From UMBC to AI Innovation - Harish’s Data Science Success Story

In this inspiring episode of UMBC Mic’d Up Podcast, host Dennise Cardona, M.A. sits down with Harish Reddy Manyam, M.P.S. '24, a graduate of UMBC’s Data Science program. 

Harish shares his remarkable path from arriving in the U.S. with nothing but a dream to becoming an AI governance advisor and healthcare data scientist. 

He reflects on: 

• Early struggles as an international student 

• Key milestones: internships, research, and graduate assistantship • Publishing research with UMBC faculty 

• Building a no-code AI chatbot with real-world impact 

• Winning entrepreneurial competitions and launching a startup through BW Tech at UMBC 

• How UMBC’s supportive community and hands-on learning shaped his confidence and career Harish’s story is one of resilience, community, and the power of preparation meeting opportunity. 

👉 Learn more about UMBC’s Data Science MPS program here: 

https://professionalprograms.umbc.edu/data-science/ 

#UMBCMicdUp #DataScience #AI #InternationalStudents #UMBC #GraduateSchool #HealthcareAI #Entrepreneurship #AIChatbot #StudentSuccess

Transcript

Dennise Cardona  0:00  
Hey, thanks for tuning in to this episode of UMBC Mic'd Up Podcast. I'm Dennise Cardona from the Office of Professional Programs here at UMBC, and I am here with Harish. And he is a graduate of our data science MPS program, and he's really got an exciting story. I'm so excited to dig in. Can't wait to dig into this story. Harish, so let's just get started. You've had this incredible journey from arriving in the US as an international student to becoming an AI governance advisor. Can you share the key milestones that shaped your path? You know, like, what were some of your biggest challenges early on, and were there any aha moments along the way?

Harish Reddy Manyam  0:45  
Sure. Dennise, firstly, I have to thank you for having me here. So you said, like key milestones at the same time, aha moments, but I have more Oh moments. So oh moments in the sense, like when I arrived in the US like I came just with just two things like Visa and a dream. So frankly speaking, the first milestone was actually survival. So there is no luggage, there is no Wi Fi, there is no drinking water. I don't know that we can drink the water from the tap, because I came from India. So just why we have one water bottle for three people. It's almost stretched for 13 hours. That experience taught me what exactly the resilience is, what exactly the growth is. So the next biggest milestone was my internship. I just cracked my internship in the first, very first semester at Maryland Department of Health through Maryland Technology Internship Program, which was actually introduced by our governor, Wes Moore. So I have to thank him. So I was able to use SQL and Python to work with electronic health records like EHR on the behavioral health data. So that's that's really a key milestone, what I can say. So at the same time, like then I came my research publication with Dr Ergun Simsek, the, you know, the research publication, which actually came from, it's a, it's like a very How can I say it's a competition for our data science group, but I helped him to get the accuracy of 91% then he said, like Harish, We can publish the research paper. We publish the research paper with the IET that gave me confidence that I could solve hard problems, not just small assignments. So at the same time, like in the third semester, like I got a graduate assistantship. You might know, I mean, MPS, DS has very few graduate assistantships, but I got that one was really it's an another turning point I can say, like it showed me that UMBC community believed me before believing myself. So at the same time, like, you know, at the fourth semester, like, you know, I got a co op in the Conscious Venture Partners as a data scientist is a venture capitalist company through UMBC career center again, so, and also I was working as a Maryland Momentum fellow, which is a University System of Maryland momentum fund. So it's actually incredible journey like, you know, later becoming a venture fellow, now working in data scientist in healthcare, I see all those experiences lining up, like each small milestone building into a bigger picture. And one more thing I have to say, it's like, you know, my internship first paycheck, it's on August 9, that's my birthday. So my full time data scientist. Paycheck, it's on August 9, that's my birthday. Now I got a hike. It's my birthday again,

Dennise Cardona  3:42  
August 9. That's really, what a coincidence. I hope

Harish Reddy Manyam  3:46  
I will share one more achievement on next August 9.

