Embarking on a Career in AI and Machine Learning
Abhishek Uddaraju, MS’25, robotics, is preparing to graduate in December and finish his academic journey at Northeastern. He is excited to apply the knowledge he has gained throughout the robotics program and his innovative research co-op to a long-lasting career in AI and machine learning.
Before coming to Northeastern, Abhishek Uddaraju was studying electrical and electronic engineering at VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology in Hyderabad, India. Working as a research assistant and machine learning engineer during his undergraduate studies, he was introduced to the world of research within the subject of machine learning. After graduating with his bachelor’s degree, Uddaraju wanted to expand his career opportunities and gain a deeper understanding of sensors and hardware. He had always been interested in building small projects related to IoT and home automation, and wanted more chances to get involved within those sectors. Uddaraju was seeking a degree program that would enable him to enhance his knowledge and refine his engineering skills. A master’s degree in robotics felt like the perfect opportunity to transition Uddaraju’s career to the next level.
Neurodevelopmental Dynamics Lab
Uddaraju completed his co-op at the Neurodevelopmental Dynamics Lab (NDD Lab) with Assistant Professor Kristina Johnson. The NDD Lab conducts research with the purpose of deepening society’s understanding of individuals with neurodevelopmental differences, such as autism and intellectual disabilities. Uddaraju served as a computer vision engineer co-op for the lab, where the main project that he was working on during his co-op was titled “Rapid Online Sample of Communication” or ROSCO. This project aimed to use video to capture the natural, everyday ways people express themselves through sounds, gestures and facial expressions to learn more about how individuals with neurodevelopmental differences communicate over time.
In his role, Uddaraju built data and an ML pipeline to extract the facial features and body poses that were captured on video. Uddaraju optimized the camera positions and set up to get the best, most accurate data for the recordings. He additionally developed landmark-based facial feature extraction for twenty distinct facial action units and built a custom lightweight convolutional neural network (CNN). Uddaraju was also responsible for analyzing a lot of the data using machine learning and computer vision.
Uddaraju gained a lot of experience in AI, machine learning and computer vision during his co-op experience, and even had the opportunity to present his work at a conference at Harvard Medical School. Uddaraju said that before participating in this research, he had no prior experience working with data related to health disorders and psychology, so this experience was unique and eye-opening to him. It allowed him to see a new and different sector of research where his engineering skills can be applied.
Classroom Experiences
Uddaraju said one of his favorite courses during his degree program was “Human-Computer Interaction” with Assistant Professor Saiph Savage. He said the course was interesting; it intrigued him to understand the specifics of how humans interact with computers. He additionally enjoyed a class project titled ‘Silosync”, utilizing a website where Uddaraju tried to connect users with authentic recipes from different cuisines. The website used existing data from authentic sources as well as AI to generate recipes. Uddaraju said he had a great experience collaborating with his team and Professor Savage while developing the website.
Future Perspectives
Uddaraju will be graduating in December 2025. Meanwhile, he is currently working on building a platform that connects architects with trusted vendors, ensuring that innovative AI-driven designs can be transformed into authentic, buildable projects. He aims to bridge the gap between AI-generated designs and real-world products.
AI and machine learning are topics that have always fascinated Uddaraju. Wanting to continue working at the intersection of AI, architectural design and construction, Uddaraju aspires to be a forward-deployed AI engineer and founder. He aspires to use his skills to solve real-world problems directly with clients. He finds that adapting AI models into practical, deployable solutions creates meaningful impact and wants to be a part of that. Uddaraju has appreciated the invaluable academic and professional opportunities Northeastern has offered him and is excited to turn what he has learned from those experiences into a long, successful career.