Data for Good Grantees
Ramya Balasubramaniam
Project: Oakland Crime Prediction App
Ramya started her journey as a control and automation engineer in one of the largest manufacturers of heavy electrical and electronic equipment in India. Fast forward six years, she enrolled into the MIDS program at UC, Berkeley (part of Fall 2016 cohort). The program has stoked the raging fire in her, representing her passion for Data Science. Statistical Analysis, Experimental Design, Machine learning, Data Visualization, Big Data Analytics, Database Management, the list of things that interests her seems pretty long. Her goal in life is to harness the power of Data Science in finding long-term solutions for real world problems/challenges. She currently lives in Michigan.
Aura Barrera
Project: Accountability in the Information Age: A Study of Data Transparency in Local
Aura Barrera is a UC Berkeley undergraduate interdisciplinary major studying technology for social good. She has worked advocating for diversity in tech with nonprofits such as Girls Who Code, NCWIT, Technolochicas, and Code2040. She is interested in using technology and design for change, by creating projects in data science, digital services, and user-centered design and analyzing their implications for government and public policy.
Patrick Chao
Project: Evaluating and Advising Public Policy Directives for the California Housing Crisis
Patrick Chao is a second year studying mathematics and computer science at UC Berkeley, and leading the Housing Crisis project. Ever since his first semester on Statistics Undergraduate Student Association (SUSA), Patrick fell in love with applying the statistics and modeling techniques to real world problems for social good. In the Data for Good competition, Patrick hopes to be able to apply statistical modeling and prediction to improve the housing situation in California. In his free time, Patrick loves learning mathematics or machine learning, as well as walking with his dog and reading a good book.
Vincent Chu
Project: Oakland Crime Prediction App
Vincent is a data professional with 14+ years of experience in industries ranging from technology, aerospace, consulting to utilities. He currently works as a Data Scientist at Stitch Fix, focusing on operational analytics and forecasting. Previously, he worked as Manager of the Decision Science practice at CenturyLink Consulting where he led implementation of client engagements and also pre-sales activities. As the Principal Data Scientist of the Emerging Technology Group at PG&E, Vincent was responsible for the advanced analytical framework to provide insights on and identify opportunities for smart grid pilot projects. Vincent also had experience in healthcare industry as a consultant at PwC. He started and led a new workstream to track tax deduction allowance on employee compensation for his clients, as mandated by the Affordable Care Act. Vincent holds a BS (UC San Diego) and a MS (Stanford) in Computer Science, an MBA in Operations Management (Michigan), and is currently a MIDS student at UC Berkeley. He enjoys cooking, wine, travelling, hiking and snowboarding/skiing in his spare time.
Clara de Martel
Project: Accountability in the Information Age: A Study of Data Transparency in Local
Clara de Martel is undergraduate at UC Berkeley studying Political Economy and Computer Science. She is interested in the evolution of governments, the impact of technology on economic systems and more concretely in implementing security policy in today’s cyber world. She has worked on different journalistic publications as a writer and a page designer, as a customer support agent for TextMe, and on sociology research for a Berkeley professor.
Jeffrey Hsu
Project: Oakland Crime Prediction App
Jeffrey is a MIDS student at UC Berkeley School of Information. He currently serves as the Head of Data Science & BI at Foursource, a textile sourcing platform startup located in Berlin. Prior to current role, Jeffrey worked as product managers in software and E-Commerce companies, building data-driven tools to scale business and unify processes. Jeffrey’s personal interest and future goal were inspired by groups like Effective Altruism and Ashoka which data evidence and scientific methods are used to evaluate, propose and implement solutions for long-term social good.
Chase Inguva
Project: Oakland Crime Prediction App
Chase is a product manager with 10+ years of experience in Fintech startups across investing, payments and lending markets. He currently works as Growth and Business Consultant at Taulia to help accelerate the revenue and scale the startup. Chase holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering and is currently a MIDS student at UC Berkeley. He enjoys cooking, travelling, hiking and spending time with his baby boy and family in his spare time.
Akhil Jalan
Project: Accountability in the Information Age: A Study of Data Transparency in Local
Akhil Jalan is a UC Berkeley undergraduate studying Applied Mathematics and Computer Science. Using techniques from machine learning and statistics, he has investigated the success factors of terrorist attacks, analyzed increasing levels of political partisanship, and found inequalities in U.S. House district apportionments. He is interested in the applications of data science to the big issues of our time, and wants to learn as much as he can to help solve them.
