JESSIE SALAS San Francisco Bay Area

(661) 487-5389
Cognitive Science
Concentration in Linguistics
& Computational Modeling
Machine Learning Lead contactjessiesalas@gmail.com University of California, Berkeley

Skills
Languages Native fluency in English & Spanish, working understanding of Portuguese and French
Production-level fluency in Python, Java, R, C, C++, with working understanding of Javascript, HTML/CSS

Techniques Software engineering, Management (local and offshore engineering contractors), Natural Language Processing, Data
Mining, Statistics and ad hoc computational modeling (regression, cluster analysis), databases, Data Visualization, rapid prototyping,
entrepreneural mindset, interpersonal communication, experiment design, rhetorical writing, public speaking, group-collaboration,
teaching.
Tools Numpy, Scipy, Pandas, MatplotLib, Natural Language Toolkit, VIM, TensorFlow, Flask, Django, Git, Apache Spark, TomCat,
Apache Maven, Jenkins, d3.js (static and interactive data visualization), Neural Networks (Deep Learning), AWS
Hobbies: Design and protoyping - 3D Printing, Laser Cutting, Sketch, Photoshop, Illustrator, AE, Autodesk Fusion 360

Professional Experience
Snaptic.ai 2018 - Present
Founder and machine learning lead for software development company Snaptic.ai. Projects include AI & ML MVP development,
database setup & deployment, AWS test & production environment setup and system architecture decisions, data streaming and
ingestion, mobile app backend / APIs, face recognition & image processing. Strategy consulting with firms such as Bain through expert
networks GLG, Coleman Research Group. Manage independent contractors, US-based and overseas when necessary.
Impact: Helped secure 1.2 million USD in funding for client via investor pitches, develop and launch six figure revenue generating
product for client.

SPARC Initiative 2016 - Present

Cofounder and Executive Director for 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Teach human centered design curriculum to Bay Area high school students
and mentor them to develop social impact projects in 3 month long bootcamp summer program. Host STEM career panels and help
disadvantaged students develop soft skills and technical career guidance.
Impact: SPARC awarded generous Intuit grant to fund activities. Achieved partnership with Google Nonprofits. Impacted hundreds of
students via events hosted at Stanford, UC Berkeley, developing student education and career aspirations.

 Apple Applied Machine Learning 2015 - 2018

Worked as a machine learning software engineer on a non disclosable internal natural language processing project.
Python and Java production experience, deployed deep learning models, topic extraction, sentiment analysis.
Impact: Led the implementation of department’s first production deployment of TensorFlow, advocated for move from feature
engineering to deep learning in presentations with department leadership, owned internal dashboard implementation of server metrics
and model monitoring. Presentation experience to Director, Senior Director and CIO.

Research and Publications

Lexical Linguistics and Large Data 2014 - 2018
Using the Google ngram data set, designed a parallel algorithm to compute semantic similarity between words, and how their context
changes from 1800 to present. I worked with a team in collaboration with Yang Xu in UC Berkeley cognitive science department chair
Terry Regier’s Language and Cognition Lab. Reverse engineered Qualtrics API for automated experiment design.
Impact: Secured over $20,000 in funding from Amazon and Google via grant writing. My technical work led to the publication of
Evolution of word meanings through metaphorical mapping: Systematicity over the past millennium, Xu et al 2017, and Evolution of
polysemous word senses from metaphorical mappings, Xu et al 2016, which I am credited for in the paper acknowledgements.

Primary Author Publications

Generating Music From Literature Using Topic Extraction and Liberato 3D Printed Musical Instruments, Berkeley Arts + Design,
Sentiment Analysis, IEEE Potentials 2018 Issue 1, Griffith Moon 2016
Undergrad work published in IEEE journal, and has received 3 For work done as a CITRIS Invention Lab Fellow under Chris
citations. Meyers and Eric Paulos

An Introduction to Python for Data Science Applications, 2016

As assistant lecturer and curriculum lead for Cogsci 88