Equitech alumni aspires to innovation at the intersection

Agriya Khetarpal is an Indian alumni of the Equitech Scholars Program, 2022. Currently, he works as a software engineer at Quansight, a PyData consulting firm deeply rooted in the scientific Python community.

His journey to attend the Equitech Scholars Program was inspired by a college senior, Aryan Gupta, who introduced him to the program. “Aryan was part of the founding batch of the program and strongly encouraged me to consider spending my summer doing this program.” Despite being uncertain about his career direction at the time, Agriya was drawn to Equitech's unique offerings, which extended beyond traditional technology bootcamps by encouraging interdisciplinary learning.

“I wanted to study the different ways in which technology is impacting different sectors. Equitech’s live classes were an added benefit since it gave me a lot of face time with both faculty and peers.”

Agriya’s initial interests in social impact centered on climate change since he was working on a project related to the field during his undergraduate years, but after completing the program, he also became passionate about increasing technology accessibility through education. His commitment to this cause is evident in his active participation across Equitech’s community groups, where he frequently shares opportunities related to data science and social impact. “I have been a beneficiary of life-changing opportunities because of the various networks I am a part of, and I want to give back to the community by sharing resources with as many people as possible.” During his undergraduate years, Agriya played a key role in the college quizzing society and became a de facto leader of the club. “I love trivia and quizzes and find them a great method of knowledge sharing. My love for them also led me to be a part of the initial social committee at Equitech Futures.”

The courses at Equitech that left a lasting impression on Agriya included the Writing Lab’s lessons on essay writing, where he learned to apply ethos, pathos, and logos in crafting persuasive arguments. The exploration of the intersection between technology and philosophy, particularly in the South Asian context, in the Foundations of Data Science course broadened his perspective on the ethical dimensions of tech.

“My most memorable project at Equitech was from the Applied AI course which involved analyzing the technology used to identify gunshots in Chicago. This sparked my interest in understanding the inherent flaws in technological systems and how to rectify them.”

For his capstone project, Agriya explored the popular game Wordle through a competitive lens, attempting to analyze whether the game was becoming easier or harder over time. “Although I was unsure of the project's success, it was an interesting experiment to undertake and I had a lot of fun doing it.”

A defining moment for Agriya came during the in-person Equitech gathering in Kathmandu, which he described as talismanic.

“During the IRL, I was in the process of interviewing for a job - the one where I currently work - and immediately after returning, I secured a position at the company. I had not even graduated then, but I was given the job because of my commitment to put in the work hours while simultaneously completing my degree.” Agriya completed his undergraduate thesis with Quansight. His thesis was on Pyodide—a tool that enables Python usage within web browsers. His work highlighted its potential to revolutionize tech education by making Python more accessible across platforms.

Agriya also shared his insights at PyCon India, where he gave a talk on the evolution of Pyodide since 2018. At Quansight, he is part of the labs division, contributing to open-source projects and providing AI and machine learning consulting services. He is mindful of the sustainability challenges facing open-source software and is also interested in AI policy, particularly regarding the lack of compensation for the creators of the data used to train AI models.

Agriya’s journey with Equitech continues to inspire his efforts in bridging the gap between technology and social impact, driven by his belief in making tech more accessible and ethically grounded.