Halim Abbas
Verified Expert in Engineering
Data Scientist and Machine Learning Developer
San Jose, CA, United States
Toptal member since October 24, 2019
Halim is a high-tech innovator who's spearheaded world-class data science projects at game-changing tech companies like eBay and Teradata. Formally educated in machine learning, his professional expertise spans information retrieval, natural language processing, and big data. Halim has a proven track record of applying state-of-the-art data science techniques across industry verticals such as eCommerce, web and mobile services, airline, and biopharma.
Portfolio
Experience
Availability
Preferred Environment
Git, Jupyter, Python, GitHub
The most amazing...
...project I've worked on is an AI-driven pediatric behavioral health screener.
Work Experience
Chief AI Officer
Cognoa
- Recruited, hired, onboarded, and oversaw a data science team.
- Applied machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) to build diagnostic classifiers for pediatric behavioral health conditions.
- Developed proof points for the efficacy of the product by running properly blinded, sufficiently powered clinical validation studies.
- Provided timely insights by building and maintaining user analytics pipelines and visualization.
Machine Learning Research Engineer
Martian Learning Inc.
- Proposed a framework for quantifying and ranking the performance of large language model (LLM) routers.
- Developed and implemented a benchmark for evaluating RAG systems.
- Contributed to scientific publications around LLM router benchmarking.
Senior AI/ML Advisor
GrantSmiths, LLC
- Designed a complete, AI-powered software solution to meet the client's business needs, including high-level architecture, technical design specifications, cloud solution choice, and all other 3rd-party products and services.
- Provided the client with a complete technical product roadmap, including design methodology, phases, milestones, product feature availability timeline, resources, team buildup, and cost and development time estimates.
- Iterated with the client to produce a complete software design document detailing all aspects of the technical project, making adjustments to accommodate the client's business needs and industry-specific realities.
Data Scientist
Iron Light, Inc
- Designed and implemented a predicted modeling ML algorithm based on voter record structured data.
- Analyzed and profiled data from survey participants and advised the client on data completeness, usability, and representation.
- Advised the client on best practices related to data science and machine learning R&D efforts.
AI Developer
Sigma Squared Corporation
- Worked on a generative AI tool to address actual cause-and-effect questions.
- Navigated the client through a conversational AI tool's possible options and functionality that would predict and prescribe future actions.
- Managed a team of data scientists and directed the overall company tech roadmaps.
NLP/Data Scientist
Airball, Inc.
- Created a model to classify the different types of email.
- Sanitized the information and created a pipeline to store it.
- Implemented collaboratively with sync-up meetings as needed.
Senior AI Expert
Hasna Inc
- Advised the CEO and executives on AI-powered applications in nutrigenomics.
- Developed a product roadmap with key stakeholders based on research on state-of-the-art AI technology.
- Communicated the proposed product vision and technical experimentation path to company leadership.
AI Expert
RunKicker Pte Ltd
- Led AI research into NCD risk assessment using computer vision and PPG signal processing.
- Built BMI assessment AI algorithm by applying CNN computer vision to patient selfies.
- Built blood pressure assessment AI algorithm by applying computer vision and time series analysis on video of a finger placed on a smartphone camera to capture PPG dynamics.
CTO
Mathisit, Inc.
- Advised a team of developers and data scientists on the technical roadmap and algorithm development strategy for a software holding company.
- Recruited, ramped up, and oversaw a technical team of developers and data scientists.
- Advised the company's executive leadership on the overall tech strategy and roadmap.
Principal Data Scientist
Teradata
- Managed Think Big's data science consultation practice in the West Coast region.
- Worked on big data science problems across multiple industries like eCommerce, fintech, biopharma, and medical imaging.
- Applied ML techniques to various use cases like recommendation engines, customer profiling, churn modeling, predictive analytics, user segmentation, process optimization, next best action detection, and search relevance ranking.
- Helped to close multiple sales and build repeatable consulting relationships with large enterprise customers.
Senior Research Scientist
eBay
- Led an applied research team. Built eBay's first machine-learned search relevance ranking engine from the ground up.
- Managed multiple research tracks, grew a team of top-talent researchers, oversaw IP processes, and more.
- Was involved in machine learning, data mining, auction modeling, user modeling and classification, click log analysis, and more.
Machine Learning Research Scientist
SearchMe
- Developed an adaptive multimedia search relevance ranking system using machine learning (ML).
- Experimented with ML ensemble decision trees using TreeNet.
- Mentored new hires and ramped them up on the experimental framework.
- Ran A/B testing experiments to produce evidence in support of improvement hypotheses.
Research Lead
Code Green Networks
- Developed an NLP system to classify documents reliably on live network feeds.
- Contributed to the production R&D cycle by writing production code and fixing bugs in Java and C.
- Supervised offline experimentation to develop more efficient algorithms underlying the product features.
