PRABHAV PANDA
Ashburn
Summary
Aspiring Quantitative Data Scientist and Astronomy-Physics honors student with a double major in Data Science and a minor in Mathematics. Proficient in extracting high-value signals from complex, high-entropy datasets using deep learning pipelines and Apache Spark. Combining a strong foundation in stochastic mathematical principles with hands-on experience in engineering scalable, low-latency data pipelines. Passionate about leveraging combination of first-principles of physics and data science to support fiduciary wealth management, risk modeling, and automated portfolio research tools.
Overview
2027
2027
years of professional experience
Work History
Researcher
Independent Artificial Intelligence Research
Charlottesville, VA
01.2026 - Current
- Engineered a transfer learning pipeline to interpret noisy James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) exoplanet spectra by pre-training models on 500,000+ stellar spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS).
- Created experimental design with end goal of optimized machine learning model to enhance signal detection in a 500-sample target set of JWST data.
- Developed resource allocation proposal to access the UVA High-Performance Computing (HPC) cluster to handle extensive computational load — pending approval.
- Conducted literature reviews to support ongoing research projects and identify knowledge gaps.
Real-Time Sales Analytics Pipeline
For Coursework in Data Science Systems (DS 2002):
2026 - 2026
- Engineered an end-to-end Medallion Architecture (Bronze, Silver, Gold) pipeline in databricks to ingest, process, and clean multi-source transactional and product datasets.
- Demonstrated a scalable architecture processing 1000+ streaming datapoints over 3 live batches.
- Programmed a streaming ingestion layer utilizing Spark Auto Loader to continuously process multi-batch JSON and CSV inputs through an open stream with checkpoints in real time.
- Architected Silver layer with custom schema definitions (date dimension) and executed optimized Spark SQL joins to aggregate multi-million dollar volume metrics into a final, functional Gold-layer business summary.
- Value & Impact: Eliminated data anomalies to deliver an optimized, analytics-ready storage layer. Demonstrated a scalable, low-latency architecture directly transferable to processing real-time macroeconomic feeds and multi-factor tracking engines.
Advanced STEM Researcher (HS Senior)
Pulsar Search Collaboratory
Green Bank, WV
2024 - 2024
- Graded 1000+ pulsar plots on the A0327 survey.
- Identified 12 pulsar candidates with one accepted for further review.
- Identified and successfully proposed 1 pulsar for further study under the Green Bank 100m telescope.
- Collaborated with faculty and advisors from West Virginia University and Penn State.
- Devised experimental proposal for Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) noise-filtering model using ResNet based architecture.
- Conducted literature reviews to gather relevant data and insights for ongoing research projects.
Astrophysics Researcher
Academies of Loudoun
Leesburg, VA
2023 - 2024
- Developed code for a novel n-body simulation integrated using a 4th order Runge-Kutta scheme in order to process data on 600+ Mars Crossing Asteroids (MCAs)
- Proposed idea of a mass threshold in order to maximise computational efficiency
- Presented at county-wide STEM symposium and drafted several papers including backgrounds, experimental designs, and final research papers
- Engaged with several universities including University of Maryland, University of North Carolina: Chapel Hill, and West Virginia University to receive relevant data, brainstorm ideas, and discuss the relevance of the project.
Education
B.S. - Astronomy-Physics
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA05-2026
Skills
- Numerical integration using RK4 in Python
- AstroPy data processing
- Data analysis and modeling with Scikit-learn
- Data visualization with Matplotlib
- Relational database management with SQL
- Qualitative and quantitative research
- Research presentation
- Experiment design
Timeline
Researcher
Independent Artificial Intelligence Research
01.2026 - Current
Real-Time Sales Analytics Pipeline
For Coursework in Data Science Systems (DS 2002):
2026 - 2026
Advanced STEM Researcher (HS Senior)
Pulsar Search Collaboratory
2024 - 2024
Astrophysics Researcher
Academies of Loudoun
2023 - 2024
B.S. - Astronomy-Physics
University of Virginia