Professional portrait of Ponkoj Chandra Shill
Open to applied scientist and ML research roles where research and production meet.

Ponkoj Chandra Shill

Ph.D. candidateAI/ML researcher & engineerIntelligent learning systemsMultimodal AI & robotics

Final-year Ph.D. candidate and AI/ML engineer with 6+ years across data, analytics, and machine learning, including 4+ years focused on applied ML and data science. I build end-to-end systems spanning data acquisition, feature engineering, model development, controlled evaluation, deployment, and monitoring, with specialization in intelligent learning systems, multimodal AI, robotics, and automated evaluation.

Selected impact: 6 peer-reviewed papers with 160+ citations, an NSF-funded robotics learning platform supporting 100+ students, open-source ML tooling, and production analytics across 8M+ property images and 4M+ property records.

Current Research & Development

Advancing how students learn, practice, and improve in robotics.

Ph.D. research + Robotics Learning Platform

A complete learning cycle, from guided content to measurable improvement.

Explore the research methodology
01Learn
Study guided content
LessonsWorked examples
02Code
Practice in the workspace
Python editorROS 2 simulation
03Evaluate
Run automated assessment
Unit testsImmediate feedback
04Guide
Receive targeted support
DiagnosticsGuardrailed AI hints
05Revise
Improve and try again
Targeted retryProgress evidence
Ph.D. research layerLearning behavior becomes measurable evidence.

Behavioral telemetry connects student attempts, test outcomes, help-seeking, and revisions to the study of accuracy, efficiency, recovery, robustness, and learner experience.

Attempt tracesTest outcomesHelp-seekingRevision patterns
01Research

Publish peer-reviewed evidence

02Build

Engineer intelligent learning and ML systems

03Validate

Run controlled studies and automated evaluation

04Deploy

Operate analytics at million-record scale

Featured projects

Research ideas turned into working systems.

PCB Designer Handoff Generator showing supported sensor and board scope

Generative engineering

AI-Assisted PCB Design

Turns natural-language ESP32 sensor-board requirements into a reviewable engineering handoff with validated components, pin maps, netlists, power budgets, and deterministic fallbacks.

v5.1public prototype with source-grounded validation
Tech stack
PythonStreamlitGemini APIOllama/Qwen2.5GraphvizpytestJSON validation

Multimodal AI

Hate & Threat Detection in Forensics

Routes image evidence, OCR text, and associated language through specialized models before producing an auditable fused risk assessment for forensic review.

3 signalsimage, OCR, and associated-text evidence fused
Tech stack
PythonPyTorchOpenCLIPDeBERTaTesseract OCRTransformerspytest

Evidence-backed capabilities & Skills

Technical depth connected to working systems.

01 / System level

What I design and deliver

01 · IL

Intelligent Learning & Robotics Systems

Design integrated learning environments with automated assessment, behavioral telemetry, robotics simulation, personalized feedback, and guardrailed AI tutoring.

View learning platform
02 · ML

Applied ML & Experimentation

Build classification, regression, time-series, optimization, and feature-engineering pipelines with statistical analysis, controlled experiments, evaluation, and monitoring.

See applied experience
03 · MM

Multimodal AI & Computer Vision

Combine images, OCR, contextual text, vision-language models, transformers, evidence routing, classification, and score fusion into auditable AI pipelines.

View forensic system
04 · GA

Generative AI & Engineering Automation

Transform natural-language requirements into structured, validated, and reviewable outputs using RAG, prompt engineering, guardrails, and deterministic fallbacks.

View PCB system
05 · PD

Production Data, Cloud & Geospatial Systems

Develop acquisition, ETL, data-quality, warehousing, spatial analytics, deployment, and monitoring workflows for multimillion-record production systems.

See production experience
06 · SE

Software Engineering & Open-Source Tooling

Ship production Python services, REST APIs, tested CLI tools, reusable packages, CI workflows, regression safeguards, and technical documentation.

View open-source package
02 / Tool level

Tools, technologies, and methods

01

Languages

PythonSQLCC++JavaGoDart
02

AI Models & Frameworks

PyTorchTensorFlowscikit-learnHugging FaceOpenCLIPDeBERTaCatBoostOpenCVRAGOpenAI APIsGeminiOllama / Qwen
03

Data & Databases

PostgreSQLPostGISMySQLMongoDBPandasNumPyApache SparkMicrosoft FabricData warehousing
04

Cloud & Infrastructure

AWSEC2S3RDSRedshiftLambdaGCPDockerLinux
05

Applications & APIs

FlaskFastAPIStreamlitFlutterREST APIsCLI toolingGraphviz
06

Robotics & Simulation

ROS 2GazeboRobot simulationEmbedded systemsAutomated assessmentLearning telemetry
07

Analytics & Research Methods

Power BITableauStatistical analysisExperimental designFeature engineeringTime-series modelingModel evaluationModel monitoring
08

Quality & Engineering Practice

pytestTDDUnit testingRegression testingGitCI/CDData qualityTechnical documentation

Experience

Research depth with production experience.

