Hamidreza
Ghasemi
I build machine learning systems end to end, from model development to production deployment, with a focus on deep learning, NLP and MLOps on the cloud.
About
I am Hamidreza Ghasemi (published as Hamidreza Ghasemi Damavandi), a Principal Data Scientist in the Actionable Analytics group within the Office of the University Provost at Arizona State University, where I oversee the complete lifecycle of machine learning projects, from model development to deployment. Previously, I was a Senior Machine Learning Scientist at Overstock.
I earned my B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tehran, ranked first overall in Iran, and my M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Iowa.
Research Interests
I like problems where rigorous methods meet real impact. These are the areas I keep coming back to:
Large Language Models & Generative AI
Retrieval-augmented generation, agentic workflows and LLM reasoning, and how to make them useful in real decision-making.
Trustworthy & Explainable AI
Uncertainty and confidence estimation, including step-wise confidence for LLM reasoning, plus model explainability with SHAP.
Statistical & Scientific ML
Statistical inference, applied statistics and scientific machine learning that respects the structure of the problem.
Deep Learning & NLP
Transformer architectures, representation learning and language understanding for text-heavy, real-world data.
Signal & Image Processing
The foundation of my Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering: estimation, detection and computer vision.
Optimization & Reinforcement Learning
Constrained optimization (linear and integer programming) and learning to make sequential decisions under uncertainty.
Experience
Principal Data Scientist
Promoted from Senior Data Scientist. Leads the group's data science and ML work end to end, from model development to deployment.
- Daily XGBoost persistence model with SHAP explanations, supporting proactive interventions for 100,000+ students
- LLM solution with a RAG architecture on AWS (Bedrock, OpenSearch, Step Functions, Lambda) to help academic advisors reach students in need
- End-to-end MLOps pipelines: deployment time from hours to minutes, 99% pipeline reliability
- Automated monitoring with Slack alerts and Amazon Q, cutting incident response time by 50%
Senior Data Scientist
Senior Machine Learning Scientist
- Multi-variate constrained optimization (linear & integer programming) to allocate discounts on sale items
- Production Python pipelines on million-row datasets, containerized with Docker and orchestrated with Airflow
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Education
University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
University of Tehran, Iran
Selected Projects
Production House-Price API with Missing-Data Imputation
Took a house-price model served by a REST API and made it production-ready: KNN imputation so estimates work with incomplete inputs, a redesigned request path that removed a serialization bottleneck, a batch endpoint, input validation, structured logging, Docker and CI.
Face Generation
Deep convolutional GAN that generates realistic faces from a celebrity image dataset.
view code → NLP · TransformersTranslation & Sentiment Analysis
Text translation and sentiment analysis with Hugging Face transformers.
view code → Vision · CNN-RNNImage Captioning
CNN encoder with an RNN decoder that writes captions for images.
view code → Robotics · SLAMSLAM
Tracks a robot's position in a 2D world in real time while mapping landmarks.
view code → Vision · PyTorchFacial Keypoint Detection
CNN that locates eyes, nose and mouth keypoints in face images.
view code → Speech · PyTorchDNN Speech Recognizer
Deep network for an end-to-end automatic speech recognition pipeline.
view code → NLP · Seq2SeqMachine Translation
RNN encoder-decoder translating between English and French.
view code → NLP · HMMPart-of-Speech Tagging
Hidden Markov model that tags words with their part of speech.
view code → Vision · CNNLandmark Classification
Deep CNN classifying landmarks in social media photos.
view code →Skills
- Machine LearningExpertXGBoost · scikit-learn · SHAP · time series
- StatisticsExpertInference · Bayesian · experimentation
- MLOps & AWSAdvanced+SageMaker · Step Functions · Metaflow · Terraform
- Generative AI & LLMsAdvancedRAG · Bedrock · LangChain · embeddings
- Deep LearningAdvancedPyTorch · TensorFlow · CNNs · Transformers
- NLPAdvancedHugging Face · spaCy · NER · summarization
| Area | Level | Key tools |
|---|---|---|
| Machine Learning | Expert (5 / 5) | XGBoost · scikit-learn · SHAP · time series |
| Statistics | Expert (5 / 5) | Inference · Bayesian · experimentation |
| MLOps & AWS | Advanced+ (4.5 / 5) | SageMaker · Step Functions · Metaflow · Terraform |
| Generative AI & LLMs | Advanced (4 / 5) | RAG · Bedrock · LangChain · embeddings |
| Deep Learning | Advanced (4 / 5) | PyTorch · TensorFlow · CNNs · Transformers |
| NLP | Advanced (4 / 5) | Hugging Face · spaCy · NER · summarization |
Generative AI & LLMs
Machine Learning & Deep Learning
Natural Language Processing
Computer Vision
Cloud Computing & MLOps
Programming & Data Science
Talks
Cracking XGBoost: The Go-To Machine Learning Algorithm for Structured Data
ASU Data Conference, Tempe, AZTransformers: Revolutionary Deep Learning Architectures
ASU Data Conference, Tempe, AZPredicting Persistence Using Machine Learning: From Model Development to Deployment
AIR Forum, Phoenix, AZCertifications & Honors
Honors & awards
- Ranked 236th among 310,000 in Iran's nationwide university entrance exam (2009).
- Admitted to the University of Tehran, ranked 1st overall in Iran.
- Convener and chair, Machine Learning Applications in Hydrology session, AGU 2019.
- Full Graduate Research Assistantship (2013) and CGRER graduate travel award (2016), University of Iowa.
Updates
- Nov 2025TalkSpoke on XGBoost for structured data at the ASU Data Conference.
- Nov 2024TalkSpoke on Transformers at the ASU Data Conference.
- Oct 2024CertificationEarned the AWS Certified AI Practitioner certification.
- Nov 2023TalkGave An Introduction to Generative AI at the ASU Data Conference.
- Apr 2023CertificationEarned the AWS Machine Learning Specialty certification.
- Mar 2023CertificationEarned the AWS Cloud Practitioner certification.
- Oct 2022CareerPromoted to Principal Data Scientist at Arizona State University.
- Dec 2020CareerJoined Arizona State University as Senior Data Scientist.
- Mar 2020CareerJoined Overstock as Senior Machine Learning Scientist.
- Mar 2018CareerJoined Arizona State University as a Postdoctoral Research Associate.
Visa Status
No sponsorship required
My path to U.S. citizenship:
-
2016
Green card through the National Interest Waiver (NIW)
My research and academic achievements made the case that my work benefits the United States, so I earned an EB-2 NIW green card on my own merit, with no employer sponsor needed. Proud nerd moment!
-
2024
Became a naturalized U.S. citizen
Raised my right hand, took the oath, and made it official. One of the best days of my life!
-
Today
Ready to start, no strings attached
Available for any role with no sponsorship, no transfers and no timelines to worry about. Let's build something great.
My Journey
B.S. in Electrical Engineering, University of Tehran, ranked first in Iran
M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, University of Iowa
Postdoctoral researcher, then Senior and now Principal Data Scientist at Arizona State University
Travel
Outside of work I love exploring the American West. A few favorite places:
For Recruiters
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Let's connect
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