Why and when did you decide to become a scientist?

My (Master-) thesis supervisor, Prof. Dr. Qureshi, was one of the renowned researchers of Machine Learning and Image Analysis. His guidance and support increased my interest in research, exploration of novel ideas, and learning new methods. During the thesis, I got inspired by this process and decided to become a scientist.

Who is the scientist you would like to meet the most and what would you talk about?

As a computer scientist and as a Machine Learning researcher, I am looking forward to meeting Andrew NG. He is a true inspiration for his research in machine learning. In addition, he is helping society by giving back as distance learning through Coursera. I would talk to him about the ethical and sustainability impacts of developing and training machine learning models.

What makes the field of data science so interesting and what do you like most about your work?

In the beginning, l was intrigued by the idea of Machine learning and that we can ‘teach’ computers to learn. With time, I am fascinated by diverse application areas and the breadth of the domain. It has given me the flexibility to explore new ideas. Being a scientist allows me to think outside the box for developing optimal solutions for the problems at hand.

What are your biggest challenges in the current pandemic and how do you deal with them?

It is important to maintain the work-life balance while working from home. The missing distinction between work, home, and children’s school makes it challenging to handle all three to my satisfaction. I try to manage this by allocating specific time for different tasks. Another challenge is that I miss the face-face interactions with my colleagues and chatting over the coffee breaks. To handle this, we schedule regular lunch-time zoom calls to catch up.

What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?

Spending time with my family and finding innovative and easy methods of Cooking, Cleaning, or Organization.