Open full Resume ↗
Research systems

Graduate Research Assistant

University of Nevada, Reno

Developing an NSF-funded AI/ML learning and assessment platform with automated evaluation, behavioral telemetry, robotics simulation, and guardrailed LLM feedback.

NSF-funded100+ studentsAI-assisted assessment
  • Built and deployed an NSF-funded AI/ML platform used by 100+ students.
  • Contributed to 6 peer-reviewed papers with 160+ total citations.
Aug 2022 to present4 yearsPh.D.
Teaching & mentorship

Graduate Teaching Assistant

University of Nevada, Reno

Teaching Python for data science, including analysis, visualization, statistical reasoning, and machine learning fundamentals.

PythonData scienceMachine learning
  • Teach Python for Data Science across analysis, visualization, statistics, and machine learning.
  • Support course delivery through technical guidance, assessment, and student mentoring.
Aug 2025 to present1 yearPh.D.
Healthcare intelligence

Business Intelligence Developer

Tahoe Forest Health System

Built healthcare dashboards, SQL datasets, data models, and repeatable ETL and data-quality workflows supporting Microsoft Fabric integration. Analyzed 426,759 referral records and resolved 119,749 of 121,719 missing specialty values (98.38%) for production analytics.

426,759 records98.38% resolvedMicrosoft Fabric
  • Analyzed 426,759 healthcare referral records for production reporting and data-quality improvement.
  • Resolved 119,749 of 121,719 missing specialty values, covering 98.38% of the original gaps.
Mar 2026 to Jul 20265 monthsPart-time
Applied AI

AI Software Engineer Intern

ConSynSys Technologies

Developed biomedical time-series forecasting, pump-control optimization, real-time monitoring, and cloud AI workflows for deployment reliability. Applied genetic optimization to pump-calibration control, reducing manual intervention by 50%.

Time-series MLGenetic optimization50% less intervention
  • Developed time-series ML for biomedical pump forecasting, benchmarking, and real-time monitoring.
  • Reduced manual pump-calibration intervention by 50% using genetic optimization.
Jan 2024 to May 20245 monthsInternship
Production machine learning

Machine Learning Engineer

Softwrd Ltd

Led the development of an end-to-end multimodal property-valuation system combining machine learning, computer vision, geospatial intelligence, PostgreSQL/PostGIS, and AWS cloud pipelines. Processed 8M+ images and 4M property records across 100+ risk zones, helping secure $20K in government funding.

8M+ images4M records$20K funding
  • Processed 8M+ property images and analyzed 4M records across 100+ geographic risk zones.
  • Integrated multimodal pricing intelligence that helped secure $20K in government funding.
Jun 2021 to Aug 20221 year 3 monthsFull-time
Business intelligence

Business Intelligence Analyst

Truck Lagbe

Used Python, MySQL, Tableau, regression, and supply-demand analysis to support operations and contribute to a 15% improvement in customer retention.

15% retentionTableauSupply-demand modeling
  • Contributed to a 15% improvement in customer retention through operational and customer analysis.
  • Supported supply-demand prediction and geographic decisions with MySQL and Tableau reporting.
Apr 2020 to May 20211 year 1 monthFull-time
Product analytics

Data Analyst

Creatino

Analyzed user and product data and built Power BI reporting that informed campaigns, product decisions, and growth planning.

Power BIUser behaviorGrowth analytics
  • Analyzed user behavior and business data with Python to identify patterns and growth opportunities.
  • Built Power BI dashboards supporting marketing, product, and planning decisions.
Mar 2019 to Mar 20201 yearInternship
Computer science education

Teaching Assistant

BRAC University

Conducted classes, contributed to curriculum development, prepared assessments, and provided academic guidance to computer science students.

InstructionCurriculumAssessment design
  • Delivered computer-science instruction and individual academic guidance.
  • Contributed to curriculum development, assessment preparation, and student mentoring.
Sep 2019 to Dec 20201 year 4 monthsPart-time

Education

Academic background

2022 to Fall 2026 (expected)

Ph.D. in Computer Science

University of Nevada, Reno · GPA 3.87

2022 to 2024

M.S. in Computer Science

University of Nevada, Reno · GPA 3.87

2016 to 2020

B.S. in Computer Science

BRAC University · GPA 3.60

Research & publications

Learning systems, multimodal AI, and optimization.

Complete Scholar profile ↗

Beyond the work

Honors & Leadership

Honors & Awards

  • Graduate Dean's Merit Scholar, University of Nevada, Reno
  • 1st Runner-Up, IEEE COVID-19 Combatants Unification Competition
  • NASA Space Apps Challenge Finalist
  • BRAC University Merit-Based Scholarship

Leadership & Service

  • President, Bangladesh Student Association, University of Nevada, Reno
  • Data Team Lead, Softwrd Ltd

Let's connect

Research questions deserve working systems.