Data Science Spring 2024 Capstone Project Showcase
Capstone projects are the culmination of the MIDS students’ work in the School of Information’s Master of Information and Data Science program.
Over the course of their final semester, teams of students propose and select project ideas, conduct and communicate their work, receive and provide feedback, and deliver compelling presentations along with a web-based final deliverable.
Join us for an online presentation of these capstone projects. Six teams will present for twenty minutes each, including Q&A.
A panel of judges will select an outstanding project for the Hal R. Varian MIDS Capstone Award.
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.