Smit Chaudhari

Passionate and driven 3rd year computer science student with a strong interest in software engineering and AI. I love tackling complex coding challenges and building efficient, user-friendly applications. With experience in Python, Java, and JavaScript, I've worked on projects ranging from web applications to machine learning models. I thrive in collaborative environments, enjoy problem-solving, and always look for ways to improve my skills. Now, I'm eager to bring my technical knowledge, creativity, and enthusiasm to a junior software engineer role where I can grow and contribute to impactful projects.

University of Sussex | April 2025 | Supervisor: Dr. James Bennett

• Designed and implemented an end-to-end pipeline to classify 145,000+ galaxies from the Galaxy Zoo 2 dataset into 10 morphological categories.
• Developed and fine-tuned a ResNet-18 convolutional neural network with transfer learning and class imbalance handling, achieving 64.08% test accuracy and 0.51 macro F1-score .
• Integrated Grad-CAM++ explainability to generate heatmaps that localized model attention to cosmological features.
• Built a reusable PyTorch training framework with custom data loaders, augmentation strategies, and model evaluation modules.
• Conducted per-class error analysis, highlighting confusion patterns in spiral types and weaknesses in rare classes like “Merging” and “Cigar-Shaped Smooth”.
• Delivered detailed scientific discussion on the potential of explainable AI in large-scale astronomical survey pipelines.

Software Engineering project:

Developed and delivered digital board game simulation project as part of a collaborative software engineering team. Successfully transformed client-specified user requirements into a functional desktop application version of the classic strategy board game "World inspired by Risk. Led the team through agile development sprints, contributing to requirements analysis, system design, coding, testing, and documentation. Created a robust GUI interface, integrated external data loading features, and ensured system integrity and fairness through extensive testing protocols.

• I enjoy playing volleyball on weekends, which helps me stay active, improve teamwork, and build discipline. I also go to the gym regularly, focusing on fitness and mental resilience.
• Reading web novels allows me to explore different storytelling styles and enhances my creativity. Additionally, I have a passion for making and listening to music, which helps me express myself and unwind.