available for opportunities · nyc

Ishnoor
Bakshi.

cs + econ @ barnard columbia. i build things at the intersection of AI, genomics, and finance — and then i go do bhangra. currently researching quantum-informed imaging pipelines by day, figuring out the best ramen spot in manhattan by night.

machine learning AI research python genomics private equity AWS CCP (incoming)
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01

the gist

who i am

sophomore at barnard columbia (class of '28) studying CS & economics. i came in pre-med, pivoted to CS, and never looked back. i genuinely love what i do — whether that's debugging a pytorch model at midnight or presenting investment decks to partners. i'm also sikh, so community and music (kirtan 🙏) are a big part of me outside the terminal.

currently

AI + quantum research at GILMLab, columbia. building GPU-accelerated imaging pipelines using quantum optical models. it's as wild as it sounds.

based in

new york city — morningside heights specifically, but you'll find me in chinatown, flushing, or basically anywhere with good food.

02

what i've done

AI + Quantum Research Assistant Jan 2026 → now
GILMLab · Columbia University

developing AI pipelines with quantum optical models for multispectral imaging. applying deep learning to non-invasive biological signal detection. translating quantum principles into scalable, GPU-accelerated algorithms.

AI + Genomics Research Assistant Sep 2024 → Aug 2025
Children's National Hospital · Silver Spring, MD

built predictive drug sensitivity models (XGBoost vs. Random Forest) on 578 cancer cell lines and 50 drugs using CRISPR-Cas9 data. XGBoost won. published the results.

Private Equity Intern Jun → Aug 2025
Singh Capital Partners · Bethesda, MD

researched redevelopment of a 200K+ sq. ft. shopping center. built 3+ investment pitch decks for senior partners on million-dollar acquisition scenarios. financial modeling, ROI analysis — the works.

Consulting ML Analyst Intern Jun → Aug 2024
Master Informatix Consulting Inc · Sterling, VA

supported ML + cybersecurity projects alongside 5+ consultants. helped evaluate $500K+ of RFPs and contributed to 10+ technical review meetings.

Research Presenter Jun 2020 → Aug 2024
IEEE Junior Conference · Big Sky, MT

7+ presentations to 100+ peers. won Best Paper Award (distracted driving project) out of 50+ submissions. still the thing i'm most proud of from high school.

03

stuff i've built

Sign2Text — ASL Interpreter

real-time ASL-to-text using TensorFlow Object Detection + transfer learning on a custom-labeled dataset. built and deployed as a working web app.

TensorFlow Python LabelImg
🚗
Distracted Driving Detector · IEEE Best Paper

5 CNN models trained on 7,400 images to classify distracted vs. focused driving. best paper award out of 50+ submissions.

CNN Keras Kaggle
🌬
Wind Power Forecasting

regression models forecasting turbine output from long-term data. full pipeline: imputation, visualization, and model evaluation (RMSE/MAE/MSE).

scikit-learn Pandas Matplotlib
04

beyond the terminal

Kirtan

devotional music is a grounding force for me. being sikh shapes how i show up in community, in work, in everything.

ਭੰ
Bhangra

high-energy punjabi folk dance. it's the best workout i've found and it connects me to culture in the most joyful way possible.

NYC Food Explorer

flushing for xiao long bao, chinatown for soup dumplings, everywhere else for whatever is new. i am always looking for recommendations.

05

journal

thoughts, finds, updates
quantum imaging is actually insane

started my GILMLab rotation and the stuff we're doing with quantum fluorescence models is genuinely blowing my mind. never thought i'd be writing GPU-accelerated algorithms that model light-matter interactions but here we are. also had the best khao soi in jackson heights this week — coincidence? i think not.

my paper got published in frontiers media

the genomics paper from children's national is officially out. the moment i saw my name on the frontiers site i had to sit down. this is what two semesters of debugging pytorch at 2am looks like. worth it.