Open to opportunities

Kamau Wainaina

@kamauwainaina

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Data scientist and AI practitioner skilled in ML, prompt engineering, and data-driven solutions.

Kenya

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What I'm looking for

I seek roles applying ML and data science to real-world problems, with collaborative teams, clear impact metrics, and opportunities to build production-grade models and analytics.

I am a data scientist with hands-on experience training multimodal AI, building dashboards, and delivering actionable analytics for NGOs and research projects.

At OpenAI I contributed to training a multimodal model by authoring and refining 5,000+ detailed prompts, designing image-plus-text tasks, and ensuring prompt clarity and edge-case coverage to improve model reasoning.

I built backend data pipelines and visualizations for an award-winning RShiny opioid dashboard, and developed production-ready APIs and scalable MongoDB architectures for an EdTech solution that received Forbes recognition.

I enjoy turning complex data into practical impact—matching mentors to 1000+ vulnerable adolescents, informing organizational decisions with advanced analysis, and creating tools that improve access to information and learning.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

AI Trainer / Prompt Engineer

OpenAI

Jan 2023 - Mar 2024 (1 year 2 months)

Contributed to training a multimodal AI model by authoring and refining 5,000+ prompts combining image and text inputs to improve reasoning and robustness across technical domains.

Prompt Engineering Data Annotation Python Quality Assurance Human In The Loop Model Evaluation

Data Analyst

Hope Worldwide Kenya

Jun 2022 - Feb 2023 (8 months)

Analyzed large-scale datasets using Excel, Python, and R to classify vulnerabilities and optimize mentor assignment, improving targeted aid delivery for 1,000+ adolescent girls and young women.

Python R Excel)Data Cleaning Data Visualization SQL Program Evaluation Excel

Data Scientist (Capstone)

Opioid Policy and Data Dashboard

Jan 2021 - May 2021 (4 months)

Led backend data collection, cleaning, and integration for an award-winning RShiny dashboard visualizing opioid epidemic data and collaborated on front-end static pages.

R R Shiny Data Cleaning Data Integration HTML CSS Data Visualization

Software Engineer (Student Project)

Nittany Artificial Intelligence Challenge

Aug 2019 - Sep 2020 (1 year 1 month)

Developed an EdTech solution with a scalable MongoDB backend and high-performance Node.js API to serve curriculum-aligned interactive learning resources, winning the NittanyAI challenge.

Node MongoDB API Design JavaScript Database Design Educational Technology

Education

Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework

Pennsylvania State University, University Park

Bachelor of Science, Data Science

Activities and societies: Relevant coursework: Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning, Computer Vision, Database Management, Big Data Analytics, Stochastic Modelling, Data Structures & Algorithms, Privacy & Security, Software Engineering.

Completed a Bachelor of Science in Data Science with a Computational Data Sciences focus, covering machine learning, AI, databases, big data analytics, and software engineering; graduated May 2021.