Alex Jamar
Project: Improving Access to Water in Developing Nations
Alex was born and raised in Darien, Connecticut. He’s lived in the South (Nashville, TN), Midwest (Madison, WI), West Coast (San Francisco, CA) and just returned to the East Coast (New York, NY). He currently works in business development at Enigma, a data intelligence startup in Manhattan, and is pursuing a Masters in Information and Data Science from UC Berkeley. Outside of work, he is an outdoors enthusiast; he enjoys any sport that requires running at top speeds and/or chasing a Frisbee.
Raymond Lee
Project: Oakland Crime Prediction App
Raymond Lee is a UC Berkeley School of Information Master of Information & Data Science student. He works as a business analyst at Pacific Gas & Electric, where he solves resource allocation problems as part of the Gas Operations Resource Management team. He’s a member of the Machine Learning at Berkeley organization, where he aims to apply data science to real world challenges. As an undergrad, Raymond studied Managerial Economics and Psychology at UC Davis. He is interested in exploring ways to apply data science to make people’s lives easier, better, more fun. Raymond grew up in San Francisco and lives in Oakland.
Winne Luo
Project: Evaluating and Advising Public Policy Directives for the California Housing Crisis
Winne Luo is a sophomore at UC Berkeley majoring in Statistics and Public Health, and is the Director of Research and Publication at the Statistics Undergraduate Student Association (SUSA). She believes strongly in the use of statistical and data science methods to contribute to public good, and hopes to some day apply them to affect public health policy and solutions. Previously, Winne has conducted research for the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive society, and is currently working at the Remais Lab in the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. She loves to read, swim, and play the piano in her free time.
Chandler McCann
Project: Improving Access to Water in Developing Nations
Chandler McCann is a Data Scientist at DataRobot, based out of Washington, D.C. Chandler holds a B.S. in Materials Science Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, and is a candidate at the University of California, Berkeley for a M.S. in Information and Data Science. Prior to joining DataRobot, Chandler applied his understanding of machine learning and applied statistics to a wide range of verticals such as Ultra High Volume DRAM and FLASH memory manufacturing at Micron Technology, to the Defense Sector as a consultant to senior Army and DoD leaders at the Pentagon, Kuwait, and Afghanistan. Outside of work he enjoys producing music, playing guitar and practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Christina Papadimitriou
Project: Oakland Crime Prediction App
Christina is a MIDS student at the UC Berkeley School of Information, and lives in New York City. She works in the area of Credit Risk Management & Analytics at JPMorgan Chase & Co., where her team uses data to provides insights to the businesses (Investment Bank, Asset Management, Commercial Bank) and assist with senior management decision making. She is passionate about applying data science to address social good problems. Christina has an engineering background and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering and a Masters Degree in Operations Research. Outside of Data Science, Christina loves tennis, soccer and cats.
Ameet Rahane
Project: Accountability in the Information Age: A Study of Data Transparency in Local
Ameet Rahane is a UC Berkeley undergraduate studying Data Science and Cognitive Science, with concentrations in Applied Mathematics and Cognitive Modeling. He is passionate about data science and its applications to social good and neuroscience. He researches algorithmic bias in facial detection algorithms through his fellowship at the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS), the correlation between police violence and protests through the DecidingForce project at Goodly Labs, and behavioral modeling through the Wilbrecht Lab at UC Berkeley.
Arun Ramamurthy
Project: Evaluating and Advising Public Policy Directives for the California Housing Crisis
Arun Ramamurthy has lived in the Bay Area for the last three years while completing his degrees in Statistics and Computer Science from UC Berkeley. The current president of the Statistics Undergraduate Student Association, Cal’s premier promoter of statistics and its applications, Arun has published statistical research on deep decarbonization as a data scientist for Environmental Progress, an energy policy advocacy group. In addition to his penchant for math and machine learning, Arun is a big R enthusiast – his guilty pleasure is making colorful data visualizations to display surprising and relevant information for the public at large.
Pranay Suri
Project: Improving Access to Water in Developing Nations
Pranay Suri is pursuing a Masters Degree in Information and Data Science from the University of California Berkeley. He currently works as a product manager at a Bay Area based start up. He is interested in leveraging data to inform Product decisions. During his free time he is an avid cricket player.
Dan Watson
Project: Improving Access to Water in Developing Nations
Dan is a candidate for the Master of Information and Data Science degree at the University of California, Berkeley. He currently works as a Population Health Data Analyst, seeking to help provide optimized healthcare to medicare patients. Prior to his career transition into the data field, Dan was a practicing attorney for four years, representing disabled clients before the Social Security Administration. Dan lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with his wife Katie and their two dogs. Outside of work, he enjoys playing tennis, golfing, and working on fantasy sports prediction models.
Banner Photo Credit: “UC Berkeley South Hall” by Anand Rajagopal for I School IMSA is licensed under CC BY 2.0