Dennise Cardona  3:50  
I know well, I have no doubt. I mean, it sounds like you have been and I'm not going to word I'm not going to use the word lucky. I'm going to use the word driven and resilient, like you said, showing up with that, just that spirit of adventure. I think that's really what it boils down to. Is, you know, when you talked about coming over here, sharing a water bottle with three people on a 13 hour flight, talk about a sense of adventure. I've been there. I've been on an international flight without water, and showed up at an airport that was very high up in the air, 10,000 feet in the air, in Bogota, Colombia, and was completely dehydrated as a result. So it's not fun. It is an adventure. And the fact that you it sounds like you did that, and it sounds like you almost did it with almost a smile on your face, I think that's part of when you're considering how to solve problems in this world. How to show up to solve those problems? I once read that if you can show up to those problems with a sense of fun and adventure and realizing that that fun and adventure is what the process is all about, then you know what? It's all part of the. Experience, isn't it? Yes, absolutely. So it sounds like you've had a great experience so far. Let's dig a little bit more into that. Looking back in your time at UMBC, in the Data Science Program, the MPS program, what were the most transformative aspects of your experience? You know, were there specific courses or faculty or projects that had that lasting impact, and how did that program help you transition to what you're doing currently?

Harish Reddy Manyam  5:29  
Sure. So for particularly, UMBC gave me two aspects of my life, one is confidence, and one is community. So community, it's of a like what we have around the people. It's a great talent, and they're very encouraging for each everyone. So suppose, like, I need some help. Obviously, someone has to help me, like, I mean, someone readily act to help me. So that's really very good thing. What was happened in UMBC community, and the confidence which I got from the professors. It's really crazy thing. So I can say like a part was the mix of practical learning and mentorship in the MPS, like, what exactly means Master of Professional Studies, who are professions will actually teach us to get more practical learning. Here, this program is not just me, just me algorithms. It did not teach me algorithms. It showed me how to use data to solve real world problems. And I can say, like, my classmates came from healthcare, business, it every project like a world like, I mean real world collaboration, for example. I can say like, you know, Professor Mehmet Sarkar, he actually told me to do analysis on the web history what you have done for the past one year. It actually teaches you, like whether you are a night old or a morning person, something like that, and how much applying for the jobs and everything. So he just did all the two data analysis. But I did like mission learning model to predict my next year work on that. So it's actually getting the real world problem that actually uses to the enhance the data science projects. I can say, I can say like, they're very hands on. They constantly say, like, so what? How does this model change lives? So that's very important, that mind shift, shift from code to impact. Was life changing? What I can say, like, frankly speaking, before believing myself like they believed in me. That's the end story I can give.

Dennise Cardona  7:29  
Yeah, that's really amazing to hear. It really is they believed in you, and then you could believe in yourself. Yep, now you co developed a no code generative AI chat bot during your time at UMBC. Can you walk us through how that project came about and its real world impact?

Harish Reddy Manyam  7:46  
Yeah, so I think you already interviewed previously Professor Abdullah Karasan, who is teaching financial data science for us. So he's kind of like, you know, while I'm actually taking his class and we actually built one LLM with, I mean, sentiment analysis, on the stock analysis. Then he said, like, Harish, you have so much knowledge on the llms, then why can't you do something? So then I really got an idea, like, you know, from a simple but powerful question, like, what about people who don't code? How can they still use AI? Like, suppose, like UMBC Career Center, they don't have developers, but they they want to use AI to answer their questions. But students, working with Abdullah Karasan, we build no code, chatbot platform, anyone, a small startup, a non profit, or every even our student society could design a conversation without needing technical skills. So this impact was real. One nonprofit used it on automate donor communications, saving hours each week for me, personally, it planted the seed of my current entrepreneurship journey like it actually started from there that AI should be Democrat, right, not limited to expert. I mean, AI has to be available to everyone, not exactly limited to experts. So that's exactly AI means. So artificial intelligence available for everyone. So where we started there, and we ended up with something good.

Dennise Cardona  9:15  
Wow. That's really impressive. You mentioned the stock the Stock Advisor, the AI Stock Advisor. Did you work on that program when you were in the school, when you were in the program?

Harish Reddy Manyam  9:24  
But one of my classmates, one of my roommates, worked on that? Yeah, I

Dennise Cardona  9:27  
spoke with the professor who actually headed that up. So that was a very interesting conversation. As a matter of fact, if you're watching this video right now, I will link to that video up above. So check that conversation out as well. You also conducted research in electromagnetics with Dr Ergun Simsek. How did that work influence your technical and problem solving skills? And you know what drew you to that research area?

