Hi, I'm Ali!
I am an Artificial Intelligence researcher and PhD student at the University of Waterloo, researching 3D scene understanding and visual reasoning through vision-language models. I have hands-on experience developing AI systems, collaborating with academic and industry partners such as Rogers Communications and RBC Royal Bank of Canada. Proficient in Python and leading ML/AI frameworks (PyTorch, Hugging Face, scikit-learn, OpenCV), my expertise spans building and deploying end-to-end deep learning pipelines. I also have strong experience in Linux environments with Bash scripting, and a proven track record of delivering impactful AI solutions through collaborative research and engineering efforts.
Experience
ML Engineer
Kisoji Biotechnology
2025 - Present
AI & ML Researcher (PhD)
CVISS Lab, University of Waterloo
2023 - Present
Education
PhD, Engineering
University of Waterloo
2023 - Present
M.Sc., Engineering
Sharif University of Technology
2019-2022
Technical Skills & Tools
Python
C++
C
PyTorch
HuggingFace
Scikit-learn
OpenCV
Docker
Bash
Git
Linux
MySQL
Pandas
Qt
Experiences
Machine Learning EngineerAug 2025 - Present
Kisoji Biotechnology Inc.
- Built and deployed a production-ready Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) system that lets staff query all internal knowledge—meeting presentations, lab notes, and other documents—with streaming responses and session management.
- Engineered a scalable, modular ingestion and retrieval pipeline using LangChain and multiple data-extraction frameworks, implementing document loaders/parsers, configurable chunking/overlap, embedding models, persistent vector storage, and tunable retrievers.
- Designed an extensible architecture (DocumentLoader, TextSplitter, EmbeddingModule, VectorDatabase, RAGChatbot) to simplify maintenance and scaling, laying the groundwork for future agent integrations to orchestrate tools and automate workflows.
- Exploring Agentic RAG capabilities for enhanced user interactions and dynamic response generation.
NLP Specialist (RA)Jan 2025 - Aug 2025
Office of Associate Dean, Teaching & Student Experience, University of Waterloo
- Contributed to the development of an NLP-based AI system to classify and filter open-ended student feedback using embedding models (e.g., BERT, Sentence Transformers).
- Applied K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) for supervised text classification and filtering based on predefined content categories.
- Developed preprocessing and filtering pipelines in Python for text cleaning, feature extraction, and batch processing.
AI & Machine Learning Researcher (PhD Student) Sep 2023 - Present
CViSS Lab, University of Waterloo
- Computer Vision-Based Inspection of Cell Towers - in partnership with Rogers Communications
- Designed a vision pipeline combining saliency detection, depth estimation, object detection, and Segment Anything (SAM) for multi-view cell tower component segmentation.
- Investigated natural language-guided 3D scene reasoning and editing with text-to-geometry workflows.
- Vision-Language AI for Automated Energy Audits - in partnership with RBC Royal Bank
- Built a monocular vision-based measurement tool for estimating indoor object dimensions using depth maps and object detection.
- Contributed to the development of a knowledge-augmented chatbot for energy audits using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG).
- Contributed to the development of a multi-agent system powered by LLMs (e.g., GPT, Gemini) to automate energy audit steps and reporting.
- Graph Attention Network for Spatial Correlation Analysis
- Contributed to the development of a Graph Attention Network-based architecture that fuses high-fidelity visual embeddings from UAV imagery with geospatial and structural metadata.
- Outperformed CNN baselines by leveraging spatial attention mechanisms for building-level damage estimation.
Software Developer & Graduate Researcher Sep 2020 - May 2023
INSURER Lab, Sharif University of Technology
- Worked as a developer on Rtx, a C++ and Qt-based simulation software for probabilistic modeling, reliability, and resilience analysis of infrastructure systems.
- Implemented agent-based models to simulate disaster impacts and interdependent infrastructure behavior.
- Developed modules for assessing community-scale risk and resilience across varying levels of model refinement.
- Contributed to probabilistic simulation workflows for evaluating post-disaster recovery and system performance.
Selected Projects
Intelligent Decision-Making System: Deep Learning-Based Satellite Imagery Analysis for Probabilistic Inference via Bayesian Networks
- Developed a deep learning pipeline that segments building footprints from satellite imagery using U-Net and classifies structural damage based on ResNet feature representations.
- Integrated vision-based damage assessments into a Bayesian Network to perform probabilistic inference of community-level impacts.
- Designed a modular pipeline enabling dynamic updates to inference as new imagery or evidence becomes available.
Education
Doctor of Philosophy, Engineering 2023 - Present
University of Waterloo
GPA: 99.67/100 (4/4)
Master of Science, Engineering 2019-2022
Sharif University of Technology
GPA: 17.83/20 (3.87/4)
Bachelor of Science, Engineering 2015-2019
Sahand University of Technology
GPA: 19.12/20 (3.96/4)
Honors & Awards
1st Place, 2025 NSF NHERI GSC Data Challenge2025
Awarded for top AI research in natural hazards.
Winner of UW Graduate Scholarship2024
University of Waterloo.
Winner of the National Elites Foundation Award2019
Ranked 1st Among More than 44 Peer B.Sc. Students2019
Sahand University of Technology.
Ranked 49th out of 30,000+ in Nationwide M.Sc. Entrance Exam2019
Ranked 1st, 24th Regional Scientific Olympiad in Civil Engineering2019
Top Undergraduate Student in Department2016 and 2017
Recognized for academic excellence.
Member of the Center of Exceptional Talents2015 - 2019
Sahand University of Technology.
Publications
A Knowledge-Augmented GPT for Efficient Data Collection in Home Energy Audits
