We are delighted to welcome Shreya Thaniparthi, a graduate student at George Mason University majoring in Computer Science. Shreya is an international student from India who shares, “I love bringing out insights from data.” Her curiosity to understand how technology can help with real world problems led her to George Mason. Back in India, she had theoretical experience. Here, she wanted hands-on practice to develop solutions to digital security problems. At George Mason, Shreya has gained practical hands-on experience and explored various opportunities beyond computer science like developing training models and learning to use AI. She has worked on multiple projects in classrooms and has contributed to various research papers with professors and classmates. One of the most interesting projects that she did was during her class on security. Along with classmates, she developed solutions to prevent Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks on Internet of Things (IoT) devices, working with constrained resources. Even though this was out of her comfort zone, she felt it was important because data needs to be secured, not misused by people. In the future, she would love to learn more about virtual reality and augmented reality.
When asked what drew her to work at the IIR, Shreya shares, “I had always worked on the technical side of cleaning data. Working at the IIR will give me more experience in visualization and drawing insights that directly impact the communities the data is about. As a data analyst, it is important to present data clearly to those who don't have a technical background.” Her skills include working with Python and SPSS. We welcomed her into our iDod (Immigration Data on Demand) project team. Shreya says, “I have never created maps in my life. When I created maps using ArcGIS Pro [for iDod fact sheets], it felt really good! I haven't worked on geo-spatial analysis before. You can get creative with the data.”
Being an international student herself, Shreya now knows a lot more terms associated with immigration. Understanding the processes related to iDod, she is excited to learn how to drive insights from data. She believes, “It is important to have reliable data and to analyze it properly. People can't understand raw data. It is our job to ensure that data is presented clearly with maps and charts. Through our factsheets, people can take informed decisions.”
I asked Shreya if there was anything that her teammates would be surprised to learn about her. She said, “I love creating content. I love to make reels and edit them by adding songs or voiceovers.” Having created social media content for her personal account and having worked on data in classrooms, Shreya never got a chance to combine storytelling with data. At IIR, she shares, “This is a place to do that. There’s a story behind data. We can communicate when presenting insights. By the end of my work, I want to get a very good data storytelling experience.”
Three words that Shreya uses to describe her work at the IIR are “analytical”, “meaningful”, and “interdisciplinary”. We welcome Shreya to the team!