Harish Reddy Manyam  9:55  
Yeah, I just have to say why I actually worked with. Ergun Simsek Before going to tell about electromagnetic waves. You know, when I first came like he was the graduate program director on that time as a for a MPS data science program. So he gave me the orientation session. So I know it's virtually so he taught me very well, and he did some great work. And he mentioned about that one. So on the day, I fixed like he will be the role model for me in the data science on so I have so much interest to somehow I have to collaborate with him. But frankly speaking, I didn't got a chance to meet. I mean, up to second semester, then he suddenly sent a competition in the UMBC group. Then I took that competition, frankly speaking, like 13 sleepless nights. I worked with that. So I improved accuracy from 83% to 91 91% accuracy. So this actually gave me a great, very good work, like, you know. This is just, was not just about physics or a it was about discipline. I remember, like, you know? So it's studying sleepless nights, maintaining a discipline. It's very good thing, right? So electromagnetic is complex, combining it with neural networks, forcing me to think differently. So that struggle shaped my problems, solving skills, and my patients. So that patience is more important later, when I work with healthcare models, with the millions of records, I was not just limited, because I already have faced a complex problem and learned to break it down. You know, working on the research will actually helps me in the working on the real time healthcare problems.

Dennise Cardona  11:36  
Yes, I can imagine. So,

Harish Reddy Manyam  11:38  
yeah, I have to thank Ergun Simsek for that. Frankly speaking, after 13 sleepless nights, I went to emergency room because I was fully overwhelmed at the same time, like, like, it's, I can't say in words, but the next day, I went to er, like I next day I have an interview with Conscious Venture Partners for a data scientist position. I attended that interview in person, then I crack it.

Dennise Cardona  12:05  
Oh my gosh, that's how it happens. Sometimes with you entrepreneurial type people, you put everything into it, right and then, and then you worry about it later on. Yeah, you should. Your enthusiasm and your dedication definitely shows through now being named a Maryland momentum fund fellow is a big achievement. What did that recognition mean for your career and your network?

Harish Reddy Manyam  12:31  
Yeah, so being a Maryland momentum fellow, like they selected only eight members for that they really started on that year. So they selected only eight members. So out of eight members, I am the only one who got accepted from University of Maryland, Baltimore County. So other six members are from College Park, and one member from Bowie State University. So I'm the one, only one who got accepted into that. So for me, it's a huge moment of validation. So I can't say like, it's a success, it's a how much I am validate for that position as an international student. Sometimes you wonder like, Am I good enough? Do I belong here? So there will be some questions. You will definitely rise the fellowship answer that it was with the s so it gave me access to investors, mentors and a broader entrepreneurship community across Maryland. It was not just recognition, it was a feel for my rocket journey, rocket like growth. It made me believe my ideas could actually become ventures, not just classroom projects, people I learned a lot. So yeah, that Maryland Momentum venture fellow is one of the best recognition of my life.

Dennise Cardona  13:45  
Something magical happens when you enter a room. It could be a virtual room or in person room with a group of people who have amazing ideas and who have done amazing things. And to be able to be part of that energy is really powerful and good for you, for being able to step into that, and to be able to really work with people like that, and that helps to inform your thinking as an entrepreneur, as a tech innovator. And that is one of, to me, one of the greatest career boosts is to be able to be surround yourself with people who are living and breathing the kind of work and dreams that you have for yourself. So yeah, that's awesome. Now BW tech at UMBC has been a part of your journey as you work forward to launching your own AI focused venture. What role has BW tech played in your professional and your entrepreneurial growth.

