# Irsa Ashraf > Data Scientist | AI & ML | Translating Complex Data into Actionable Insights Location: New York, New York, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/irsa I'm a Data Scientist and Software Engineer with a focus on Al, machine learning and production-grade APIs. I work end-to-end, from partnering closely with clients on problem definition, through data analysis and modeling, to deployment. Side quests include running, soccer, and building AI-powered projects exploring the intersection of fitness, data and fashion. Skills: Programming: Python, SQL, R Systems: REST APIs, AWS, gRPC ML: Supervised and Unsupervised Learning, Feature Engineering, LLMs ## Work Experience ### Data Science Fellow @ UChicago Data Science Institute Jan 2023 – Jan 2023 | Chicago, Illinois, United States • Conducted feature engineering on a 10M+ rows dataset to extract actionable insights and increase accuracy of models • Trained an LSTM model to predict future buoy trajectories using bearing-distance forecasting ### Data Science Intern @ CyberCube Jan 2022 – Jan 2022 | New York, New York, United States - Conducted extensive feature engineering for a risk-quantification model; created a metric to measure diversity of portfolios via analysis of variance and unsupervised learning - Wrote a script in AWS Athena and SQL that replaced crucial missing values for “Revenue” for around 80% of company portfolios - Presented final analysis and metric to the company in the weekly townhall ### Graduate Teaching Assistant - Machine Learning @ Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago Jan 2022 – Jan 2022 | Chicago, Illinois, United States Teaching Assistant for course PPHA 30545: Machine Learning taught by Professor Christopher Clapp • Created and presented annotated Jupyter notebooks explaining core machine learning topics and algorithms (bias-variance tradeoff, decision trees, linear and logistic regression, etc.) using real-world datasets • Led weekly lab sessions and provided detailed feedback on modeling approaches, code quality, and interpretation of results ### Data Analyst @ NexDegree Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 | Karāchi, Sindh, Pakistan - Applied supervised learning algorithms (linear regression, random forests, XGBoost) to calculate baseline sales and investigate impact of external factors on sales - Worked with panel datasets on products to analyse and predict market share of client’s products - Conducted inventory analysis to determine the optimal level of safety stock for distributors - Conducted statistical and exploratory data analyses on sales data, CDR (Call Detail Records) data and inventory data to understand consumer buying patterns - Worked closely with the data engineering team and wrote complex SQL queries to extract and clean data to be used for a dashboard ### Strategy and Data Analyst @ United Nations Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | New York, New York, United States Strategic Planning and Monitoring Unit (Executive Office of the Secretary-General) - Developed an implementation plan for the UN Secretary-General’s Strategy on New Technologies and coordinated logistics for the High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation - Developed socio-economic dashboards and visualisations using Power BI and Think-Cell for 12 different countries to educate senior UN leaders on regional priorities - Sourced and consolidated news stories on the latest technology trends for the Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary-General and other senior UN leaders as part of the internal technology newsletter; contributed to 15+ newsletters - Established and successfully executed a strategy for visual content creation for the United Nations 2019 Annual Report ### Community and Project Manager @ LA Blockchain Lab Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | Greater Los Angeles Area ### Program Manager @ HerCode Global Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | Los Angeles, California, United States ### Strategy Intern @ ProSocial Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 | Los Angeles, California, United States ProSocial is a strategy consulting and campaign management firm in the business of high-impact social change. - Increased client base by 300 through regular outreach. - Spearheaded a marketing campaign for a project in 13 US cities through partnerships with around 30 local organizations in each city. - Led a project to grow business by researching 26 potential partners and presenting my findings and the financials to determine eligibility. - Campaign management with the team through active involvement in marketing programs, internal business meetings and client calls. ### Research and Operations Intern @ UCLA Burkle Center Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 | Greater Los Angeles Area The Burkle Center sponsors conferences, lectures, and other events that bring world leaders and internationally renowned scholars to UCLA and to the Los Angeles community. - Coordinated staffing, outreach and marketing for events with audiences of 100+ people. - High volume database management to keep track of past events and speakers. - Contacted high profile journalists, authors, politicians and business leaders for events and panel discussions. - Graphic design for flyers using Adobe InDesign; Updated and created content for the official website. - Social media management through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram to promote events. ### Data and Research Intern @ Dress for Success Worldwide-West Jan 2017 – Jan 2017 | Los Angeles Dress for Success is an international not-for-profit organization that empowers women to achieve economic independence. - Reviewed and edited presentations and managed client database for a financial awareness workshop that helped 60% of clients land jobs. - Analyzed and consolidated feedback data from workshops to improve future workshops and recruit more clients. - Conducted outreach to clients and partners through cold-calling and emails leading to market growth of about 25%. ## Education ### Master of Science - MS in Computer Science and Public Policy University of Chicago ### Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Economics, Global Studies UCLA ### UCLA Travel Study in International/Global Studies Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/irsaashraf --- Source: https://flows.cv/irsa JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/irsa/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-05