What is your title?

Lead Engineer

What is your expertise?

Machine learning, consumer finance analytics

How long have you been at GE?

I complete 7 years in January 2010.

Where did you receive your education?

I received an undergraduate degree in Information Systems from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (India), and a doctorate in Information Systems from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (India).

What are you working on now?

I am currently working on an assortment of problems. The problem domains range from consumer finance analytics to computer-aided diagnostics in medical imaging. I was also involved in a recently concluded collaboration with the Chinese Government wherein we developed a tool to help radiologists screen patients for Pneumoconiosis.

Any awards, medals, patents, or special recognitions?

I am recipient of the Hull award (2009) and the Ramanujan Award (2006), both of which honour early career technologists within GE. I have co-authored over 10 publications in peer-reviewed international journals and conferences, and have 5 patent applications currently under review by the USPTO.

What accomplishment are you most proud of?

Being an applied researcher involves being a technologist as well as an evangelist. As a technologist, I am happy with the work we have done to raise the bar in some of the businesses we have worked with. But what I am most proud of is those cases where the clients have understood not just what problem we have solved, but also how we have solved it. This understanding has helped change the way they think about their business.

What is your computer wallpaper?

A picture of a Royal Bengal Tiger seen through the bushes at Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh, India. A friend of mine took the picture from a distance of less than 100 metres.

Where did you grow up?

All over India — infancy in Belgaum (West) and Kolkata (East), childhood and adolescence in Chennai, Tiruchirapalli and Kannur (South), undergrad in Pilani (North).

Who is a technologist (past or present) that you most admire?

Leonardo Da Vinci.

What is your favorite Web site?

The first port of call when I need a question answered — http://www.google.com. I’m a film buff, so I stop by regularly to read reviews by Rogert Ebert (http://www.rogerebert.com).

What do you think is the most impressive (recent or historical) technology breakthrough?

Each era has had a clutch of big inventions, so it’s tough to pick one. In recent times, I have found the advances in molecular medicine really impressive.

What is your favorite book or publication?

Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach. An Introduction to Computational Learning Theory, by Martin Anthony and Norman Biggs. The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck.

What invention of the future will change the world/way we live?

The invention that I feel will make a big difference would be that of a social model that can promote growth across various sections of society. Microfinance and similar models were a brilliant step in that direction, but there is still a long way to go.

What is your hobby?

Quizzing, creative writing, singing, reading, listening to music, blogging.

What type of music do you listen to while you are working?

Hardly any — I love my music too much to be able to concentrate on work if it’s playing in the background! I do listen to a lot of music otherwise — old film music, classical, rock…