Akshay's Corner

Hello hello, I'm Akshay!

I currently work as an Adjunct at National Louis University. Before getting into academia, I worked as an AI Engineering Lead. This small corner on the internet is my space to explore and share my experiences in software development through means of storytelling.

Here, I want to share my work (current and previous), my "aha!!" moments, my moments of struggles, failures, gratitude, and my journey through the worlds of AI, Open Source, and Software Development.

I also have a special interest in natural language processing and reinforcement learning, so there's that to share too.

Open Source

I Open Source!!

Funny enough, I accidentally got started into it and I don't know why; I bloody loved it. It was, and still is, a personal reminder to share my struggles and achievements with everyone, breaking down cultural and digital barriers and inviting collaboration across disciplines and borders.

My belief in this "open-ness" has led me to contribute to and work at some amazing research labs and projects under the guidance of some super-duper talented people in the industry.

Contributed at

Accenture
OpenAI
Django
Microsoft
AWS Boto3
TensorIoT

In these labs, I worked on a diverse range of projects, from building performant machine learning models to eventually crafting numerical computing libraries. These projects (big and small) helped me reflect on both my technical depth and my knowledge gaps.

xames3/slowtorch

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A subset of core PyTorch features re-built in pure Python.

xames3/xsnumpy

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An experimental re-implementation of a few NumPy features in Python.

Beyond these, I've had the opportunity to speak at a few tech meetups and conferences, sharing insights on my projects, my thoughts on AI, Open Source, and the inner workings of some frameworks.

It wouldn't be possible if I hadn't explored this; in doing so, I realised I had a passion for teaching and sharing this.

Teaching philosophy

Personally, I believe that "true" mastery of something comes from sharing knowledge and learning from mistakes and past experiences. Whether it is breaking down complex machine learning algorithms or explaining the nuances of software design patterns, I find joy in making these technical ideas relatable and easy to grasp.

Early in my software engineering career, I came across a quote:

If you want to master something, teach it.

—Dr. Richard Feynman

And I absolutely fell in love with this idea. Soon, I realised you really can't really call yourself an SME (Subject-matter expert) until you can teach a concept to those who barely know anything about it (or very little), and are willing to entertain questions at that initial frame of reference.

Thus began my journey into teaching.

Although my approach to mentoring has changed and evolved over the past few years, adapting to the needs of my environment, my students/mentees, the time, and my position, when asked for any help, I created this website. This website is more than my portfolio; it's a living project where I'd like the technology and education to grow together.

Ultimately, my goal is to use this corner to bridge the gap between education, collaboration, building tools, and sharing ideas.

Let's connect

I'm not on social media, but I'm always open to conversations about AI, Teaching, Open Source, or just a casual chat about life. I'd love to hear from you. It doesn't need to be just about the tech either.

Also, I'm a huge film nerd and I enjoy memes!!