018, I had an opportunity to work with Impetus Technologies as a Big Data Intern for six months. After graduating from Manipal University, the internship led me to accept a full-time job offer at the same company and I worked as a Software Engineer in the domain of big data for around three years. I am also an outdoor sports and movie enthusiast.

Why did you choose to attend the ITWS program at RPI?

The wide spectrum of courses available in this program along with exceptional resources and experienced faculty persuaded me to choose the ITWS graduate program at the RPI.

What kinds of research projects have you undertaken at RPI?

One of my initial projects under Professor Thilanka Munasinghe was in collaboration with NASA to determine the vulnerability of healthcare facilities across the US against the high amount of rainfall and other forms of precipitation using machine learning. And currently, I am working on a project with them to determine the effect of severe winds on the power grids across the southeastern US.

Tell us about being a TA in the ITWS program.

My experience as a TA for Web Development courses under Dr. Callahan has been a fabulous one as it has consisted of numerous individual growth and learning opportunities. TA’ing has been a lot of fun, but it is also a serious part-time job to make sure the students are getting the most out of the course. Being on the other side has given me a new perspective and made me appreciate the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes to ensure everyone gets the best education at RPI.

Tell us about your summer internship.

I got an internship with IBM in Summer 2021 during which I developed an open-source library (RASL) of relational algebra (RA) operators for scikit-learn (SL). This library of mine can create end-to-end ML pipelines with integrated data pre-processing techniques using Pandas and PySpark. Our team also published this work in the NeurIPS 2021 engineering conference. Publishing your research work at the NeurIPS conference is every graduate student’s dream and I feel privileged that I was able to do so in my time at RPI.

What have been some of your favorite classes and class experiences at RPI?

I’ve had immense learning opportunities from all the classes I have taken so far at RPI, but Data Analytics and Data Science gave me an opportunity to work with NASA and learn more in the world of Data Science. It really helped me discover new and innovative ways of thinking when undertaking a challenge.

Tell us about grad student life, from your experience.

Life as a Grad Student at RPI really puts your work and student life at a test. It always challenges you to manage time and energy effectively and efficiently. The course load is also significantly more demanding from reading and writing assignments to potential research work. But all the work you do in the ITWS program pays off in that it yields myriad benefits like networking opportunities and gives you opportunities to apply skills and experience in real world scenarios.

What advice would you give to prospective graduate students considering the ITWS program at RPI?

If you want to build your career in the world of Information Technology, then the ITWS graduate program at the RPI is really the one to look forward to as it will cater to you with an amazing launchpad for a bright and successful corporate career.

What's next for you after graduation?

I still have one semester left in my program but the comprehensiveness of the ITWS graduate program is such that it has already helped me fetch a wonderful full time opportunity at EAB as a Senior Data Engineer.