Research Staff
Columbia University — CCLS Lab
- Developed a statistical-rule-based hybrid ML system for the automatic translation of natural language news headlines.
- Worked on Arabic/English automated translation systems.
- Applied validation tests and reported incremental improvements using the BLEU score.
Experience
ML Approach for the Early Detection of Autism by Combining Questionnaires and Home Video Screening
https://academic.oup.com/jamia/article/25/8/1000/4993666Real-time Document Classification Engine
eCommerce Search Result Ranking Engine
AI ML Bootcamp
AI Powered Healthcare Mobile App
Sports Card Marketplace and Social Network
Education
Master's Degree in Machine Learning
Columbia University - New York City, NY, USA
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Engineering
Carleton University - Ottawa, Canada
Skills
Libraries/APIs
Scikit-learn, Matplotlib, TensorFlow, Keras, LSTM, Natural Language Toolkit (NLTK), OpenCV, PyTorch, Pandas, TensorFlow Deep Learning Library (TFLearn), AWS Amplify, PySpark
Tools
ChatGPT, Tableau, Amazon Elastic MapReduce (EMR), Amazon SageMaker, Amazon Textract, GitHub, Jupyter, Git, OpenAI Gym, Amazon Athena, Microsoft Power BI
Languages
Python, Java, SQL, PHP, JavaScript, Objective-C, HTML, R, Python 3, C++, Ruby
Platforms
Databricks, iOS, Linux, MacOS, Amazon EC2, Amazon Web Services (AWS), AWS Lambda, Azure, Mobile, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), NVIDIA CUDA, AppsFlyer
Industry Expertise
Healthcare
Frameworks
Hadoop, gRPC, OpenFrameworks
Paradigms
MapReduce, Functional Programming, Agile Software Development, Microsoft Query, B2B, Microservices Architecture
Storage
MySQL, NoSQL, MongoDB, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Amazon DynamoDB, Databases, Database Security, Teradata Databases, PostgreSQL, Data Pipelines
Other
Analytics, Dashboards, eCommerce, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Deep Learning, Architecture, Data Science, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Big Data, Computer Vision, Computer Science, Supervised Learning, Predictive Modeling, Predictive Analytics, Neural Networks, Data Analysis, Algorithms, Healthcare Services, Advisory, Technology Consulting, AI Design, Image Processing, Training, Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), OpenAI GPT-3 API, Data Management, APIs, Data Engineering, MVP Design, Recommendation Systems, Research, CTO, Workshop Facilitation, Text Classification, Programming, Large Language Models (LLMs), Regression Modeling, Forecasting, R&D, Data Scraping, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), AI Programming, Technical Leadership, Software Architecture, Open-source LLMs, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Retrieval-augmented Generation (RAG), AI Research, Vectorization, Modeling, Data Collection, Prompt Engineering, Workshops, Coaching, Full-stack, Data Analytics, Document Processing, OCR, OOP Designs, SVMs, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), Natural Language Understanding (NLU), Natural Language Queries, Unsupervised Learning, Active Learning, Learning Transfer, Object Identification, LSTM Networks, Clustering, Cluster Analysis, Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), Statistical Methods, Bayesian Statistics, Data Visualization, Statistical Analysis, Leadership, Team Leadership, Remote Team Leadership, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Object Detection, Object Tracking, Chatbots, Data Governance, Customer Segmentation, Data Modeling, Large-scale Projects, Oncology & Cancer Treatment, Language Models, OpenAI GPT-4 API, Fine-tuning, Causal Inference, Pricing Models, Data-driven Marketing, Integration, Chatbot Conversation Design, Quantitative Analysis, Sentiment Analysis, OpenAI, Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), Data Mining, Reporting, Generalized Linear Model (GLM), Logistic Regression, LangChain, Llama 2, Llama 3, Mistral AI, Marketplaces, User Stories, Attribution Modeling, Excel Modeling, Mathematics, Biostatistics, Music, Pinecone, Analytical Dashboards, Dashboard Design, Complex Data Analysis, Data Reporting, Pattern Recognition, BERT, Networks, Naive Bayes, Distributed Systems, Information Retrieval, Website Ranking, Decision Trees, Custom BERT, Statistical Modeling, Sales Forecasting, Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), Image Recognition, Classification Algorithms, Hugging Face, Education, Online Course Design, Signal Processing, Health, Models, Text Recognition, Consulting, Google Colaboratory (Colab), Amazon Comprehend, Finance, GPU Computing, Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3 (GPT-3), User Interface (UI), Cloud Platforms, Prescriptive Modeling, Prescriptive Analytics, Communication, Image Generation, Chief AI Officer, Embeddings from Language Models (ELMo), Large Language Model Operations (LLMOps), Azure AI Custom Vision, Reinforcement Learning
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
Share your needs
Choose your talent
Start your risk-free talent trial
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring