Data Science Spring 2024 Capstone Project Showcase

Judges

Beata Kouchnir

Director of Machine Learning Science and Knowledge
Glassdoor

Beata Kouchnir is the director of machine learning science and knowledge engineering at Glassdoor, the leading platform for company reviews, salary insights, and workplace conversations. Before joining Glassdoor in 2021, she held roles in taxonomy, data science, and machine learning at companies such as Amazon, Oracle, Zulily, and Meta. Beata got her start in machine learning while working on her master’s degree at the University of Edinburgh in the early 2000s, and has experienced its growth from a niche academic field to the paradigm-shifting technology that it is today. One of Beata’s greatest passions is to help people from diverse academic backgrounds build and grow their careers in the industry, and she loves sharing her experience as a mentor and speaker.

Zijian Wu

Director of Enterprise Data Science and Products
Zest AI

Zijian Wu is the director of enterprise data science products and services at Zest AI. He is responsible for the creation and implementation of fair, compliant machine learning models for major financial institutions as well as the research and development of fair lending, explainable AI, and generative AI products. Previously, he specialized in developing NLP-based B2B products and had roles in strategy and management consulting. He holds a B.A. in molecular and cellular biology from Harvard and a Master’s in Information and Data Science from UC Berkeley, where he received the Hal R. Varian Capstone Award. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, daughter, and beagle.

Krysten Thompson

Advisory AI Engineer
IBM

Krysten Thompson is currently an advisory AI engineer with IBM. Krysten joined IBM in the fall of 2019 as a data scientist. Fall 2019 was also her last semester of the UC Berkeley MIDS program. During her 4.5 years at IBM, Krysten builds proof-of-concept solutions for IBM clients using traditional machine learning, and, for the past year, generative AI and large language models. Her work is incredibly stimulating because the challenges span a wide array of industries and require unique solutions. The shift to generative AI and LLMs has been especially rewarding given Krysten’s acumen for natural language processing. Krysten was one of a group of MIDS students who came to the program with the intent of doing a career change. Prior to working in data science, she worked in eCommerce. Krysten uses much of what she learned in MIDS in her daily work.