👩‍🏫 Staff

Suraj Rampure

he/him

rampure@ucsd.edu • Lecture(s): C00 (MWF 1-1:50PM, PCYNH 122)

Welcome to DSC 10! 👋 I’m in my second year as a lecturer in Data Science at UCSD. Prior to moving to San Diego, I was a student at UC Berkeley, where I also taught Data Science. And before that, I grew up in Windsor, Ontario – make sure to tell me if you’re also Canadian! 🇨🇦 Outside of the classroom, you’ll find me learning how to cook, FaceTiming my dog 🐶 back home, watching basketball, or somehow being randomly selected to win gift cards on morning talk shows.

DSC 10 is such an important course, whether or not you decide to pursue Data Science further. I really hope you enjoy it! 😊

Puoya Tabaghi

he/him

ptabaghi@ucsd.edu • Lecture(s): D00 (MWF 12-12:50PM, PCYNH 120)

Hi! My name is Puoya and I am going to teach DSC 10 this quarter, for the first time. I joined UCSD as a postdoc earlier this year. Prior to this, I completed Electrical and Computer Engineering degrees in Illinois, Colorado, and Tehran —where I grew up. Aside from teaching and research, I fill my time with going to the gym, practicing yoga, or watching awesome international movies.

DSC 10 is a great course because it empowers you to uncover insights hidden in data and learn from them which is important in pursuing many fields of science and technology, especially Data Science.

Janine Tiefenbruck

she/her

jlobue@ucsd.edu • Lecture(s): A00 (MWF 10-10:50AM, CSB 001), B00 (MWF 11-11:50AM, CSB 001)

Hello, I’m Janine and I am excited to be teaching DSC 10 this quarter! I’m originally from New Jersey but I moved to San Diego over ten years ago for grad school at UCSD 🔱, where I studied combinatorics in the Math department. Since then, I’ve taught courses in Computer Science, Math, and Data Science. Outside of teaching, I love playing board games, crafting, and baking epic desserts! 🧁

I love DSC 10 because it teaches you how to pose and answer interesting questions in any domain, so it really opens doors and allows you to dive into topics you’re passionate about, whatever they may be!

Dasha Veraksa

she/her

dveraksa@ucsd.edu • TA

Hi! My name is Dasha and I am a Bioengineering Masters student, focusing on bioinformatics. I completed my Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering at Boston University. I was actually born in San Diego but moved to Boston when I was 3 months old, so returning feels like coming home. I am hoping to finally learn how to surf! This is my first time TAing for DSC 10, so I am just as excited as you to start the quarter. I love exploring datasets because there are so many ways to visualize and learn from data, and I hope to spark that interest in you as well.

Gabriel Cha

he/him

gcha@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hi, I’m Gabriel! I was born in Maryland, raised in Texas, and now live in California studying data science (second year)! Am excited to tutor for this class as it is rich with stimulating (sometimes mind bending, yet exciting) concepts! Outside of class you might see me skateboarding around campus. Come to office hours, you won’t regret it!

Eric Chen

he/him

eyc004@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hello everyone! My name is Eric and I’m a second-year Data Science major from Orange County. When I’m not focused on school, I really like watching food-related videos and listening to K-Pop (been listening to a lot of Seventeen). This is my third time tutoring DSC 10, but my first time teaching the new cohort of incoming Data Science majors. I can’t wait to meet you all and I hope we will be able to learn a lot from each other!

John Driscoll

he/him

jjdrisco@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hi everyone! I’m a 3rd year Data Science major, and I’m so excited to meet and work with you all this quarter! I’m a San Diego native, and in my free time I like to dance, surf, skate, and read. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about data science or UCSD in general!

Daphne Fabella

she/her

dfabella@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hello, my name is Daphne! I’m a third year Data Science major pursuing a career within the intersection of AI/ML and the medicine field, but I also take interest in front-end webdev. Outside of my academic life, I captain a dance team, work at a non-profit data science organization and love burning time looking for new music on Spotify. I look forward to hearing about your guys’ aspirations and seeing them come to fruition as you learn about the fundamentals of data science throughout the quarter in DSC 10; see you in office hours!

Charisse Hao

she/her

chao@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hello! My name is Charisse Hao and I am a 2nd year Data Science Major from the Bay Area. This is my first time tutoring for DSC 10 and I’m excited to help you all as you begin to explore the field of data science. Outside of school, I enjoy listening to music, watching kdramas, and playing video games with friends. Feel free to visit my office hours, as I’m looking forward to meeting everyone!

Dylan Lee

he/him

dklee@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hello, and welcome to DSC 10! My name is Dylan, and I’m a fourth-year Data Science major with minors in Cognitive Science and Mathematics from Fountain Valley, CA! I truly believe that DSC 10 is an exciting and rewarding course for how it teaches us to uncover meaningful insights from datasets filled with seemingly random numbers and text. I’m also one of the HDSI Student Representatives, so please feel free to reach out if you have any questions regarding the class or the Data Science major in general!

Anthony Li

he/him

all010@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hi! I’m Anthony and I’m currently a third-year Data Science major. I’m thrilled to be tutoring DSC 1O this quarter and am excited to meet you all and to help you guys out to the best of my ability. Aside from school, I love to do art and photography and I’m still looking to pick up some new hobbies that excite me!

