Pirooz

About me

Hi, my name is Pirooz, and I am an undergraduate student studying Computer Science and Cognitive Science at the University of Toronto.

Over the past couple of years, I've gained experience in a few areas of Computer Science, ranging from creating a Convolution Neural Network in Python for a research paper under Professor Matthias Niemeier to front-end web development with Nuance Communications, a subsidiary of Microsoft. So far, it's been a fun experience, but it feels like something is missing. I have a deep passion for humans and the inner workings of our body and brain; personally, the most beautiful thing in this world is the human experience and how human consciousness shapes reality. I've been taking courses in Psychology and reading Carl Jung's books and other well-known figures in psychology, yet I haven't been able to express this passion in my career. Likely, I want to gear my career towards something that combines my CS skills with my love for humans. Whether I do this by creating Neural Networks that mimic our mind or something geared more toward Neuroscience, I don't know yet. However, I find the uncertainty of my career path to be exciting; part of the joy of life is how unpredictable it is, and I see this as a chance for me to explore and grow, both as a person and in my career.

If you're reading this right now and have any good opportunities for me to explore this path, please reach out to me; I still have a lot I don't know, and I'd love to learn what you offer to this world. Currently I'm also looking for a Summer 2024 internship, so feel free to reach out to me via email, and I will try to respond as soon as possible!

Outside of programming, I spend most of my free time weightlifting, reading, playing horror games, and chilling with my 3 adorable little cats (Check out my Instagram!).

Experience

University of Toronto

University of Toronto

Research Assistant - Computational Neuroscience
  • Played an integral role in the development of simulation data for a research paper of a distinguished Ph.D. candidate, making significant contributions to the CoNSens Lab led by Professor Matthias Niemeier.
  • Accomplished the creation of a modified VGG16 Convolutional Neural Network model using PyTorch, obtaining a 92% accuracy when simulating a binary task akin to that of participants in a psychological research experiment.
  • Analyzed research papers to gain deeper insights into attention modulation and other fine-tuning practices in computer vision and then leveraged these findings to refine and optimize my model.
Wayfair

Wayfair

Software Developer
  • Collaborated with stakeholders to help streamline the process of training and fine-tuning Machine Learning models as part of the Messaging & ML Platforms team, improving the efficiency of over 150 clients on the Data Science team when adjusting and deploying models to the Wayfair platform.
  • Assisted in debugging and developing internal database software and cloud infrastructure, using the Google Cloud Platform and Datadog to monitor the database and ensure secure and accurate data storage for ML models.
  • Discovered and resolved a concurrency bug in an internal database for Machine Learning models and datasets, resulting in a 300% improvement in performance and a 50% reduction in error rates.
Nuance Communications

Nuance Communications (Microsoft)

Front-end Development Intern
  • Contributed to the development of an internal employee web portal utilizing JavaScript and the React framework, while collaborating with cross-functional teams, including the UI team.
  • Enhanced accessibility for visually impaired users by implementing NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) labels on the employee website, resulting in an 8% increase in its user base.
  • Facilitated efficient version control and development through adept use of Jira and Git, ensuring timely progress updates on assigned tasks and seamlessly merging changes into the main build.
Equifax Canada

Equifax Canada

Quality Engineer Intern
  • Conducted comprehensive tests using Microsoft Excel and the Postman API, validating the successful migration of all user data to a Google Cloud database with high precision.
  • Engaged actively in the quality assurance and control process with the QA team, contributing to the cloud migration project throughout the entire Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC).
  • Proficiently identified and meticulously reported issues encountered during data synchronization, achieving on average a 95% accuracy rate in problem diagnosis

Projects

Canada COVID-19 Timeline

Canadian COVID-19 Timeline

  • Developed a website using HTML, CSS, SASS and Javascript to showcase a timeline of the COVID‑19 pandemic in Canada.
  • Implemented and connected a COVID‑19 API with Chart.js to graph and showcase COVID‑19 cases in Canada with 95% accuracy. Utilized the Google News API to make the graph interactive so that users can view news related to the pandemic of specific dates.
  • Submitted to EngHack 2021
Metalface

Metalface

  • Open sourced discord bot with a variety of features including a reminder feature and animated emotes
  • Developed using the Discord.py API and ran on a Google Cloud virtual machine
  • More features planned: COVID-19 tracker, chess, and user time zones
Knight Hax-Relax

Knight Hax-Relax

  • Developed a meditating website to help users unwind and forget about their issues for a moment
  • Helped write the CSS and JavaScript for the website and implemented the multiple themes of the website
  • Submitted to KnightHacks 2021
Connect4

Discord Connect 4 Bot

  • Developed a Discord bot using Python and the Discord.py API to allow users to play connect 4 against friends or an AI
  • Implemented a mini-max algorithm to efficiently and effectively search for the most optimal move for the situation
  • Submitted to RUHacks 2021

Résumé

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