Maria Helena Rivero

About Maria Helena Rivero

I am a Data Scientist at Educational Testing Services (ETS) with a Ph.D. in Information Systems Engineering from Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, completed in May 2025. My professional goal is to lead and inspire data science teams in designing and building AI/ML/Generative AI model frameworks with scientific rigor and responsible AI practices, delivering actionable insights and value generation within organizations.Currently, I lead a cross-functional team of six members, including AI Engineers, Data Scientists, and Solution Designers, within the Global Data & Analytics division of ETS. This team has developed an enterprise insights platform prototype that provides actionable, data-driven insights to support the organization\'s mission and assessment product lifecycle. As both Scrum Master and Product Owner, I manage end-to-end product development from insights ideation to AI cognitive search capabilities using Microsoft Copilot Studio.I have contributed to the National Science Foundation (NSF) AI Institute for Inclusive Intelligent Technologies for Education (INVITE) grant by enabling Large Language Models (LLMs) benchmarking using AWS Bedrock to label psychological construct traits in English language learners\' chat logs, achieving a publication at the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) Conference that will be presented in October 2025.As co-founder of ETS\'s AI Community of Practice and awarded as ETS Volunteer of the Month (October 2023), I am committed to fostering AI adoption and supporting underrepresented communities\' career growth through mentoring and speaking engagements at programs like SureStart \"MIT FutureMakers Create-a-thon\", which I have been invited to for three consecutive years.

Experience

1. Data Scientist

   ETS

   Sep 2021 — Present · NJ, US

   In my role as a Data Scientist at ETS, I lead strategic AI/ML initiatives that drive organizational transformation. I spearheaded the creation of the \"Enterprise MLOps Guidance Framework,\" which received approval from the ETS Architecture Review Board and earned me the Operational Excellence Award. As co-founder of the AI Community of Practice, I engage employees organization-wide to promote AI literacy and support ETS\'s mission. Currently, I lead a cross-functional team of six members developing an enterprise insights platform prototype that delivers actionable insights. I contribute to the National Science Foundation (NSF) AI Institute for Inclusive Intelligent Technologies for Education (INVITE) grant research, utilizing Large Language Models (LLMs) for labeling psychological constructs and advancing automated scoring methodologies with Responsible AI practices. My passion for AI innovation was recognized when I won second place in the ETS AI Hackathon, competing against 22 participant groups, by building a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) solution using AWS Bedrock services. As both a Data Scientist and Scrum Master, I oversee end-to-end Machine Learning model lifecycle execution using AWS SageMaker tools while mentoring Data Scientists and AI Engineers to develop AI frameworks with scientific rigor.

Education

• Bentley University

  Bachelor of Applied Science - BASc, Marketing

• IESA

  Master of Business Administration - MBA, Business Administration and Management, General

• Harrisburg University of Science and Technology

  Master of Science - MS, Information Systems Engineering and Management

• Harrisburg University of Science and Technology

  Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Information Systems Engineering and Management