Daniel Li

he/him

ddli@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hello! My name is Daniel Li and I’m a 2nd year Data Science student. I’m originally from Montreal, Canada, but I moved to San Diego when I was 9. I thoroughly enjoy skiing, and I’m always down to explain why skiing is better than snowboarding. I look forward to working with you guys!

Anna Liu

she/her

a2liu@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hi everyone! I’m Anna and I’m a third year Data Science major and I’m from the Bay Area. Outside of academics, I enjoy traveling, exploring food places, and playing badminton. Excited to meet all of you and feel free to reach out with any questions :)

Anastasiya Markova

she/her

anmarkova@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hi! I am a sophomore at UCSD majoring in Cognitive Science with a Specialization in Machine Learning and minoring in Data Science. I am originally from Lviv, Ukraine, but I moved to the U.S. 7 years ago and now live in Dallas, so both places feel like home to me now. I am excited to tutor DSC 10, because I hope to help everyone (DSC major or not) have fun in this class just like I did. When not studying, I love to drink a lot of tea, go to museums, and recently I also fell in love with ceramics (and now I can’t stop staring at mugs and bowls).

Baby Panda

Any Pronouns

• Mascot

Hi everyone, I’m Baby, originally from the shelves of IKEA. I’m excited for my first quarter as the DSC 10 mascot! When I’m not repping DSC 10, I enjoy feasting on bamboo, cuddling, and analyzing tabular data in Python.

Yash Potdar

he/him

ypotdar@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hey everyone! My name is Yash, and I’m a fourth-year majoring in Data Science and Cognitive Science originally from the Bay Area. This is my sixth quarter as a Tutor (fifth time for DSC 10!), and I’m truly excited to mentor and work with you all! In my free time, I enjoy playing tennis, paddleboarding, cooking, and following sports (go Warriors and Niners!). I look forward to meeting you this quarter!

Harshita Saha

any pronouns

hsaha@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hey everyone! I’m Harshi, a 3rd year majoring in Bioinformatics and minoring in Data Science. I was born and went to high school in the Bay Area, but lived in India from the ages of 6 to 14. I look forward to being a tutor for DSC 10, since this course strengthened my interest in my major, and taught me foundational concepts I still use both in and out of the classroom. In my free time I read, play the violin, and due to my upbringing, love learning new languages.

Selim Shaalan

he/him

sshaalan@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hey everyone, my name is Selim and I’m very excited to tutor DSC 10 this quarter. I was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt and I’m still exploring San Diego so feel free to share your favorite hangout spots with me. I’m a 4th year Math-Econ major and a Data Science minor and I love tutoring DSC 10 because it’s the class that made me decide to add my minor and hopefully continue in the data science field. I’m currently trying (and failing) to teach myself guitar so I can play 2006 Arctic Monkeys songs.

Yutian (Skylar) Shi

she/her

yus029@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hi, I am Yutian (Skylar) Shi. I am a rising junior majoring in Data Science and minoring in Photography from China. This is my first time tutoring, and I feel so excited since DSC 10 is the course that motivated me to join this major! Fun facts about me: I came here even without knowing how to make a fried egg, while gradually learning to cook within a few months :)

Tony Ta

he/him

ttta@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hi everyone! I’m Tony and I’m a 4th year Data Science major from San Jose, California. In my spare time, I enjoy watching soccer and football, exploring San Diego with my friends, building Legos, and eating food. DSC 10 is one of my favorite classes because of the variety of topics that are covered. It’s a great introductory class to the field of data science and I look forward to meeting you all!

Vineet Tallavajhala

he/him

vtallava@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hi everyone, my name is Vineet and I am ecstatic about tutoring for DSC 10 this year and meeting everyone. I’m a double major in Data Science and Business economics and most likely going to pursue a career in software engineering after graduation. In my free time, I love playing basketball, gaming, and watching my favorite sports teams (Kansas City Chiefs and KU basketball).

Andrew Tan

he/him

attan@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hello! My name’s Andrew, and I’m a third year Math-CS major. Some of my hobbies include surfing, gyming, & playing guitar (getting back into it). Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Jiaxin Ye

she/her

jiye@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hi guys! I’m Jiaxin from Shenzhen, China. I’m a second year Applied Math & CS double major. This is my first time tutoring DSC 10 and I’m excited to see you guys in my OH and re-learn babypandas with you! In my free time, I enjoy hiking, as there are lots of scenic trails around La Jolla.

Tiffany Yu

she/her

z5yu@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hi! My name is Tiffany and I am a second-year Data Science student from Warren College. Besides studying, I love dancing and playing the piano. This is my third time tutoring DSC 10 and I am super excited to pass on my passion to all of you. Feel free to chat with me about anything related to data science! :)

Diego Zavalza

he/him

dzavalza@ucsd.edu • Tutor

Hi everyone! I’m Diego and I’m a third year Data Science major. In my free time I like playing basketball, cooking, and going out to make memories with friends. I’m looking forward to tutoring DSC 10 this quarter because it’s the class that got me excited about a career in data science. I’ve received so much support from the staff so I’m excited to pass on the favor and work with you all!