Kiarie Ndegwa

Kiarie Ndegwa has gained extensive work experience in various roles and companies. Starting in 2011, they worked as a Physics Summer Scholar at the Centre for Ultrahigh bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems (CUDOS) at The Australian National University. In this role, they built laser experiments and studied optical solitons.

In 2013, Ndegwa continued their studies at The Australian National University as an Honours Engineering Student in the Quantum Optics Department. Kiarie contributed to building and analyzing a monolithic Mg-doped LiNbO3 quantum squeezer for potential use in quantum computing and communication links.

During this time, they also served as a Student General Representative for ANUSA, where they focused on undergraduate students' mental health and well-being on campus. Kiarie collaborated with disability services to raise mental health awareness and provide support networks for students.

In 2014, Ndegwa worked as an Electronics Intern at the Molonglo Synthesis Telescope at the University of Sydney. Kiarie'sresponsibilities included upgrading the telescope's antennae and data processing center, ensuring its integration with the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).

In 2015, they became a Student Ambassador at Google, representing the company at their university. Later that year, Ndegwa joined Xero as a Data Scientist. In this role, they led the investigation and deployment of machine learning models for automated keyword extraction from complex business data. Kiarie also developed computer vision systems using algorithms such as Mask-RCNN for on-device mobile image processing. Additionally, they worked as a Software Engineer on Xero's Payroll product.

In 2016, Ndegwa returned to CSIRO's Data61 as a Graduate Researcher. Kiarie conducted research on seq2seq lstm/gru deep learning models for automated proofreading and grammar correction. Kiarie also worked on face recognition and age detection using multi-task deep learning.

In 2019, they transitioned to the role of Senior Data Scientist/Principal Engineer in the Investigative Analytics Group at CSIRO's Data61. Kiarie'swork focused on geometric deep learning applied to social and monetary network analysis.

Ndegwa then joined Te Hiku Media in 2021 as a Machine Learning Lead. In this role, they led machine learning projects within the company.

From 2020 to 2023, Ndegwa worked as a Senior ML Engineer at Dragonfly Data Science on a contractor basis. Kiarie collaborated with Vibrant Planet on planet-scale satellite and aerial imagery projects for forest conservation and monitoring.

Currently, Ndegwa holds the position of Senior ML Engineer at Vibrant Planet, starting in 2023.

Kiarie Ndegwa completed their High School Diploma in High School/Secondary Certificate at Strathmore School in Nairobi from 2005 to 2008. Kiarie then pursued their Bachelor's degree (Honours) in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering at The Australian National University, from 2010 to 2014. Following that, Kiarie Ndegwa went on to earn a Master's degree in Computer Science with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning from The Australian National University, from 2014 to 2016.