Open to opportunities

Varun Sripad Kota

@varunsripadkota

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Aspiring data scientist with expertise in machine learning and data engineering.

United States

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What I'm looking for

I am looking for a role that fosters innovation, collaboration, and growth in data science.

I am a dedicated and passionate data scientist currently pursuing my Master's in Computer Science at The University of Texas at Arlington. With a strong foundation in programming and a GPA of 3.55, I have honed my skills in various programming languages, cloud platforms, and machine learning frameworks. My academic journey has been complemented by hands-on experience as a Graduate Research Assistant, where I co-authored two research papers and led data acquisition and feature engineering on large-scale datasets.

Previously, I worked as a Software Development Engineer at Cognizant Technology Solutions, where I developed backend systems and real-time data pipelines that significantly improved registration throughput and reduced latency. My contributions earned me the Pearson Client Excellence Award for performance tuning and scalable pipeline delivery. I thrive in collaborative environments and am committed to leveraging my technical skills to drive impactful data-driven solutions.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Graduate Research Assistant

University of Texas at Arlington

Oct 2024 - Present (1 year 8 months)

Co-authored two research papers on climate change's impact on mental health and HIV case dynamics. Led data acquisition, cleansing, and feature engineering across multiple large-scale global datasets, applying time-series forecasting to evaluate GDP’s influence on HIV-related deaths.

SQL Python Pandas NumPy Matplotlib ARIMA Data Analysis Machine Learning

Software Development Engineer

Cognizant Technology Solutions

Oct 2022 - Present (3 years 8 months)

Developed backend systems and school registration portals using Python, Spark, and Kafka, improving registration throughput and ensuring 99.5% SLA compliance. Built real-time pipelines on GCP Dataproc and BigQuery processing 100M+ records/day, reducing end-to-end latency by 60% and system downtime by 50%.

Python Apache Spark Kafka BigQuery Jenkins Terraform CI CD Cloud Build SQL

Software Development Intern

Cognizant Technology Solutions

Apr 2022 - Present (4 years 2 months)

Developed Spark-based ETL pipelines on Hadoop and migrated PostgreSQL/MongoDB data to BigQuery with optimized schemas. Built Kafka-Spark streaming alerts and automated Airflow DAGs with full lineage, ensuring 95% SLA compliance and audit readiness.

Apache Spark Hadoop PostgreSQL MongoDB BigQuery Kafka Apache Airflow ETL Data Pipelines Agile

Education

Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework

The University of Texas at Arlington

Masters, Computer Science

Grade: 3.55

Pursued a Master's degree in Computer Science, focusing on advanced topics in the field. Achieved a GPA of 3.55, demonstrating strong academic performance.