Biography

I am a Senior Applied Scientist at Amazon Search (formerly known as A9). I work on deep learning ranking models in Information Retrieval, from ideation and development to evaluation and launch, for the next-generation of Amazon Search.

Before that, I was an Applied Scientist at Microsoft Ads (MSAN). I obtained my Ph.D. in Computer Science at UCSC where my research was mostly concentrated on machine learning, online learning, combinatorial optimization, and learning of structural concepts and combinatorial objects. I was honored to work under the supervision of Prof. S.V.N. Vishwanathan and Prof. Manfred Warmuth. For a short term after my PhD, I visited Kyushu University and collaborated with Prof. Eiji Takimoto and Prof. Kohei Hatano working on Boosting algorithms in combinatorial settings.

Industry Experience

  • Present2020

    Senior Applied Scientist

    Amazon, Palo Alto, CA

  • 20202018

    Applied Scientist II

    Microsoft , Redmond, WA

  • 20172017

    Software Engineering Intern

    Google Research , New York, NY

  • 20162016

    Data Scientist Intern

    Microsoft , Redmond, WA

  • 20152015

    Applied Research Intern

    eBay Inc. , New York, NY

  • 20142014

    CTO Intern

    Brocade Communication Systems , San Jose, CA

Academic Experience

  • 20182018

    Visiting Researcher

    Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

  • 20162016

    Visiting Academic

    New York University, New York, NY

  • 20172015

    Teaching Assistant, UCSC

    • Spring 2017: Computational Models (CMPS 130) — Upper-division (Instructed by Delbert Bailey)
    • Spring 2015: Introduction to Analysis of Algorithms (CMPS 102) — Upper-division (Instructed by Prof. Manfred Warmuth)
    • Winter 2015: Analysis of Algorithms (CMPS 201) — Graduate (Instructed by Prof. Dimitris Achlioptas)

Education

  • Ph.D. 2018

    Computer Science, GPA 4.0

    University of California, Santa Cruz

  • M.Sc. 2015

    Computer Science, GPA 4.0

    University of California, Santa Cruz

  • B.Sc. 2013

    Mathematics and Computer Science, GPA 3.96

    Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE)

  • B.Sc. 2011

    Computer Engineering, GPA 3.95

    Bahá'í Institute for Higher Education (BIHE)

Honors, Awards and Grants

  • 2013
    Regents Fellowship Recipient
    University of California Santa Cruz
  • 2011
    Runner-up of BIHE ACM Programming Competitions
    Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education
  • 2010
    Winner of BIHE ACM Programming Competitions
    Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education
  • 2007
    Ranked 54th in Iranian University Entrance Exam (Concours)
    National Educational Testing Organization

    • Top 0.02%

  • 2006
    Silver Medalist of Iranian National Mathematics Olympiad
    Young Scholars Club