Nikash W
- Research Program Mentor

MS candidate at University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC)

Expertise

Data Science, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Computer Vision, Reinforcement learning

Bio

I'm deeply interested in deep learning for various applied fields, ranging from semantic classification to network security to reinforcement learning. I've been involved in research for three years now and enjoy working with both the implementation of mathematical algorithms, as well as creating high-level architectures. I've also worked with low-level GPU programming. My passion comes from taking a variety of things and cobbling them together to create something new, be it woodworking or ML architectures. Outside of work, I enjoy a myriad of outdoor activities, such as hiking, biking, and surfing. I'm a mafia fiend and enjoy getting into the thick of debates.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Analyzing demographic change through language shifts

Regional news articles often reflect a tone and language corresponding to their target demographic, be it political affiliation, race, or generation. We can scrape these articles and analyze them for tone and word usage to develop understanding of trends.

Coding skills

Python, C, C++, Java, CUDA, most ML/DL libraries, OpenCV, Transformers

Languages I know

Hindi, intermediate

Teaching experience

I've tutored high-school students in CS classes and taught elementary and middle school students robotics, guiding them through projects and mentoring them for competitions. I've also had numerous Pathfinder and Launchpad students and have mentored one student previously on this platform. I have been a teaching assistant during my master's degree for advanced AI classes.

Credentials

Work experience

Intuit, Inc. (2022 - Current)

Data Science Intern

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2020 - Current)

Undergraduate Researcher

Walmart Labs (2020 - 2020)

Data Science Intern

NASA Ames Research Center (2019 - 2019)

Data Science Research Intern

Education

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC)

BS Bachelor of Science

Computer Science