Abhishek Pandya

Education

University of Pennsylvania

MSE, Data Science • 2020 — 2023

Highlighted Courses: Machine Learning, Big Data Analytics, Statistics for Data Science

GPA: 4.0

BAS, Computer and Information Science • 2019 — 2023

Highlighted Courses: Data Structures and Algorithms, Engineering Probability, Linear Algebra, Game Theory, Discrete Mathematics, Scaling Operations in Tech Ventures

GPA: 3.88

South Brunswick High School

High School Diploma • 2019

• Attended NJ Governor's School of Engineering and Technology.
• National Merit Scholarship Winner - Mary E. Beyerle Scholarship.
• Outstanding Math Student.
• National AP Scholar

Highlighted Coursework: Data Structures, Game Theory, Intro to Data Science, Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Complex Analysis

Experience

Amazon

Software Development Engineer (SDE) Intern • June 2021 - August 2021

Incoming SDE Intern. Details forthcoming.

Keep.id

Backend Software Engineer • July 2020 — September 2020

Helped develop the backend for Keep.id, a secure document storage platform for identification used to assist the homeless in government aid, jobs, and homelessness services. Worked on PDF upload, PDF annotation, and encryption. Achieved HIPAA Compliance for encryption of personal information.

University of Pennsylvania, CIS Department

CIS 121 (Data Structures and Algorithms) Teaching Assistant • Jan, 2021 — Present

Teaching Assistant for CIS 121: Data Structures and Algorithms. Responsibilities include holding weekly office hours, creating and grading homework assignments, and leading recitations of 20+ students.

Topics Include: Big O Notation, Sorting, Heaps, Graph Algorithms, Hashing

CIS 160 (Discrete Mathematics) Teaching Assistant • Jan, 2020 — Dec, 2020

Teaching Assistant for CIS 160: Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science. Responsibilities include holding weekly office hours, creating and grading homework assignments, and leading recitations of 20+ students.

Topics Include: Set Theory, Proof Techniques, Combinatorics, Probability, Graph Theory.

Program in Combinatorial and Algorithmic Thinking

Teaching Assistant/Student • June 2020 — July 2020

Taught recitations on university-level discrete mathematics to high school students in India, China, and Africa. Studied graduate-level randomized and approximation algorithms and different models of computation.

Projects

Onward Financial Survey [Hack4Impact]

Full Stack Developer • October — December 2020

Onward Financial (F2020): Helping employers understand their workers' financial wellness through data analytics and visualization. Project completed as a part of Hack4Impact, University of Pennsylvania.

Deep Q-Learning (DQN)

Sole Developer • June 2020

I implemented the Deep Reinforcement Learning Algorithm DQN, described in the Deepmind Paper here in PyTorch. It works on toy environments (CartPole), and I am working on adapting this to Atari games. I also implemented a Vanilla Policy Gradient Algorithm, using an average reward as baseline and reward-to-go.

Analysis of Kaggle US Accidents Dataset

Sole Developer • April - May 2020

Here, I've analyzed the US Accidents dataset from Kaggle. I studied where and when accidents happen, and how to characterize the accidents on a large set of criteria, including location, time, and other factors. I attempt to predict the duration of the accident, given a variety of factors, including the severity, the location, precipitation, and others.

YouTube Recommendation Algorithm

Sole Developer • January 2020

I wrote a recommendation algorithm for a dataset of YouTube videos using K-Means and TF-IDF techniques.

Skills

Programming Languages and Relevant Libraries

Python (pandas, scikit-learn, numpy, PyTorch), Java, C, LaTeX, R

Teaching

I have taught students ranging from middle school to college, in topics such as programming, competition math, and discrete math for 5+ years.

Associations

One for the World - Penn Undergraduate Chapter

Co-President • Aug 2020 — Present

I help organize events, assist in marketing initiatives, and table biweekly to encourage students to pledge to donate 1% of their income to the world's most effective charities. Globally, we have donated our millionth dollar. I help build the EA community and education at Penn.

Hack4Impact

Technical Developer • Sep 2020 — Present

I help build technical products for nonprofits and socially responsible organizations.

Science Olympiad at SBHS

Team Captain • 2012 — 2019

I arranged travels and logistics for my high school Science Olympiad team of 40+ members. I competed in many Earth Science events, and won multiple NJ state medals.