I’m studying computer science at Macaulay Honors College at CCNY. Outside classes, I divide my time between Vernato, AI research, and working on other projects I find interesting.
I’ve studied under the Indian CBSE system, British curriculum, and even New York public schools. Changing between them was definately not always easy, but I’m glad I got to experience different ways of learning. What I do remember most clearly about moving is the smell of cartons and boxes everywhere, and the sound of packing tape rolled on top of existing packing tape from a different country.
Before most of my hobby projects, I was in the embarrasing YouTube phase. I was editing, making thumbnails, song covers, and eventually using music I’d made myself in my videos. I remember when the channel reached 1,000 subscribers, my parents threw me a small party. Even though most videos never got many views, I cared a lot about making the next one.
Simplify Me. started in Brunei, when I started using more online tools and it made me curious about privacy policies and browser cookies. I’d just discovered WordPress and eventually after finding ToS;DR, I embedded their website into mine because I didn’t yet know how to use their free API. They were also the first service I ever donated to.
I’m building Vernato for iOS, with conversation practice and feedback on individual words and sounds. Alongside it, my research at CCNY has led me more into voice models, multimodal learning, and robot imitation learning. Honestly, I’m still deciding whether I want to spend more of my time building products or doing research. For now, I’m glad I get to do both.
I don’t play as many video games as I used to, but I still have a soft spot for stories like Detroit: Become Human and God of War. I also enjoy soccer and pickleball when I get the chance.
