Sai Paladugu

Computer Science Student | Machine Learning Engineer

Passionate about machine learning for drug discovery, predictive modeling, and computer vision. Currently pursuing a Bachelor's in Computer Science with a Math minor at Carleton University

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Experience

Machine Learning Intern

Shopify

Toronto, ON

Jan 2026 – Apr 2026
  • Incoming engineering intern on the sidekick team

Machine Learning Research Intern

Recursion

Toronto, ON

May 2025 – Dec 2025
  • Co-developing multimodal foundation models with imaging and omics data for phenotypic screening and drug target discovery; contributing to model architecture design and inference optimization
  • Applied batch effect correction and feature normalization to harmonize omics datasets across experiments, improving generalization in downstream model evaluation

Machine Learning Operations Engineer

Nokia

Remote • Part-Time (20 hrs/week)

Sep 2024 - Apr 2025
  • Engineered a Model Context Protocol (MCP) microservice to automate and standardize the retrieval of proprietary data from an internal LLM store for domain specific model training and fine-tuning
  • Designed end-to-end RAG pipelines with LangChain and Apache Airflow to evaluate and deploy LLMs for internal knowledge retrieval use cases

Machine Learning Operations Intern

Nokia

Ottawa, ON

May - Aug 2024
  • Built Dockerized, Kubernetes-orchestrated microservices to source, validate, and register highly performing LLMs from HuggingFace into Nokia's MLFlow based model registry
  • Established a CI/CD pipeline using GitLab and Terraform to automate the testing and validation of NLP models, ensuring robust performance for cloud network anomaly detection

Machine Learning Intern

Cisco

Ottawa, ON

Sep - Dec 2023
  • Developed a classification service using Scikit-learn that integrates via the Jira REST API to automatically assign ticket urgency, reducing resolution times by 30% with 85% accuracy
  • Built an API integrating ChromaDB and an LLM to convert natural language into structured Elasticsearch queries, adopted by 10+ Cisco engineering teams

Data Engineering Intern

Cisco

Ottawa, ON

May - Aug 2023
  • Designed and maintained ETL pipelines using Apache Airflow and Python to ingest, transform, and load data from internal APIs and cloud storage into a centralized data warehouse (Snowflake)
  • Optimized Spark batch jobs, cutting execution time by 40% and enabling faster downstream reporting

Linear Algebra II Teaching Assistant

Carleton University

Ottawa, ON

Jan - Apr 2023
  • Delivered lectures and tutorials to reinforce key mathematical concepts, enhancing students' understanding of abstract data transformations relevant to data science and machine learning

STEM Outreach Instructor

Actua

Ottawa, ON

Sep - Dec 2022
  • Traveled across the city teaching underprivileged kids about CAD software, block coding, and other topics
  • Conducted a weekly Arduino programming seminar for high school students interested in engineering, providing hands-on experience with micro-controller programming, project-based learning, and collaborative problem-solving

STEM Counsellor

Virtual Ventures | Carleton University

Ottawa, ON

May - Aug 2022
  • Developed and delivered a diverse range of STEM curriculum, capturing the interest and engagement of students
  • Effectively managed a limited budget - resourcefully source materials, thereby reducing registration costs

Research Fellow

SHAD Canada

Remote

May - Aug 2020
  • Blueprinted and prototyped an innovative biomedical research project investigating the impact of simulated zero-gravity environments on cardiovascular system performance
  • Engineered a sophisticated experimental apparatus using Arduino microcontrollers, precision pumps, and sensor arrays to replicate microgravity conditions and monitor cardiovascular responses in real-time

Projects

Scribble - Graffiti in AR

🏆 Winner - UofTHacks 12 2025

Augmented Reality, zk-Proofs, Cohere, React, NextJS

Leveraged vector embeddings and similarity search to personalize geotagged AR scribbles; used zk-proofs for secure location-based access control

TennisBoost - ATP Match Prediction

Python, scikit-learn, LightGBM, XGBoost, CatBoost, Optuna, Pandas

Engineered an automated prediction system to identify market inefficiencies in ATP tennis odds, using a stacking ensemble model with custom time decay and ELO rating features, outperforming early market benchmarks

MLBets

Python, statsmodels, XGBoost, Poisson Regression, SQL

Engineered a machine learning model using Poisson regression and gradient boosting to identify profitable pitcher strikeout props in MLB, achieving consistent edges that passively makes me around $500 a month

Brain Tumor Detection

YOLOv8, Computer Vision, Medical AI, Jupyter Notebook

Brain Tumor Detection using YOLOv8 on MRI Scans - advanced computer vision application for medical diagnosis using object detection

MoodWave

Spotify Web API, OpenAI GPT, Angular, Node.js, TypeScript

AI mood-based Spotify playlist generator that uses sentiment analysis to create personalized music experiences based on user emotions

GeoClone

Angular, Google Maps & Street View API, TypeScript

A free alternative to Geoguessr, hosted and playable; Averaging over 50 monthly users

GeoguessrAI

Python, Computer Vision, AI, Geolocation

AI-powered geolocation system that can predict locations from images using advanced computer vision and machine learning techniques

2048 RL Agent

Python, PyTorch, Reinforcement Learning, Deep Q-Learning

Developed a Deep Q-Learning agent using PyTorch that autonomously learns and optimizes strategies - achieve high scores in a 2048 game environment

Therien Ottawa South

HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SCSS, Responsive Web Design

Developed and launched a responsive website for the Therien Ottawa South martial arts club in exchange for a free lifetime membership

Education

Carleton University

Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours), Minor in Math

Expected: April 2026

GPA: 4.0

Colonel By Secondary School

International Baccalaureate Diploma

International Baccalaureate Program

Sep 2018 - Jun 2021

IB Diploma Graduated: June 2021

Skills

Programming Languages

Python R Java C++ SQL JavaScript Bash Scala

ML & Data Science

TensorFlow PyTorch Scikit-learn Keras Hugging Face Pandas NumPy OpenCV

MLOps & DevOps

Docker Kubernetes Terraform GitLab CI Jenkins Airflow Argo Workflows MLflow DVC Git

Cloud & API

AWS S3 EC2 SageMaker EKS Kafka FastAPI Flask

Databases & Data Stores

MySQL MongoDB Elasticsearch Pinecone ChromaDB GraphDB

Volunteering

Mentor

Technovation Girls

Education

Jan - Apr 2023
  • Mentored a team that became global semifinalists, fostering skills in innovation and teamwork
  • Guided young women in developing entrepreneurial skills and technological solutions for real-world problems