Computer Vision & Deep Learning Engineer Interview

Technologies such as AI & Machine Learning are the backbone of newer and faster techniques that improve efficiency, accuracy and affordability of services.

Shubham Mallik, our next pathbreaker, Lead Engineer at Samsung R&D Institute India, works on creating state-of-the-art deep learning models to improve Samsung devices, based on computer vision and image processing. 

Shubham talks to  Shyam Krishnamurthy from The Interview Portal about how his exposure to the field of computational cosmology led him to applications of deep learning in the real world !

For students, Research in AI opens a lot of avenues for potential improvement in healthcare, robotics and so many other industries!

Shubham, Your background?

I grew up in Delhi. I had a knack for logical reasoning right from childhood. This culminated into an interest in science. I participated in various science exhibitions as a school student.

What did you do for graduation/post graduation?

I joined IISER Pune for my undergrad. I got a decent score in JEE exams which helped me secure a seat there. It was a 5 year dual Bachelors and Masters degree in Physics. 

Later, I pursued another Masters degree in Industrial Mathematics and Scientfic Computing from IIT Madras

What were some of the key influences that led you to such an offbeat, unconventional in Deep Learning/Computer Vision?

I don’t think I had given much thought about my career even till 4^th year of my undergrad. We had to do a summer project every year. During that time, no courses would be offered and students were supposed to work solely on their project. Every year I took on a project from a different discipline, it was hard to finalize one discipline and work only on that, given so many exciting fields. 

Later in my 5^th year while working on computer simulations for my Masters’ thesis in Cosmology, I decided I would pursue a career related to programming.

At that point, I was horrible at anything related to coding. In one of the semesters, I got a bad grade in a course called “Computational Physics”. But working on my research project made me aware of the subtleties in writing a good, optimized working code, which had me hooked. I still lacked a lot of domain knowledge in that field, so I decided to pursue an Mtech in Mathematics and Computing from IIT Madras, which I got after clearing the required GATE exam in Physics.

How did you plan the steps to get into the career you wanted? Or how did you make a transition to a new career? Tell us about your career path

In my Mtech, I improved my coding skills and also got an exposure to a newly emerging branch of artificial intelligence called Deep Learning. I did a few internships in Tata Elxsi and Samsung, to get some industry experience.

During my internships, I got the opportunity to work on pressing problems of those times using cutting edge technologies. It was right during the heart of pandemic, me and my team built an automated face recognition system using AI which was capable of working even with people having masks. This technology can reduce the need to remove masks for security checks during travel in case of deadly pandemics.

How did you get your first break?

I joined Samsung as a Senior Engineer after college. I was selected after a screening based on programming skills and an interview.

What were some of the challenges you faced? How did you address them?

Coming from a non-IT background, it was difficult at first to grasp certain concepts in Computer Science, which I overcame by spending some time learning topics outside my curriculum.

Where do you work now? What problems do you solve?

I am currently in Samsung as a Lead Engineer. I work on creating state-of-the-art deep learning models to improve Samsung devices, mostly related to the camera. This requires expertise in computer vision and image processing as well. 

We get ample upskilling opportunities while working in the company. It is essential to keep learning to stay up to date.

How does your work benefit society? 

Research in AI opens a lot of avenues for potential improvement in healthcare, robotics etc. Evolution of newer and faster techniques improves both efficiency and affordability of services.

Tell us an example of a specific memorable work you did that is very close to you!

I would say my BS-MS masters thesis is a memorable one, it allowed me to work on what I liked at that time, that is cosmology, and also helped me gain a completely new skill on which I made my career.

Your advice to students based on your experience?

Do not stress over the future, focus on the present and improve.