The ‘phenomenal student’ graduated with two of DSI’s top honors
Ashwin Jayaraman has always loved mathematics. It was an early passion that was stoked by his grandmother, who was a teacher. He completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics at Sri Venkateswara College and the Indian Institute of Technology, respectively, and worked as a data scientist for Innovaccer, a Silicon Valley-based health care company.
Data science intrigued him because of its applications in different industries. “It is quite fascinating to read research papers and understand new breakthroughs that come in the field every day,” he says. “It has made me realize how dynamic the field is and to always continue learning and be in touch with the latest technologies.”
Jayaraman’s extensive background in mathematics and his work experience helped him to excel as he explored coding, algorithms, deep learning, natural language processing, and reinforcement learning during the M.S. in data science program through the Data Science Institute (DSI) at Columbia University. He recently finished with a 4.14 GPA while working as a course assistant for the Analysis of Algorithms and Algorithms for Data Science courses.
The 2020 alumnus received two of DSI’s top student honors during this year’s virtual Class Day ceremony. He shared the Patricia J. Culligan Academic Achievement Award, which recognizes students with the highest GPAs, with his friend and study partner Ridhi Kapoor. He also received the Outstanding Course Assistant Award, which is given to assistants who have made outstanding contributions to the data science program.
“I was extremely thrilled to receive the awards,” he says. “And regarding Ridhi, I must admit that she is the most amazing person I have ever met, and I feel honored to share the Culligan award with her. She is one of my closest friends and I could not be happier.”
Eleni Drinea, director of the M.S. in data science program and a lecturer of computer science, described Jayaraman as a “phenomenal student who combined a remarkable teaching service with a remarkable GPA” during the award ceremony.
“Ashwin distinguished himself as a course assistant with his perpetual availability to undertake and complete any task on any day,” Drinea said. “He proposed homework and exam problems and led class review sessions as well as a hackathon. Students praised Ashwin’s dedication to teaching and considered him an outstanding course assistant.”
Today, Jayaraman is an AI engineer at KLA, a semiconductor company in Silicon Valley, and uses AI techniques to test and ensure that chips and wafers are free of defects.
“For my job, I mainly use deep learning,” he says, “but skills I learned at DSI, such as machine learning, algorithms, and databases, all come together to help me in various ways.”
— Robert Florida