Apara Venkat
I am Apara. I am a first year Ph.D. student in the Statistics Department at the University of Washington. My research interests broadly include stochastic modeling, networks, optimization and machine learning. I am interested in developing new methods in these areas and applying them to real world problems in fields such as computer science, physics, social science and epidemiology. Clearly I am interested in a lot of things. I am still in the process of identifying my niche.
Before UW, I completed my B.S. in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics at the University of Colorado at Boulder. My undergraduate thesis on identifying effects of node covariates in ranking and choice models was advised by Dan Larremore.
Non-academically, I am interested in music - both listening and playing. I also read a variety of books. My most recent favorite fiction is The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. My most recent favorite non-fiction is Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. I enjoy playing a good video game once in a while and my favorite one is The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Since my early undergrad days, I have been maintaining a blog where I reflect on science, math, the world, and life.
My current/past projects (green) and academic interests (blue).
News
- 21 Mar 2021 - 📝 I finally revisit 2020.
- 24 Feb 2021 - 📝 I wrote an article on identifying the why's in life.
- 12 Feb 2021 - 📝 I wrote an article on why we should ask ourselves why we want more time instead of just wishing for it.
- 27 Nov 2020 - 📝 I wrote an article sharing my thoughts on Stoicism.
- 30 Sep 2020 - 🎒 I started the first year of my Ph.D. at UW.
- 11 Aug 2020 - 📝 I wrote an article reflecting upon my time at CU.
- 19 May 2020 - 📝 I wrote an article about my experience at HackCU.
- 18 May 2020 - 🤖 I started my internship at Microsoft in the Mixed Reality Team.
- 16 May 2020 - 🎓 I received my B.S. in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from CU Boulder!
- 24 Apr 2020 - 📜 I successfully defended my undergraduate thesis!
- 02 Apr 2020 - 🥇 I received Outstanding Undergraduate for Academic Achievement Award!