Shirish Pokharel

Contact

• Email: hire@shirish.me | Website: shirish.me | GitHub: [github.com/shirish93]
• Seattle, WA

Programming Languages

• Python, TypeScript, Golang, Java, JavaScript/ES6, Ansible & Helm templating

Software Experience

• Senior Software Engineer | Solaria Labs (Liberty Mutual Incubator) | Seattle, WA | Nov 2021 – Present (3 years)
  • Collaborated with data science team as an ML-Ops engineer:
    • Deployed data-science Kubernetes cluster across various AWS regions for global reach, adhering to data sharing and storage regulations.
    • Utilized AWS CDK, Cloudformation, Helm, Istio, Packer AMI for infrastructure automation.
    • Standardized application deployment through Dockerization and deployed ML models.
    • Established KubeFlow as a platform for training, hosting, and testing ML models.
  • Championed MLOps efforts for organization-wide adoption:
    • Created job descriptions and advocated for hiring MLOps Engineer and Applied Scientist.
    • Secured resources for data pipeline, model, and training data protection.
    • Implemented innovative ai model deployment strategies, including on-device deployment.
• Software Innovation Engineer | Solaria Labs | Boston MA | Dec 2018 – Nov 2021 (3 years)
  • Developed backend features for NestJS-TypeScript-TypeORM-RDS-SQS-GRPC-GRAPHQL stack, integrating new insurance platform with existing systems and external lead-forwarding systems.
  • Provided code review feedback.
  • Built a build-deploy pipeline leveraging Ansible and Helm charts to deploy applications to Kubernetes cluster in AWS infrastructure as part of the DevOps squad.
  • Evaluated new tools and their trade-offs.
  • Authored technical documentation and delivered trainings on debugging Docker, microservices, deployment, services, storage, DNS lookups, Istio virtual services, environment variables (secrets and Configmaps) and network mesh in AWS/Kubernetes (EKS).
  • Engineered migration from Ansible + Helm to AWS CDK and AWS CDK8s, transitioning from templating logic to Typescript.
  • Presented on Kubernetes practices and the general state of ML platforms to management, advocating for open-source software contribution.
• Software Engineer | Soroco Software Robotics Inc | Boston MA | May 2018 – Nov 2018 (7 months)
  • Designed and implemented software automation systems for client business process discovery & automation projects.
  • Designed, developed, and helped productize a server-failover system, including in-depth analysis of client traffic patterns.
  • Collaborated with Engagement Managers on project planning, requirements gathering, technical negotiations, and proof-of-concepts.
• Software Engineer | Liberty Mutual Insurance | Dover NH | June 2015 - Sept 2016 (15 months)
  • Developed Insurance Claims regulatory reporting System (PILR).
  • Initiated, planned, managed, and led the production environment dataflow-reproduction project.

Education

• University of Washington (UW) - Seattle, WA | Sept 2022 - Ongoing
  • Certificate in Engineering Leadership (4-course in-person Certificate degree)
• University of Massachusetts (UMass) - Amherst, MA | Sept 2016 - December 2017
  • Master of Science in Computer Science, concentration in information security
• Tufts University, Medford, MA | 2011 – 2015
  • Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, International Relations
• University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana | Study Abroad | July 2013 - December 2013
• Seattle Central Community College, Seattle | Various art and printmaking courses | Jan 2024 - Ongoing

Product & Innovation

• Product Organization Director | National Innovation Center, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu Nepal | Jan 2022 - Ongoing
  • Initiated the creation of the entire product organization at the non-profit which is an engineering accelerator [nicnepal.org]
  • Mentored team leads and CEO’s in their journey, helping them focus on costumer’s need-based focus instead of engineer-driven focus
  • Defined product vision, managed backlogs, prioritized features, and ensured alignment with stakeholder needs.
  • Hired and mentored interns and trained them for product owner roles, fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration.
  • Provided technical feedback on software and robotics-based products
• Freelance Innovation Consultant | Kathmandu Nepal | Jan 2022 — Ongoing (1 year)
  • Informally consulted hospitals, schools, and restaurant businesses on various projects. See “innovation” section on my website for more details.
• Grad Software Engineering Intern | Acorn AuCoDe | Amherst MA | May 2017 – Aug 2017 (3 months)
  • Worked across the entire stack for a MASS Innovation Challenge-winning software startup, transforming a new indicator of financial information from an idea to a product – from data collection and cleanup to final stock performance prediction.

Leadership

• MicroProject Leader | Solaria Labs @ Liberty Mutual | July 2020 – Aug 2021
  • Initiated, designed, organized, and led engineering and data science squads. Proposed and completed “micro-projects” occupying up to 20% employee time:
    • Automated Inventory Capture for Renters Claim Processing using Computer Vision
    • On-device deployment of machine-learning models to client devices
    • Influencer/Online Content Creator insurance
• Technical Mentor | Hack.Diversity | Jan 2022 – Present (3 years)
• Intern Mentor | Solaria Labs @ Liberty Mutual | Jan 2021 – Aug 2022 (2 years)
• Intern Mentor | Liberty Mutual Personal Insurance | Aug 2015 – Sept 2016 (1 year)
  • Designed and structured technical projects for engineering interns, empowering them to work on production-ready projects.
  • Mentored interns at a personal and professional level, emphasizing ownership of their projects.
  • Hosted “programming bootcamp” for interns and trained them for engineering interviews.
  • Gave multiple workshops on career growth, interviewing practice, and workplace socializing for Hack.Diversity fellows.
• Technical Architect | Tufts University CS Grad Projects | May 2020 – Jan 2021
  • Volunteered to lead a team of CS grad students on their year-long final project, in lieu of cancelled internships.
  • Coached on taking an idea from concept to product – from ideation, consumer research, market analysis, technical implementation, application development and deployment to customer feedback, rework, and long-term planning.
  • Provided guidance during weekly sessions on variables to consider while evaluating a new tool, library, language or stack, allowing the team to make decisions and understand the trade-offs involved.

Relevant Coursework

• Machine Learning, Deep Neural Networks, Secure Distributed Systems, Natural Language Processing, Digital Forensics, Advanced Information Assurance, Internet Law and Policy, Big Data, Design & Analysis of Algorithms, Data Structures, Machine Structure & Assembly Programming, Operating Systems

Skills

• Dev-ops tools: AWS Cloudformation, CDK, CDK8s, Helm, Ansible, Kubernetes. MySQL RDS, S3, Docker, Istio
• Software/Libraries: SQLite, MySQL, MongoDB, Python Flask, Serverless, GraphQL, microservices, npm
• Languages: Fluent in Nepali, Hindi & Urdu, basic Spanish, elementary Arabic

Interests

• Food Processing: Pickling, fermentation of vegetables and fruits, home-brewing, baking, yogurt-making
• Homebrewing: Traditional brews from across the globe using ancient grains
• Farming: Interest in and knowledge of goat-keeping, mushroom farming, and beekeeping