Work

I love starting new initiatives and working on topics that I care about. Below is a partial list:

		Big Data: The rate at which new information is generated online far exceeds not only human cognitive abilities, but is pushing the boundaries of traditional data storage and processing as well. However, information from human interactions on online platforms can also be used for analyzing very large data. At Princeton, I'm building a new search engine, called Vivoly, to explore some of these ideas.
		Global Development: Poverty and the associated sufferings remain a global challenge, with over a billion people surviving on less than a dollar a day. Technology, applied appropriately, can help improve their lives. I explore problems around systems for developing regions through the Dritte initiative, which I'm a founding member of. This area lacks appropriate attention (and funding). However, this is slowly changing. One good sign: the project lead of Dritte, Umar Saif, was recently given the MIT TR-35 award.
		Wireless Networks: I got interested in networks through tiny devices, called sensor networks, that can communicate over wireless links and can sense the physical world. The implications of this technology on human lives were enormous. Suddenly, the physical world can be observed at a granularity level that simply wasn't possible before. Although I'm not actively working in this area these days, there are a few problems (like how to scale routing) that I still think about.
		Tech Events: I co-founded the NSDR Workshop and have helped host the event with SIGCOMM, SOSP, and MobiSys. The idea behind NSDR is to introduce people working in systems and networking to the problems in developing regions. The workshop now has a life of its own, and I look forward to the exciting future events. A similar initiative was the Workshop on Global Development that I helped organize with some amazing colleagues.
		Teaching: I'm extremely interested in education and teaching. More specifically, I'm interested in history of computing, teaching how to program, operating and networked systems, and interaction of business and technology. At Princeton, I helped in designing the first-ever "CTO Course", gave a few guest lectures in it, and am involved with how the course evolves over time. Earlier, I was the preceptor for Programming Systems, and of Computer Networks.
		Personal Analytics: What gets measured gets managed. We usually don't measure time and habits. How you spend your 24 hours in any day ends up defining who you are. Noticing a lack of any suitable tools for personal analytics, I hacked together a solution called Headwire. I don't have any plans to open this to the public at this time. It's a hobby project and I'm not looking to expand it for any financial gains either. Do drop me an email if you want to know more.
		Entrepreneurship: Working on interesting problems at a research lab is one thing, commercializing innovative ideas for the benefit of the general public is another. I've always been interested in high-tech entrepreneurship. My involvement with the Princeton Entrepreneurship Club (Eclub) began in 2009, when I won a bunch of awards in their annual business plan competition. I serve on the PR committee of the Princeton Eclub, and try to promote the entrepreneurship culture at Princeton in general.