Kothari Smiti

505 Tartan Circle · Raleigh, NC, 27606 · (984) 332-2846 · kotharismiti24@gmail.com

I bring solid hands-on experience across software engineering, data science, and AI, driven by curiosity and a passion for transforming complex real-world problems into intelligent, impactful solutions. As a Computer Science Master’s student at NC State, I have consistently sought opportunities to apply my skills in meaningful ways through research, internships, and self-driven projects. I thrive at the intersection of analytical thinking and creative problem-solving, and I am drawn to roles where I can take ownership, learn quickly, and deliver real value. I am not just excited about building systems that work. I care about building systems that matter. If you are looking for someone who combines technical depth with adaptability, initiative, and a bias for action, you are in the right place.

Experience

Data Science Intern

Assured Guaranty
  • Designed and implemented a geospatial risk analytics pipeline covering over 10,000 U.S. school zones to assess climate exposure across $396M+ in insured assets.
  • Engineered a scalable data workflow using Snowflake and GeoPandas, incorporating area-weighted sampling and dynamic zoning techniques for precise spatial insights.
  • Built interactive Tableau dashboards that empowered risk teams to make faster, data-backed decisions, reducing manual effort by 50% and influencing policy-level reporting.
  • Collaborated with cross-functional stakeholders including underwriters, geospatial scientists, and Azure DevOps teams to ensure seamless integration and production deployment.
May 2025 – Present

Software Engineer

Center for Geospatial Analytics
  • Contributed to a critical GRASS GIS upgrade by writing regression test suites and debugging complex C-based geospatial algorithms, improving software reliability for global users.
  • Resolved convergence issues in evapotranspiration and energy balance models used in remote sensing analysis.
  • Modernized legacy testing frameworks into automated CI-compatible formats, enabling faster and safer code reviews.
  • Collaborated with researchers across Europe and North America to align implementations with real-world scientific use cases.
Feb 2025 – May 2025

Machine Learning Intern

Fx is AI
  • Built an AI-powered Virtual Wardrobe system using deep learning architectures like ACGPN and U2Net, integrating segmentation, pose estimation, and garment warping.
  • Created a Flask-based web app with OpenCV to process user inputs in real time, enabling dynamic garment overlays without manual intervention.
  • Developed a high-throughput scraping engine using Playwright and BeautifulSoup to collect high-resolution fashion data.
  • The system was recognized for its commercial potential in personalized shopping assistants and AI-driven recommendation engines.
Jan 2024 – May 2024

Software Engineering Intern

Northern Trust
  • Developed a Kafka Explorer tool using React and Spring Boot to inspect, filter, and paginate through millions of real-time financial messages.
  • Optimized backend logic and frontend performance, improving system responsiveness by 40% under load.
  • Integrated the tool into the broader enterprise observability stack to enhance debugging and monitoring workflows.
  • Gained exposure to message queues, microservices, and enterprise infrastructure in a high-stakes financial environment.
June 2023 – Aug 2023

Software Intern

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
  • Researched raster data processing in a big data environment as part of an ISRO RESPOND-funded project focused on geospatial intelligence.
  • Proposed and developed a novel technique to process raster data without converting to GeoJSON, improving throughput by 40%.
  • Built a Dockerized Geotrellis-based system to support concurrent processing and real-time visualization of satellite data.
  • Presented the solution to ISRO leadership as a scalable alternative for future satellite data pipelines.
May 2022 – July 2022

Education

North Carolina State University

Master of Computer Science

GPA: 4.0 / 4.0

Aug 2024 – May 2026 (Expected)

Nirma University

Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering

GPA: 8.51 / 10

July 2020 – June 2024

Skills

Languages & Tools
  • C++
  • Flask
  • SQL
  • Snowflake

Projects

  • Dark Web Cyber Threat Detection System
    GitHub
    • Built a Streamlit-based dual-mode system to monitor and flag malicious content on .onion websites via Tor-based scraping.
    • Applied BiLSTM and Transformer models to classify threat intent, reducing false positives and surfacing 90+ high-risk domains.
    • Enabled both automated and manual querying modes with real-time visual feedback for cybersecurity analysis.

  • Decentralized Community Donation Platform
    Devpost
    • Created a full-stack donation platform with blockchain-verified donor identity and tamper-proof point redemption.
    • Integrated a GenAI-powered chatbot using Gemini API to provide mental health support to underserved users.
    • Gamified giving through point-based incentives, transparent item tracking, and a user-friendly responsive UI.

  • Manuscript Integrity and Quality Checker
    GitHub
    • Built an academic manuscript checker that flags AI-generated content using RoBERTa and identifies redundancy with Doc2Vec metrics.
    • Enhanced and categorized low-quality figures from PDFs using SRGAN, improving overall publication quality.
    • Designed as a pre-validation tool for researchers and reviewers to ensure content originality and clarity.

  • DollarBot – Currency Alert Telegram Bot
    GitHub
    • Developed a Telegram bot that alerts users when exchange rates for custom currency pairs hit specified thresholds.
    • Features dynamic frequency control, quick setup via in-chat commands, and clean UX for non-technical users.

  • AI Trading Bot
    GitHub
    • Built an end-to-end AI trading bot with backtesting, profit curve visualization, and dynamic strategy tuning.
    • Used financial indicators and ML models to generate actionable buy/sell signals on historical market data.
    • Streamlit UI provides real-time decision tracking and customizable strategy simulation.

  • Personalized Investment Platform
    GitHub
    • Designed a personalized investment portfolio app with secure login, dynamic stock watchlist, live business news, and beginner-friendly guides.
    • Integrated a Power BI dashboard for real-time analysis of user stock and crypto portfolios across key metrics.
    • Focused on user education and accessibility to bring financial literacy to first-time investors.

Publications

  • Smiti Kothari, Jayneel Shah, JaiPrakash Verma, George A. Papakostas
    “Leveraging Ground‑Truth Data and GIS Technologies for Reliable Crop Analysis and Agricultural Production Optimization”
    International Journal of Information Technology, Springer, 2024 DOI

    • Proposed a hybrid GIS-based framework that integrates drone-captured ground-truth data with satellite raster imagery to enhance crop classification accuracy.
    • Utilized ArcGIS-based NDVI clustering and zoning to support region-specific agricultural assessments at field scale.
    • Achieved 66.8% classification accuracy across varied crop zones, outperforming traditional unsupervised classifiers.
    • Designed to support real-time decision-making for policymakers and farmers in sustainable agriculture and resource allocation.

  • Smiti Kothari, Jayneel Shah, JaiPrakash Verma, Sapan H. Mankad, Sanjay Garg
    “Raster Big Data Processing Using Spark with GeoTrellis”
    International Conference on Computing, Communication and Learning (ICCCL), Springer, 2023 DOI

    • Developed a scalable architecture for processing large raster datasets using Apache Spark and the GeoTrellis library.
    • Demonstrated efficient map algebra operations and spatial indexing over distributed systems using HDFS and Spark RDDs.
    • Reduced raster processing time by over 40% compared to traditional single-node approaches.
    • Framework supports real-time geospatial analytics for environmental monitoring, urban planning, and disaster response.

Awards & Extracurriculars

  • Specialization in Java – HackerRank
  • Specialization in Problem Solving – HackerRank
  • Supervised Machine Learning: Regression and Classification – Coursera
  • Specialization in Python – Kaggle
  • JPMorgan Chase Virtual Experience Program Participant
  • Presenter at II International Conference – NIT Warangal
  • Open-source contributor at GirlScript Summer of Code
  • Student Placement Coordinator at Nirma University
  • Research Group Lead at Big Data Analytics Group