About Me
I am currently an Applied Scientist at Amazon Alexa, working on dense retrieval and ranking systems for Knowledge Graph Question Answering using transformers-based language models. Prior to this role, I was working on applications of Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing (NLP) at Walmart Labs. In particular, I worked on building an conversational assistant for Walmart customers. Prior to that, I was an Adjunct Professor at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and before that I was a Visiting Professor and a Lecturer in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Colorado Denver.
Education
I received my Ph.D. degree in Mathematics in 2013 from Sharif University of Technology. My Ph.D. thesis was multidisciplinary research intersecting with Linear Algebra and Discrete Mathematics. In particular, I worked on Spectral Graph Theory and its applications to theoretical aspects of computer science. I became interested in machine learning through utilization of Laplacian Matrix for Spectral Graph Clustering. I am amazed to see the same matrix or its variants through Graph Convolutions and Graph Neural Networks. After my Ph.D., in 2018, I received a secondary master's degree in Computer Science with focus on NLP and Computer Vision from Rochester Institute of Technology.
Career Interests
I enjoy working on different aspects of AI. I have recently been more involved in utilizing retrieval and ranking systems for knowledge-based question answering. At Alexa, I have been working on temporal reasoning for question answering. At my tenure at Walmart Labs, I worked on Knowledge Graphs for retails and its integration with conversational assistants for question answering and delivering better shopping experience. For Knowledge Graphs, I have become interested in Graph Completion techniques, and Knowledge Generation. I also enjoy reading and learning about Graph Neural Networks.