2021-12-01: Yash Prakash (Computer Science Masters Student)
My name is Yash Prakash and I am currently pursuing my master's degree
in Computer Science at Old Dominion University (ODU), Norfolk, VA. But
my journey began as an Electronics and Instrumentation engineer at Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore,
Karnataka, India where I completed my bachelor’s degree.
I loved physics back in school because physics is purely about
asking questions and solving problems. So, I decided to pursue Electronics
and Instrumentation for my undergraduate program since I always wanted to be an
engineer like my father, purely for the love of envisioning, building, and
creating new things.
My passion for the subject grew stronger when I was first exposed to the
world of research at Défense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). I had the opportunity to work with a scientist (Division D) on C2000 Piccolo
MCU F28069M launchpad kit. I learnt a lot during my time at DRDO, especially I
gained a lot of hands-on experience in the world of embedded systems. That’s
when the curiosity grew, and a question arose what can be done with the data
received from these embedded controllers. That’s when I decided to explore the
world of Data Science, Machine and Deep Learning. I did an internship at Decision Culture, a start-up in
Bangalore where I received exposure into the field of core Data Science. But
since the hunger grew, I decided to pursue more in the same field that’s when I
got in contact with a professor at ODU Prof. Ajay Gupta and I arrived at ODU in 2019 to do an internship in computer science we had two projects at that
time, a project given to us by a company called PRA Group and another project
based on Alzheimer’s. My group consisting of four members won both the projects
and I received the best Data Scientist Award. I learnt a lot during my time
here at ODU and it helped me boost my knowledge and self confidence
tremendously. After completing my undergraduate program, I worked as a Business
Analyst at Merkle Sokrati a digital marketing-based
company my primary reason for joining this company was to explore a whole new
sector of data and to gain real time exposure of how a multinational company
operates.
Whilst my time at Merkle Sokrati I got in touch with Dr. Vikas Ashok and volunteered working for
him for a couple of months to not lose touch with deep learning and to acquire
more knowledge. Post which I received a RA position under him, and I arrived in the United States in the month of August 2021. It’s been three months working in the
Accessible Computing Lab and WS-DL (Web Science and Digital Libraries Research Group) and I know deep down I am in the right place, and I am really
grateful to be here.
And well "Sometimes it's the journey that teaches you a lot about
your destination" Drake.
Thanks for reading the Blog,
~YASH PRAKASH
Comments
Post a Comment