Projects
- All
- Research Projects
- Personal Projects
- Hackathon
Skills
Experience
Research Experience
Graduate Student Mentor
May 2024 - August 2024
University of Waterloo, ON, CA
Engaged in the WiM (Women in Mathematics) Directed Reading Program as a mentor, supervised four undergraduate students (mentees) on a mathematical research project.
Graduate Research Assistant
September 2022 - September 2024
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, CA
Currently working as a Graduate Research Assistant at the
Haptic Experience Lab under Prof.
Oliver
Schneider.
I am actively engaged in cutting-edge research that explores the convergence of haptics and
human-computer
interaction
(HCI). My focus is on investigating how tactile feedback can be leveraged to elevate user
experiences in digital
interfaces, contributing to the continuous evolution of interactive technologies.
- Designed a physical prototype from scratch to enhance user experience in virtual reality using haptic feedback.
- Programmed microcontrollers in C++ to convert audio signals into haptic feedback and developed a VR user interface in Unity using C# scripts to provide core functionality.
- Supported the research efforts of an interdisciplinary team of 5-10 researchers.
- Extended an open-source project Macaron with JavaScript, adding 5 new features to meet design goals, increasing its usability by 30%.
[Currently involved in a research project with pending publication. Further details will be shared post-publication to adhere to confidentiality requirements and research protocols.]
Graduate Student Mentor
September 2023 - December 2023
Computing Research Association, Washington, DC, US
Mentored two undergraduate students as a part of the UR2PhD program, a
national initiative focusing
on engaging women and gender-marginalized students in computing PhD programs.
Achievements/Tasks -
- Guided and supported students in navigating the research process with their respective projects, fostering their interest and engagement in computing research.
- Facilitated weekly virtual meetings to guide students through research methods, troubleshoot challenges, and provide academic and career guidance.
- Monitored and evaluated students' progress, providing constructive feedback to enhance their research and professional development skills.
- Actively participated in the virtual mentor training program, refining mentoring strategies to better support undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds.
Visiting Undergraduate Student
January 2021 - June 2021
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, US
Worked as a research intern at the Laboratory
for Computational
Sensing and Robotics (LCSR)
under Professor Mathias Unberath. The work is related to surgical procedures where I developed
a drilling simulation for mastoidectomy surgeries.
Achievements/Tasks -
- Built a high-fidelity prototype for an anatomy-focused virtual drilling simulator leveraging CHAI3D, OpenGL, and C++.
- Developed an algorithm for drill-shaft collisions, providing haptic feedback for virtual surgical interactions, contributing to an accuracy of less than 1 mm translation error during tool movement, as verified by 500 recorded frames in vision-based tracking experiments.
- Published research, awarded outstanding paper award, and featured at TechXplore reaching an audience of over 2,000 professionals in the medical and robotics fields.
Research Intern
August 2020 - January 2021
Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, US
Worked on a research project "Pockets" under the supervision of Mr. Aubrey Simonson (Graduate
Research Assistant)
at the MIT Media
Lab in the Fluid Interfaces Research Group headed by Professor Pattie Maes.
Achievements/Tasks -
- Implemented Pockets, a VR belt interface for efficient, intuitive tool access and occlusion reduction in virtual environments.
- Devised and scripted a color picker tool using shader programming to obtain pixel colors, enabling the generation of paint blobs and supporting paintbrush operations.
- Published findings at ACM SIGGRAPH 2021 Posters, sharing research with an international audience of over 3000 attendees.
Professional Experience
Research Engineer
May 2022 - July 2022
Uhmazing, Denver, Colorado, US
Uhmazing is an interdisciplinary team of machine learning researchers, data scientists,
designers, and medical
professionals innovating at the intersection of machine learning and XR technologies.
I worked as a full-time research engineer to contribute building an AI companion.
- Engineered and iterated a low-fidelity AI companion prototype using Unity, C#, and Firebase.
- Utilized speech-to-text API to enable natural language processing and interaction with the AI companion.
- Collaborated with a cross-functional team of 10 to refine the product vision, resulting in a 25% increase in user engagement.
Business Technology Analyst
January 2022 - April 2022
Deloitte USI, Bangalore, Karnataka, IN
Deloitte provides audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax, and legal services
with approximately 457,000 professionals globally,
and operates in over 150 countries.
I worked as a full-time Business Technology Analyst contributing towards the development of a
financial auditing tool.
- Maintained a financial auditing tool using Java, improving the efficiency of the auditing process by 20%.
- Collaborated with a team of 5-10 to gather requirements, design, and implement new features to the auditing tool.
- Conducted extensive testing and debugging, ensuring the accuracy of financial data with a 99% reliability rate.
- Kept up-to-date with the latest technologies and tools relevant to the financial auditing industry, and shared knowledge with team members to improve the overall quality of the product.
Additional Experience
Graduate Teaching Assistant
September 2022 - September 2024
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, CA
Currently involved as a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) for an undergraduate-level course on
CS230 - Introduction to Computers and Computer Systems.
