Resume

View as PDF

OBJECTIVE

Nikita Johny Kachappilly

Current Master's student at UC San Diego with a strong foundation in programming languages, algorithms, and data structures seeking opportunities in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

  • Address: San Diego, California
  • Email: nikitajohnyk@gmail.com

EDUCATION

Masters in Computer Science Engineering (AI/ML)

2024 - 2026

University of California, San Diego, USA

Relevant Coursework:

CSE 251B - Deep Learning

ECE 285C - Deep Generative Models

CSE 256 - Statistical NLP

CSE 258 - Recommender Systems and Web Mining

CSE 234 - Data Systems for ML

CSE 202 - Algorithms Design and Analysis

CSE 291J - Fairness, Bias and Transparency in Machine Learning

CSE 253 - ML for Music

Bachelor Of Technology (with Honours) in Computer Science & Engineering

2020 - 2024

Model Engineering College, Thrikkakara, India

Secured 9.72(of 10) under Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, Kerala.

Grade 12 (Major: Computer Science)

2020

Viswajyothi CMI Public School, Angamaly, India

Secured 97.6% under the Central Board of Secondary Education.

Grade 10

2018

International Indian School Dammam, Saudi Arabia

Secured 98% under the Central Board of Secondary Education.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Graduate Student Researcher at UC San Diego

July 2025

• Conducting research at the Cottrell Lab on perceptual expertise and human face recognition by modeling differences between retinal input and perceptual interpretation using deep learning.

• Collaborating with a team of four to design data-efficient, biologically inspired architectures that model the cognitive processes involved in human visual perception.

COURSES & CERTIFICATIONS

Data Structures and Algorithms

2022

Completed a course on Data Structures and Algorithms in Java offered by NPTEL in association with IIT Kharagpur.

Deep Learning

2023

Completed a course on Deep Learning-IIT Ropar offered by NPTEL in association with IIT Ropar.

Reinforcement Learning

2024

Completed a course on Reinforcement Learning offered by NPTEL in association with IIT Madras.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Graduate Student Researcher at UC San Diego

July 2025

• Conducting research on perceptual expertise and human face recognition by modeling differences between retinal input and perceptual interpretation using deep learning. • Collaborating with a team of four to design data-efficient, biologically inspired architectures that model the cognitive processes involved in human visual perception.

ACTIVITIES & ACHIEVEMENTS

2022

Participated in Tink-Her-Hack 2022, Kerala’s largest women-only hackathon conducted by TinkerHub Foundation, a tech exploration and innovation community.

2020

Secured a position among the top 5 teams in Consilio, a UI/UX Workshop based on Figma conducted by TinkerHub.

2020

School topper in 12th grade, Computer Science batch at Viswajyothi CMI Public School, Angamaly, India.

2018

School topper in 10th grade at International Indian School Dammam, Saudi Arabia, one of the largest schools in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.