Uttam Kumar Panasala

At UNT - University of North Texas, Masters in Advanced Data Analytics

At SmartX Technologies, where I served as a Senior Software Engineer and Tech Leader from November 2022 to December 2023 in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, India, I had the opportunity to lead several high-impact projects that pushed the boundaries of innovation and technology. One of my most rewarding achievements was spearheading the development of a **highly effective recommender system**. This system significantly boosted customer engagement metrics by delivering personalized content and recommendations tailored to user preferences. It was incredible to see how our work directly contributed to enhancing user interaction and satisfaction. I also took on the challenge of **architecting and implementing a robust API layer** that facilitated seamless data integration with external systems. This API layer enhanced the platform's interoperability and scalability, allowing it to efficiently handle large volumes of data from diverse sources. It was a crucial component that enabled our system to grow and adapt to changing business needs. As part of improving our application's communication efficiency, I engineered **RESTful APIs** that streamlined the interaction between the application front-end and backend services. This effort resulted in a more responsive user experience and a noticeable improvement in system performance, demonstrating the importance of well-designed APIs in modern software development. Leveraging my interest in data science, I developed a **predictive model using machine learning techniques** to forecast application usage patterns and trends accurately. This model empowered the team to implement proactive optimization strategies, which not only improved system performance but also reduced operational costs by anticipating resource requirements. In addition to these technical accomplishments, I had the privilege of serving as the **Lead Developer for AptPath**, a cutting-edge learning and hiring platform. I was deeply involved in its technical evolution, from inception to successful launch and ongoing enhancement. This role allowed me to shape the platform's architecture and functionality, ensuring it met both user and business needs. Beyond my technical contributions, I was committed to fostering a culture of growth and collaboration within the team. I mentored junior engineers, conducted thorough code reviews to uphold coding standards, and encouraged continuous learning and improvement. Watching the team grow and excel was one of the most fulfilling aspects of my role. Overall, my experience at SmartX Technologies was both challenging and enriching. It allowed me to apply my skills in software engineering, machine learning, and team leadership while driving meaningful outcomes that aligned with the company's goals. I am proud of the technical innovations and team successes we achieved together during my time there.

At MoEVing, where I worked as a Senior Software Engineer from December 2021 to November 2022 in Bengaluru, India, I took on a variety of challenging roles that significantly expanded my technical expertise and leadership skills. My time at MoEVing was characterized by innovation, collaboration, and the drive to build systems that truly made a difference in the user experience. One of the highlights of my tenure was leading cross-functional teams through the entire development lifecycle of a dynamic web application. Utilizing **ReactJS** for the front end and **Python** for the backend, we were able to create a robust, scalable, and highly interactive application that improved user engagement and satisfaction. I focused on building a user-centric interface that not only met the users' needs but also delighted them with its intuitiveness and responsiveness. Communication was a key aspect of my role. I facilitated seamless communication between stakeholders and development teams, ensuring that everyone was on the same page. By proactively identifying issues, gathering detailed requirements, and delivering optimal solutions, I ensured that our projects remained aligned with their objectives and were completed within the set timelines. This open line of communication helped build trust with stakeholders and kept our teams focused and motivated. In addition to my role in project management, I also architected robust and scalable solutions by addressing critical concerns such as security, performance, availability, compliance, and maintainability. It was essential to balance these factors to deliver stable and efficient systems. I meticulously designed each aspect of the application architecture, ensuring that it could handle growth and changes over time without compromising on quality or performance. One of the most fulfilling parts of my work was leading the development and integration of highly responsive and customizable UI components. Leveraging advanced React concepts, I designed components that delivered intuitive user interfaces and enriched user experiences. This involved deep dives into the latest React features, optimizing rendering performance, and ensuring that the components were both highly functional and visually appealing. Overall, my time at MoEVing was a period of intense learning and growth. I honed my technical skills in **ReactJS** and **Python** while also strengthening my leadership abilities. I took great pride in building applications that not only met business goals but also provided meaningful and engaging experiences for the users. This experience reaffirmed my passion for creating impactful software solutions that make a difference.