Previously TA'd courses: CS 115 - Introduction to Computer Science 1, CS230 -
Introduction to Computers and Computer Systems, and
CS 246 - Object-Oriented Software Development
- Graded assignments, projects, and exams for over 200 students, providing constructive feedback to improve their performance.
- Assisted in proctoring exams and supporting a classroom environment of 100+ students each semester.Worked
Unity Developer Intern
June 2019 - July 2019
Mimyk Medical Simulations, Indian Institute of Science Bangalore
MIMYK is a deep-tech spin-off from the Indian
Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. They build intelligent and immersive solutions
for medical procedures. These systems are powered by AR/VR, Robotics, and Visual Computing
technologies.
I worked as an Intern at Mimyk Medical Simulation, IISc Bangalore under the supervision of Dr.
Nithin Shivashankar and
Dr. Shanthanu Chakravarthy. I contributed to the team's efforts in developing a novel endoscopy
simulator (EndoMIMYK).
- Designed and built 3D interactive training modules for medical simulation using Unity 3D and C#.
- Developed a new feature, streamlining workflows for over 4 different surgical tools in the simulator.
- Created 3D models and animations in Blender for the simulator, enhancing user interaction with various tools.
3D Design Intern
May 2019 - June 2019
WowExp Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore, Karnataka
WoWExp is building a Generative AI product called WoW FinGPT. It is A revolutionary product to assist the investment and trading analysts with the power of fine-tuned LLMs and selected datasets.
Achievements/Tasks -- Developed 3D content using open-source libraries for the company’s website.
- Worked with babylon.js to simulate 3D graphics on the website.
- Learned how a startup works at an early stage.
Game Development Intern
January 2019 - March 2019
StareOut Games, Hyderabad, Telangana
StareOut Games is a game studio with the vision to build games in the hyper-casual and casual segments.
Achievements/Tasks -- Worked with Marvelous Designer to design various cloth simulations.
- Worked with babylon.js to simulate 3D graphics on the website.
- Learned how an early-stage startup works.
Volunteer and Leadership Experience
Game Development and AR/VR Lead
July 2018 - August 2021
The Society of Coders (TSoC), IIITNR Chhattisgarh
The Society of Coders is IIIT-Naya Raipur’s official coding club. Started by students in a bid to spur the coding culture at this fledging college, the club is responsible for hosting and conducting a diverse range of coding events - hackathons, workshops, coding competitions and much more.
Achievements/Tasks -- Conducted workshops for unity3D and its applications.
- Delivered lectures on applications of AR/VR and the basics of game development.
- Mentored junior developers and provided guidance on technical issues, resulting in improved team performance and increased productivity.
Event Head
March 2018
Technovate (Technical & Cultural Fest), IIITNR Chhattisgarh
Achievements/Tasks -- Planned and executed a successful LAN gaming tournament as part of a technical fest.
- Oversaw all aspects of the tournament, including equipment setup, rule enforcement, and prize distribution, ensuring a smooth and fair competition for all participants.
- Developed marketing strategies to attract participants and promote the tournament.
- Demonstrated strong leadership, communication, and organizational skills throughout the planning and execution of the event, receiving positive feedback from both participants and organizers.
News
- 07/2023: Visited Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) to attend the IEEE World Haptics Conference 2023, where I had the opportunity to present a demo of our project, Slingshot.
- 09/2022: Commenced pursuit of Master of Mathematics in Computer Science (thesis) at the University of Waterloo, having been awarded a fully funded scholarship!
- 12/2021: Our research at JHU on "Virtual reality simulator for practicing skull-base surgery" got covered in TechXplore!
- 09/2021: Our research at JHU titled "VR for synergistic surgical training and data generation" won the outstanding paper award at AE-CAI 2021!
- 08/2021: Our research at JHU titled "VR for synergistic surgical training and data generation" has been accepted to AE-CAI 2021!
- 06/2021: Our research at MIT Media Lab titled "Pockets" has been accepted to ACM SIGGRAPH 2021 Posters!
Publications
Simonson, A., Kunjam, P., and Maes, P.
In SIGGRAPH '21 Posters: Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, ACM (2021).
[PDF] [DOI]
Munawar, A., Li, Z., Kunjam, P., Nagururu, N., Ding, A.S., Kazanzides, P., Looi, T., Creighton, F.X., Taylor, R.H. and Unberath, M.
In Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering: Imaging & Visualization (2021).
[PDF] [DOI]
Education
Master of Mathematics in Computer Science
September 2022 - September 2024
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, CA
Cumulative GPA: 91.25/100
Pursuing Master of Mathematics in Computer Science with a fully funded scholarship. I am actively involved in research at the Haptic Experience Lab,
which is affiliated with the Games Institute at the University of Waterloo. Under the guidance of Prof. Oliver Schneider, my work focuses on advancing
the field of human-computer interaction (HCI).
Coursework -
Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science & Engineering
August 2017 - August 2021
International Institute of Information Technology, Naya Raipur, IN
Relevant Coursework -
Contact
Location:
45 High Street, Waterloo, ON N2L 3X7
Email:
[LastName] [FirstName] [at] gmail [dot] com