School of Computer Science Alumni Panel hosted by the Alumni Association Board

Ashwin Gupta (SCS 2006)
Managing Director, Goldman Sachs Growth Equity

Ashwin is a Managing Director in GS Growth at Goldman Sachs, where he focuses on investments in financial technology. As part of the Asset Management Division, GS Growth is the dedicated growth equity team within Goldman Sachs, with over 25 years of investing history. Ashwin serves as a director on a number of boards, including Axoni, Cuebiq, Deserve, Pico and SIMON Markets.

Ashwin graduated with a BSc in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University in 2006. He lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife Ady (CMU ’06), two sons, and two cats.

 
Anirudh Koul (SCS 2012)
Seeing AI, Founder and Machine Learning Lead
Frontier Development Labs, NASA's AI Accelerator

Anirudh Koul works to improve the human condition by harnessing technology for the good of society. A noted artificial intelligence expert, Anirudh founded “Seeing AI”, an assistive technology app that helps members of the blind and low-vision communities experience the world around them, mentors scientists on applying AI to earth and space science as the machine learning lead at Frontier Development Labs, NASA’s AI accelerator and brought Microsoft and Aira research from ideas to real-world applications benefiting billions of worldwide users. He coaches the CMU Roborace team, which is the first U.S. squad competing in the international autonomous driving championship. Anirudh has been recognized for his work by the American Foundation for the Blind and American Council of the Blind, Time Magazine and SXSW and has been showcased at events by the United Nations, World Economic Forum and the White House.

 
Prashanth Mekala (ENG 1999, HNZ 2016)
Associate Vice President of Enterprise Information Risk Management
American Family Insurance

Prashanth Mekala has spent his career focusing on managing risks. He is  currently Associate Vice President at American Family Insurance in the Enterprise Information Risk Management Department. A College of Engineering and Heinz College graduate, he is an expert in cyberterrorism and is focusing on cyber and technology risks. Before this role, Prashanth was a senior leader in the FBI, overseeing intelligence efforts that protected the U.S. from threats to our democracy and led nine investigative teams responsible for the FBI's largest, most complex portfolio of counterintelligence cases, as well as the Foreign Influence Task Force, a high-priority FBI Director’s initiative. Prashanth lends his expertise as a mentor to underprivileged teenagers by assisting with the college application process through an organization called the Opportunity Network.

 
Emily Newman (SCS 2019)
Software Engineer
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Emily graduated from Carnegie Mellon in 2019 with a Bachelor's in Computer Science and Robotics. She has been working as a software engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory since August 2019. While at JPL, she has worked on the Entry, Descent, and Landing Telemetry Visualization used for operations for the Mars 2020 Landing, and was in Mission Control to support operations on landing day. She is also in training to become a Rover Planner for Curiosity, the other Mars rover currently in operation. 

Emily grew up in Ann Arbor, MI and spends their free time cheering for Michigan football and basketball (go blue!). Their hobbies include puzzle hunts, hiking, and video games. While at CMU, they were heavily involved in AB Tech, and they were also a part of Scottylabs, SCS Day Planning Committee, SCC, and the W3VC buggy radio net. 

Margaret Schervish (SCS 2013)
Director of Software Development Engineering
Mastercard Data & Services

Margaret Schervish is a director of software development engineering at MasterCard Data & Services. She graduated from CMU in 2013 with a double major in computer science and math. After graduation, she joined Applied Predictive Technologies, a B2B software company in Arlington, VA. APT was acquired by Mastercard in 2015 and she has been working there ever since. She has led multiple teams responsible for APT's core analytic and modeling capabilities, which was a great way to combine her CS and math degrees. She focuses on staying well-rounded as a full-stack engineer, and also has experience in web development. Outside of software engineering, she led APT's recruiting efforts at CMU for 3 years, created the APT Puzzle Tournament, led its development for 5 years, and serves as an advisor to several entry-level software engineers. She is also a member of the professional development committee for her office's Women's Leadership Network. Over the last year, her "quarantine hobby" has been creating stop motion animation videos set to music, featuring an extensive teddy bear collection. Since graduation, she has also focused on improving as a runner, and her favorite race is, of course, the Pittsburgh half marathon!