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Nikil Shyamsunder
Student. Computer Scientist. Writer.
I am a Milstein Scholar in Technology and Humanity at Cornell University studying Computer Science and Mathematics. Last summer, I was a software engineering and technical product intern at Beacon Platform. I am deeply passionate about the intricate details of software development while always keeping a clear focus on the broader benefit for users. Through research and personal projects, I have developed AI/ML applications for sustainability. I enjoy debating crucial topics that have deep social and ethical relevance. When not in the classroom you can catch me snowboarding, watching The Royal Institution Lectures, or writing about my recent fixations—from art history to Formula One.
Software Intern @
Beacon Platform
Beacon is a cloud-agnostic Cross-Asset Trading and Risk Management platform, operating both as a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider, offering a finance-focused cloud development environment along with user-facing applications.
I worked closely with the Developer Experience team to enhance developer tools, particularly focusing on building a full-stack Test Dashboard. This dashboard provided aggregate and timeline views of regression test failures, integrating heuristic-based failure categorization and a RAG pipeline for root-cause analysis using a knowledge graph. Additionally, I spearheaded an initiative that reduced test failures across the organization by 22% through the implementation of deterministic merge request gating rules and clear test ownership policies. This experience not only honed my software engineering skills but also gave me valuable insights into product-level and operational improvements.
At school, I’m part of an exciting engineering project that designs and manufactures an autonomous sailboat to compete in the SailBot International Robotic Sailboat Regatta. The competition challenges us to create a boat capable of performing complex tasks in water entirely autonomously,.
I am on the navigation team, where I focus on how the sailboat navigates in competition events. I was drawn to CUSail because of the unique complexity of sailboat navigation—unlike motorboats or wheeled vehicles, sailboats are at the mercy of the wind, requiring sophisticated, programmatic methods like tacking to stay on course. I thrive on tackling these kinds of difficult challenges.
This year, I’m leading an initiative to build and maintain Docker images for a consistent development environment with ROS, ensuring a reliable setup for all team members. In the past, I’ve developed a GUI with sailboat animation as a visualization tool for our sailboat path planning algorithm, integrating legacy scripts to enhance our navigation capabilities.
Navigation Engineer
@ Cornell
Autonomous
Sailboat Team
Business Analyst & Finance Director @ Cornell Grub Ventures
Grub Ventures is Cornell University’s pioneering undergraduate venture capital organization, dedicated to creating impact in the food and agriculture industry. Our mission is to empower changemakers by introducing venture capital fundamentals, collaborating with impactful organizations, and evaluating companies through the lens of sustainable finance.
As the Director of Finance at Grub Ventures, I interface with administrative contacts and source funding to ensure the financial health and sustainability of our initiatives. In my role as a business analyst, I conduct in-depth market research on various industries, source innovative startups, and present thorough due diligence for our client firms. My research has spanned diverse topics, including the use of feed additives for reducing enteric methane emissions and applying machine learning to optimize cold storage chains.
In the News
Click below to see featured articles from newspapers and companies regarding my accomplishments.
