Mentors & Influences
My academic development has been shaped by exceptional teachers and researchers whose work and teaching have guided my journey into mathematics, machine learning, and physics. Although my research is independent, the clarity, rigor, and curiosity they inspire continue to influence how I think and learn.
Faculty & Researchers Who Influenced My Thinking
• Steven L. Brunton (University of Washington)
His lectures on differential equations, dynamical systems, and data-driven modeling built the foundation for my understanding of mathematical modeling and scientific machine learning. His ability to pair intuition with analytical precision strongly shaped how I approach inverse problems and algorithm design.
• Jesse Thaler (MIT, IAIFI)
A leading theoretical particle physicist whose work has advanced jet physics and the use of machine learning in high-energy physics. I particularly admire how he blends theoretical depth with practical insight, showing how modern ML methods can reveal structure in complex physical data.
• Andrew Ng (Stanford / DeepLearning.AI)
His foundational machine learning courses provided the structure for my early ML education. The balance of rigor and accessibility in his teaching helped me build solid intuition for core algorithms and principles.
• Andrej Karpathy
His explanations of deep learning systems, sequence models, and modern neural architectures shaped how I understand large-scale AI systems. His insights into LLM internals helped me think more clearly about model behavior and generative processes.
• David J. Malan (Harvard University)
His CS50 course strengthened my programming fundamentals and introduced me to disciplined computational problem-solving. This early foundation made it easier to transition into more advanced mathematical and ML work.
School Mentors Who Supported My Early Development
• Tejas Desai – Chemistry Faculty, Shardayatan High School; PhD Scholar (SVNIT)
Encouraged my early academic curiosity and analytical thinking at a formative stage.
• Ankur Sitapara – Physics Faculty, Shardayatan High School
Supported my initial exploration of machine learning and physics. Under his guidance, I delivered my first formal talk on machine learning to faculty and students.
Mathematics & Visualization Inspiration
• Grant Sanderson (3Blue1Brown)
His visual explanations of calculus, linear algebra, and neural networks transformed how I think about mathematics, geometric, intuitive, and concept-driven. His work sparked my early fascination with mathematical structure and continues to influence how I approach new ideas.