Harish Reddy Manyam  14:42  
Yeah. Everyone say like BW tech at the UMBC's Incubation Center, but for me, it's a second home, yeah? So first I have to thankful some people in the BW tech like Margie, so she is a director of entrepreneurship, so she. She like, you know, when I got a chance to meet her, like, you know, we are just discussing about some exchanging ideas and everything. So she told, like, Harish, you have a great journey. Like, why can't you start one startup? Then I thought that, okay, let me think first. Like, you know, she said, like, No, you have a great journey. Why can't you start so she actually pushed me into the ocean. Now I am actually swimming there. It's a great thing that happened to me from there, like Kevin, who is a director of UMBC, Alex Brown entrepreneurship. So we actually went one, went for a business innovation competition, which is actually sponsored by Greg, who is our, one of our alumni. So I thought that, like, we didn't make it to the final round. We got a mail like, you know, hey, Harish, you got selected to the final round. Then I thought that, okay, my idea has some potential. Let's go. Then Chris White, who came, he's an entrepreneurship in residence in BW tech. He came to mentor us. He said, like Harish, your idea will definitely going to win for first place, because my previous startup, who I mentored, they also won first place in last year. Then I got some confidence, like with the help of my co founder, bharatwajancharan, we actually prepared well documentation for that. Also we have some sleepless nights and some 3am brainstorms and coffee discussions. Oh man, we will met lot of people. That's really crazy. Then the moment came. We won the first place, and we got a $4,000 check. That was a huge moment for that. Then Kevin told me to apply for the UMBC accelerator Launchpad. It's actually boosting up upcoming startups for students. Then we applied, and we got selected again, and we got a $8,000 funding from them. So we got total of $12,000 of funding. Then we came to BW tech. So my startup, it's all about like, streamlining the hiring process for that, we need one room to testing. So we connected with Aaron. Aaron, who is a executive director of BW tech, is like, Aaron, we need a room for at least for six months to test it. He said, like, hey, Harish, you can take it like it's for free. So, you know, he gave the rumor for six months free, and we got a agreement exchange like where you sign, frankly speaking, now I'm giving interview from that room itself. Yeah, that's

Dennise Cardona  17:29  
where you are right now.

Harish Reddy Manyam  17:31  
That's where I am right now. So he actually, like everyone from the BW tech, supported me a lot. That's why I'm calling as a second home, so I can call Margie Aaron Chris White, are my family members, not my mentors anymore? So yeah, frankly speaking, like when you are a student founder, it's easy to feel like you are dreaming too big at BW tech, big dreams are normal, and that made all the difference.

Dennise Cardona  17:57  
Wow. We'll talk about a confidence boost, and you have a lot of celebratory moments in your life since you've been here. Yeah, incredible. You just must be like, am I going to wake up from this? This is, Is this a dream that it just sounds so amazing, really does? I mean, these are the kind of things that people who are really serious about making an impact in the world. This is, these are the kind of goals and dreams that people set out to achieve. And it sounds like you just keep achieving and achieving and achieving. And it sounds like a great role model for for those folks who are wanting to be part of a journey like that, wanting to be part of something greater than themselves, and bringing working with people who bring out the best in them and believe in them, so that they can then go out there and believe in themselves, and then bring other people up behind them and with them, and they all thrive together. That's really to me, it just seems like the magic potion, the magic sauce, the secret sauce to success. Now, in your current role, you're applying AI and data science to improve healthcare outcomes. Can you share an example of how this works?

Harish Reddy Manyam  19:05  
Before explaining about my current role? So let's go back for a while. So I worked for Maryland Department of Health as a data scientist intern over there with the help of our beloved governor, Wes Moore, frankly speaking. So here, like, I worked on the models that analyze the behavioral health rate, like, how many admissions we are getting, how many discharges we are getting? Suppose, like, if it's a flu season, we are getting more admissions, but we don't have some facilities at the Maryland hospital, so how we have to manage those things? So we actually predicted a time series analysis model to enhance a smoother process for getting admissions discharges. Why the admission? Why the admission people did not get the bed? Is there any reason? So we did so much great work over there, so that's where my internship end. Then I thought that, okay, so more than in any sector, healthcare needs. Data Scientist. So then my focus all like, like, looking for the jobs I applied for, only for the healthcare for the full as a data scientist. Then I got to into the Marshfield Clinic Health System. So as I said, like, you know, first job is always a special so I can say Marshfield Clinic Health System is somewhat special for me. So when I go there, like I met one of the beloved manager, Kerry sparks and my colleague, Kevin Spencer. They are really cool, like, you know, they did not see me as a fresh data science data scientist. They see me as a experienced person. So they actually boost my thoughts. They actually, like encouraging my, I mean, my experiments, like they really did well. So we are actually, we recently built one model for the care management for the hierarchical code category coding for lung and heart diseases. So like, who will get the I mean, basically, basically, like, based on the previous claims, like, in future, who will they might get the COPD or chronic heart failure or something like that. So we actually predicted, and we got, like, a 92% of accuracy. And the care management team from the Marshfield Clinic Health System, they are, they're actually using, well, I can't disclose everything, so that's where I'm actually transforming my healthcare like, like, I'm building some llms. Like, you know, it's a huge.