During my time at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) from June 2019 to December 2021, working with the Walgreens client in Bengaluru, India, I had the opportunity to work as a Systems Engineer and contribute to several impactful projects. This period was marked by continuous learning, problem-solving, and collaboration with talented teams to deliver meaningful technological solutions. One of my key responsibilities was to design front-end applications and analytics pages using **Angular**. I focused on building a solid UI architecture that prioritized performance, application security, and resilience. Ensuring that our applications were not just functional but also extensible and secure was always a top priority. I developed multiple UI screens for Analytics dashboards, which allowed our team and stakeholders to visualize data more effectively, identify trends, and make informed decisions. It was exciting to see how these dashboards facilitated data-driven decision-making across various levels of the organization. I also worked on optimizing project efficiency and task management by orchestrating background job scheduling. I integrated the **Celery scheduler** with **Redis** and **RabbitMQ**, which significantly streamlined our workflow processes. This integration was crucial for handling background tasks and ensuring that our applications performed smoothly under various loads. Another significant achievement was improving business processes within the retail supply chain. I implemented a **Business Rule Engine** within a runtime production environment, which was a game-changer for the Walgreens client. This engine enabled dynamic decision-making in real-time, which was critical for managing the complexities of the retail supply chain. Alongside this, I designed integrated dashboards specifically for **Retail Business analytics**. These dashboards provided key insights into business operations, enabling our client to optimize their processes and enhance their decision-making capabilities. Effective communication was another essential aspect of my role. I ensured a seamless translation of business requirements into technological solutions by actively communicating with team members, stakeholders, and management. This alignment between technology initiatives and company objectives was vital for achieving our project goals and delivering high-quality results. Additionally, I took on the challenge of designing and implementing a model to optimize space utilization, which significantly improved inventory management and operational efficiency for the Walgreens client. This project required a deep understanding of the client's business needs and the ability to translate those needs into a technological solution that delivered tangible benefits. Overall, my experience at TCS was incredibly fulfilling. I had the chance to work on diverse projects that allowed me to hone my technical skills in front-end development, system integration, and process optimization, all while contributing to the success of a major client in the retail sector. It was a period of growth, both professionally and personally, and I am proud of the work I accomplished during this time.

Let me share a bit about my journey in building and implementing technical solutions that have made a real difference in various systems and workflows. It all started when I took on the challenge of enhancing how we monitored our mainframe jobs. I knew that the current method was too cumbersome and lacked real-time visibility. So, I developed a prototype for **Mainframe Spool Monitoring** using Python scripting. It was my first significant project involving Python, and I was excited to see how it could transform our approach. The prototype allowed us to track and analyze mainframe job statuses in real-time, which immediately started paying off. It was rewarding to see how the new system helped our team identify issues proactively and improve the overall reliability of our operations. Around the same time, I became fascinated with AI and its potential to streamline everyday processes. I decided to dive deeper into this area and came up with the idea of designing a **Quality Assurance (QA) System** using IBM Watson APIs. It was a bit of a leap, moving from traditional methods to something as advanced as AI. But I was driven by the potential for innovation. The new system could analyze data with AI-powered insights, drastically reducing the time spent on manual checks and improving accuracy. Watching our QA processes become more efficient, I felt a sense of accomplishment—knowing that I had contributed to a smarter way of working. The next challenge came in the form of long-running jobs on our mainframe. It was clear that we needed a better way to manage and monitor these jobs without relying on manual checks. That’s when I developed the **Mainframe Spool Crawling Module** in Python. This module automated the entire workflow process, which used to be painstakingly manual. With this solution, we could quickly and accurately monitor long-running jobs, freeing up our team to focus on more critical tasks. I realized how powerful automation could be in making our day-to-day operations smoother and more efficient. Then came an opportunity to work with Salesforce data. I saw a gap in how we communicated between different platforms and decided to tackle it head-on. By integrating the **Salesforce API with our existing systems**, I made it possible for us to manipulate and handle Salesforce data much more seamlessly. This integration didn’t just enhance data accuracy; it also enabled real-time communication between platforms, which was a huge win for our team. I learned a lot about API integrations and felt proud to have made data exchange smoother and more efficient. Finally, I focused on a smaller but equally impactful task: creating a module that could **auto-update job completion records**. I noticed that manually documenting job completions was not only tedious but also prone to errors and delays. I decided to automate it. This module ensured that job completions were recorded promptly and accurately, eliminating manual efforts and errors. Seeing how this small innovation made a big difference in our daily workflow was incredibly satisfying. Looking back, each project taught me something new about the power of technology—how it can automate the mundane, bring intelligence to the routine, and connect disparate systems into a cohesive whole. I’ve enjoyed every step of the journey, from scripting in Python to integrating APIs and leveraging AI. It’s been a fulfilling experience, knowing that I’ve made processes simpler, faster, and more efficient for the teams I’ve worked with.

During my Bachelor's in Computer Science at NIT Puducherry, I gained a strong foundation in programming and development. The curriculum and projects provided a comprehensive understanding of various programming languages and development tools. I began by learning programming fundamentals with C, which gave me a solid grasp of basic algorithms, data structures, and problem-solving techniques. This experience was crucial in building a foundation for more advanced topics later in my studies. As I progressed, I was introduced to web development, where I learned JavaScript for dynamic front-end functionalities and PHP for server-side scripting. This combination of languages helped me understand how web applications work from both the client and server perspectives. Additionally, I was introduced to Python by one of my seniors, which opened up new possibilities for me in the field of data science and automation. Python's simplicity and versatility made it easy to pick up and quickly apply to real-world problems. One of the highlights of my time at NIT Puducherry was the opportunity to develop and improve our existing college website. This project involved both front-end and back-end development, requiring me to apply my knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and Python. It was a significant learning experience that helped me understand web development's practical aspects, such as user experience, website performance, and security. Overall, my Bachelor's education provided me with a diverse skill set, combining programming fundamentals with practical web development experience.