What are you doing right now?

I am currently working as a Research and Teaching Fellow at Univ.AI. I was previously working with Robert Bosch as an Associate Software Engineer. I come from an electrical engineering background and have been working on AI applications in the energy domain for the last two years. I want to pursue the same for my future, as well.

Area of interest

AI applications in energy and sustainability.

‍Why did you first sign up with Univ.AI?

I was first introduced to Machine Learning as an elective subject in my final year of engineering. Being a math enthusiast, I fell in love with the topic immediately. I started exploring how I could use AI to solve a few problem statements in electrical engineering. After doing around two projects of AI applications in energy, I realized that I had to dive deeper into AI to use it as an application, which is when I came across Univ.AI. The fact that it was alive course which was unlike most of the courses I found online and was developed by Harvard and UCLA professors caught my eye.

What role has Univ.AI played in your learning journey in Data Science and AI?

The knowledge that I acquired in the course helped me further deep dive into providing solutions in the energy field. I started applying the concepts I learned in class to the problem statements that I wanted to solve in battery and energy management systems. This made me more determined to pursue a career in AI & energy.

If you had to share just one thing that you learned in the course, what would it be?

One thing that I learned over the course was not to be scared to explore something new. Since I came from an electrical background and almost zero python coding experience, I was quite scared and worried if I will be able to catch up with the class and also understand the concepts as quickly as a computer science engineer would. But with the support of the professors, Rahul and Pavlos, I was able to not just become a decent coder in python but also start applying the concepts in my field by just a 21-day course.

‍What surprised you about the course?

AI is an incredibly vast topic, which is evolving every day, and there is a good chance that the content you teach can become obsolete the next day. So to come up with a course, where the learner can get from zero to become a machine learning expert is tough. The level of commitment the professors and the co-founders have put into the course, provide you with the best quality with the latest content shows that they genuinely want you to benefit from the course.

Have you seen new opportunities as a result of the course? Do you feel better equipped for new opportunities?

Yes, absolutely! Over the last one year, after completion of the course, I started applying the concepts I studied to my work, and it has made me more confident to pursue this career of research in AI & energy field.

What advice would you give to a new Univ.AI student?

Make use of every resource available to you, the course work, the professors, the teaching assistants, and your co-learners. Take advantage of the opportunity you have got and feel free to ask questions! Like the professors say “ There is no such thing as a dumb question!”. If you are a beginner like I was and come from a non-computer science background, you will have to put the additional effort from your end to participate in class.

‍Any final thoughts or recommendations about the course?

It’s evident that AI is the future in almost every domain, and it becomes overwhelming to decide where to start. With an increase in online teaching, I honestly believe, Univ.AI is an institute to get the foundations of AI right.