Dennise Cardona  21:28  
Now the workforce is rapidly shifting toward AI driven industries, as we all know. What advice would you give to students and professionals who want to prepare for this kind of future?

Harish Reddy Manyam  21:40  
Sure, my advice is like a three fold. So first thing is, like, focus on fundamentals, not just tools. Build real projects, stay adaptable. So just go with each and every category. Like, focus on fundamentals, not just a tools. What exactly means like a tools will change, but problem solving and Curiosity will always be valuable. And right now there is a no boundary, how good we are using AI. There is no boundary how bad we are using AI. That's where AI governance came the policies which we are building. So that's very important. So, so if you ask the question like, you know, maybe helping assignment is it's okay, but cheating in the assignments by using it's it's not okay. So frankly speaking, they don't there is no boundary, but we have to stick into the boundaries. So build real, real projects. A certificate is nice, but employers care about what you have actually built. So learning is only just 30% of the part, but 50% of the part will actually comes, like, building real time projects. So use GitHub very rapidly. Like, they will check the GitHub activity like, maybe you can there are so many problems to build the projects. So one of the projects, like, we got, like, a no code chat board. So it's all about helping every accessible, everyone to AI. So that's where we come. Like the another startup which we are building cheating AI in the interview, we have to combat that one. So there are a bunch of problems that we can solve into the AI. So I can, say, build real projects and stay adaptable. Like many of the jobs of tomorrow don't even exist today. So if you stay curious and keep learning, you will always be relevant. So in final word, I can, I can just say, like in AI, Curiosity is the greatest currency.

Dennise Cardona  23:26  
That's a great quote. I love that. My last question for you, Harish, for someone considering UMBC for graduate study in data science or in a related field, what would you say about the value and the return on the investment of the program that you experienced?

Harish Reddy Manyam  23:46  
Sure. So for that, I just want to say for particularly for international students, then I will go with the domestic students. For international students, they will definitely think like, how much money we are spending for our master's program or bachelor's program, maybe 40k thousand dollars or 20k thousand dollars so everyone will actually metric their thing, asset, money. But I what I can say, like at the age of 23 we are actually leaving our comfort zone and spend giving two years of our life at the age of 23 to our to our career. That's very important. So, you know, money can be repaid, but time cannot, so that's very important. I can say to the international students, UMBC offers something rare, personal attention combined with strong industry connections. Professors know your name. They care about your growth. They challenge you to think bigger. The return on investment is not just salary, so it's impact what you are creating to the real world that's very important. It's in opportunities. So I entered UMBC nervous and uncertain. Then I got a department, Maryland Department of Health internship with the, with the help of mtip and with the with the help of career. Center. I got a what I can say? I got a co op in the conscious Venture Partners. With the help of Professor Eric, I actually published two research papers. With the help of Abdullah Carson, I built no code chat, but with the help of BW Tech, I am doing everything. So if you see, there are so many return on investments that I got so they're not giving money, but they are giving so much public reach and the real impact what I can make to the future. So what I can say like, you know, so to go back like I left with the research publications, internships, fellowship now, a career in a data scientist. For me, UMBC was not just an academic investment, it was the launch pad for everything that you followed in future.

Dennise Cardona  25:40  
Yeah, thank you for putting that so succinctly. So in such a perfect way, you really are a person who you could You're a model for somebody who has been given great opportunities in life and being prepared for those opportunities. So that's why it's not luck, it's you were prepared to take hold of those opportunities, and that's very inspiring. So thank you so much for sharing your story with us today. I hope that everybody feels just as inspired as I do right now to go out there and make your mark on the world, just as Harish did.

Harish Reddy Manyam  26:14  
Sure. So for my fellow juniors, for my fellow alumni, for my fellow everyone from the UMBC community, looking back, my journey has full of struggles, sacrifices, surprises, but each step bought me close to who I am today. For from arriving in the US with nothing just but hope to becoming a data scientist, and every challenge taught me resilience, every failure taught me growth, and every kindness remain reminded me why community matters, and I wanted to leave everyone listen listening with this thought, three dreams will test you, break you and rebuild you, but if you keep walking, they will shape you into someone you never imagined you could be.

Dennise Cardona  26:57  
Thank you. Thank you very much for those words, and thank you everyone for tuning into this conversation. Today on UMBC's Mic'd up podcast. If you'd like to learn more about our offerings, visit the link in the description. Thank you so much.