This time last summer, I was part of Microsoft’s Data Science Summer School (DS3) and now I have the pleasure of introducing you to this summer’s incoming class. This is the fourth annual class of the DS3 program, which is an intense eight-week journey into the wild world of data science that culminates in students writing an original research paper. Keep reading to learn more about them!
Anandini Chawla
I’m a rising sophomore at NYU studying Computer Science and Mathematics. After high school, I worked at a nonprofit in rural India which got me interested in civic tech, and through DS3 I hope to explore and dig deeper into this field.
David Futran
My name is David Futran. I am a 5th year student in Macaulay Honors at Queens College, majoring in computer science with a minor in mathematics. Among my large range of interests, I love to read, cook, and hike. I just spent a semester in Japan, which also deepened my interest in learning Japanese. I wanted to be part of the DS3 program in order to delve into Data Science, a field of study that has always intrigued me and am considering to pursue in graduate school next year. I was also excited to be in a program run by Microsoft’s Data Science researchers and learn from them. It has been an amazing experience so far, and I’m glad to be a part of it.
Rosemarie (Ro) Liriano
I am a rising Junior at CUNY Lehman College and majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Sociology. My interests range between social justice, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and public policy. I would like to work at the intersection of technology and social science in the future and for this reason I was excited to be accepted into the Microsoft DS3 program where I hope to learn how to combine my love for technology and sociology in a way that could help impact change in the world. I am excited to learn more about how to work with data, data analysis tools and frameworks, and conducting data-driven research.
Keri Mallari
My name is Keri Mallari and I am a rising junior at Lehman College majoring in Math and Computer Science.
I applied to this program because I took a data-based class called the Future of New York City, and it was the best Computer Science class I’ve taken in college.
I wanted to explore more data sets and learn more about data science.
I’m super excited to apply what I’ll learn from this program to work with data for fun, such as predicting results in my favorite esport game.
Francois J. Mertil
Francois J. Mertil, a senior at New York City College of Technology, CUNY, is majoring in Applied Math focusing in Information Science. Francois is currently a Scholar of Microsoft Research Data Science Summer School for Summer 2017.
Ilana Radinsky
Hi! I’m Ilana Radinsky. I’m a rising Junior at Stern College for Women (Yeshiva University) studying Computer Science and Math. I applied to the Microsoft Research Data Science Summer School because I believe in the power of data science – as an emerging field that bridges the gap between so many disciplines and industries, data science is a discipline with a huge potential for positive impact on mankind. DS3 is an incredible program that gives students the tools to explore the world through data science and use their discoveries to help society and the world.
Rivka Schuster
I am a student at Touro College and I’m a rising senior majoring in Computer Programming. I was thrilled to join the DS3 class because I enjoy learning and I’m intrigued by data. I’m really looking forward to collaborating on a project with other students and a Microsoft researcher. So far it’s been great!
Thoa Ta
Thoa Ta is a rising senior at St. John’s University (Queens, NY), majored in Computer Science. She has a minor in Social Justice as part of being an Ozanam Scholar at St. John’s. Her passion is to leverage technology for social good and environmental sustainability. After a long time struggling to find her place in Computer Science, she finally feels at home in DS3, where she learns powerful tools to make an impact through insight discovery. On a personal level, she comes from Vietnam and sees spiritual enlightenment as her lifelong pursuit.
I cannot wait to see what these students will build! Previous students have gone on to win national prizes and scholarships and I have no doubt that these students will continue to make an impact.