Yunus Syed

About Yunus Syed

I am a software engineer with a strong foundation in algorithms, systems, and applied machine learning, supported by a rigorous academic background in mathematics and AI. I hold a Master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence from Georgia Institute of Technology and a Bachelor’s degree in Pure Mathematics from the University of Illinois at Chicago.Over the past several years, I have gained experience building, analyzing, and debugging complex software systems across both industry and academic environments. I program primarily in Python and C/C++, and I have worked extensively with data structures, algorithms, and performance-sensitive code. My work often involves processing large datasets, designing evaluation pipelines, and diagnosing system behavior through careful analysis rather than trial-and-error.Previously, I worked as a Triage / QA Analyst at Waymo, where I analyzed hundreds of autonomous driving events daily to identify system failures, performance regressions, and edge cases across perception, planning, and infrastructure components. This role required close collaboration with engineers, deep attention to system-level interactions, and the ability to reason about failures in large, distributed, safety-critical systems. I also authored internal documentation and training materials used by engineers and analysts supporting autonomous trucking platforms.In parallel with industry experience, I have completed and led numerous technically rigorous projects as part of my graduate studies. These include implementing graph-based SLAM systems using sparse matrix representations, building probabilistic models such as Hidden Markov Models with custom dynamic programming decoders, and training large-scale NLP models with GPU acceleration. Across these projects, I focused on algorithmic correctness, computational efficiency, numerical stability, and reproducibility.I currently serve as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at Georgia Tech, where I help support coursework focused on AI and game systems. In this role, I assist students with debugging, performance analysis, and understanding algorithmic trade-offs, reinforcing my own emphasis on clear communication and strong engineering fundamentals.I am particularly interested in software engineering roles that emphasize core CS fundamentals—data structures, algorithms, systems design, and performance—while applying them to large-scale, real-world problems. I enjoy working on technically deep problems, understanding systems end-to-end, and writing code that is robust, maintainable, and well-reasoned.

Experience

1. Mathematics Tutor

   Mt Learning Center

   Sep 2024 — Present · Fremont, CA, US

   Provide math tutoring and math competition training to students based in Fremont.

Education

• Purdue University

  Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Mathematics

• University of Illinois at Chicago

  Bachelor of Science

• University of Illinois Chicago

  Bachelors in Science, Mathematics

• Georgia Institute of Technology

  Master of Science - MS, Computer Science