Staff

Prof K (Yekaterina Kharitonova) she/they

Schedule a meeting with me

Hi everyone! I am really excited about teaching this class again, since every time we offer it, we add new ways to present the introductory Computer Science concepts in a more intuitive, fun and/or creative way.

When I am not sharing my passion for Computer Science and Data Science, you can find me drinking copious amounts of tea and exploring various hobbies, such as learning how to draw on my tablet.

This term, I’m going to be on the other side of the world (12 time zones ahead of Santa Barbara), but I look forward to connecting with all of you and helping you learn.

Kimia Afshari She/her

As a Master’s student in Computer Science, I would like to welcome everybody to CSW8 and congratulate you on starting your programming with one of the most powerful programming languages. I use Python to work on my area of interest, including but not limited to Machine Learning and its intersections with Computer Vision. I am passionate about driverless vehicles and hope to have the opportunity to get into one of the autonomous driving companies to achieve my goal.

It may be your first time coding with a programming language and you may feel frustrated but don’t worry! You can reach me during my office hours to ask your questions and address your concerns.

Xinlei Feng she/her

Hello CS8 Intro to Python students!

I’m excited to welcome you to this course, where you’ll explore the fundamentals of Python programming. My name is Xinlei Feng, a first-year Master’s student in Computer Science. With experience in machine learning and computer vision projects, I’ve developed a strong foundation in Python programming. I’m also passionate about software engineering, focusing on mobile applications.

In this course, we’ll cover essential Python concepts such as data types, functions, loops, and more. As we progress, you’ll discover Python’s versatility in fields like data analysis, machine learning, web development, and scientific research.

Regardless of your major, this course will provide you with the foundation to excel in various domains. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns. I look forward to working with each of you!

Ajit Jadhav him/his

Hi everyone! Welcome to CS8! A bit about me - I am a second-year master’s student in the CS department. I completed my Bachelor’s in CS in 2020. I have experience developing AI systems primarily using Python. Some of the projects I have worked on include developing backend systems for AI-based chatbot automation systems and also, system for monitoring errors in automated ML training pipelines.

I would love to help students learn to code and work on interesting projects. Hope you guys have a great time learning with this course!

Harshavardhan Miryala him/his

Hey everyone, hope you all are doing well! I am currently a graduate student in the CS department. I have 6 years of experience working with Python (3 through the industry where I worked as a full stack developer). I have used python in the most systematic way in an organization to the most hacky way to monitor if a new movie has opened up in the theatres. I have used python pre-dominantly for data analysis, scripting as part of a hedge fund to generate time critical reports, machine learning, deep learning, data visualization and backend development. I am always enthusiastic to project and teach what I understand and at the same time learn from you all with your intriguing questions and have interesting conversations about it. I have explored different areas of computer science in cross section with finance and product development and have many cool experiences to share with you all. I always believe in a productive and healthy conversation/debate on any doubts for better understanding involving real-time use cases and I will try my best to keep things engaging. Feel free to reach out to me for any queries with respect to anything and I will be happy to help. Looking forward to meeting you all and getting to know better and hope you all have great learnings with this course! May the Force be with you!!!

Lucas Nguyen him/his

Hi everyone, welcome to CS8! I’m Lucas, currently a Masters student in the CS department. My research interests are in general cybersecurity topics and vulnerability detection/mitigation; I love learning about how systems work and how to break them (as a way to make them more secure!). I’ve been at UCSB for almost 5 years now (did undergrad here as well), so I’m always happy to answer any questions and share anything I’ve learned along the way.

In my free time, I enjoy cooking, playing tennis, and playing various board and card games. I’m also an avid chess player, so I’m always down for a game :)

Looking forward to working with you all throughout this quarter!

Hitomi Nakayama she/they

Hi there! I’m a 1st year computer science PhD student. My research involves exploring the intersection of computer languages, operating systems, and computer architecture. I’m fascinated by how these three domains shape the way we interact with computers and how we can improve them for the future. I was born and raised in LA County, where I enjoyed the sunny weather and the diverse culture. When I’m not busy with research or coursework, I like to cook delicious meals, take photos of nature, cities and people, and program for fun. I’m always eager to learn new things and meet new people, so feel free to reach out to me anytime! I hope you enjoy this class, and please feel free to stop by my office hours if you have any questions.

Pengfei Xu him/his

Hey there! Welcome to CS8! My name is Pengfei Xu, a graduate student in Computer Science department. I worked as a machine learning researcher at Ford and Katana Graph. I enjoyed learning facinating topics in computer science like programming languages, compilers and operating systems. Hope you guys can see how charming coding is by starting with some hands-on experience in this course.

In my spare time, I love to play ball games and video games. I am also a meat-lover, a traveller and a MJ fan. Looking forward to meet you all in the quarter!

Taanya Nithya Anand She/her

Hello everyone, welcome to CSW8! My name is Taanya and I am a 1st year masters student in the Computer Science Department. My strong foundation for python programming language comes through the projects that I have worked in the domain of Machine Learning and Data Analytics. I have a strong passion for Distributed Systems.

This course will introduce you to programming fundamentals using Python. As a beginner it can be overwhelming in the initial phase. But I am sure you are going to enjoy the course and be in a good place wrt Python Programming by the end. Please feel free to reach out for any queries.

Tao Huang Him/his

Hello, everyone! My name is Tao Huang and I am excited to be serving as a Teaching Assistant for CSW8. I am a first-year master student here and have a passion for computer graphics. I have been involved in some rendering research projects for three years.

As a TA, I am here to help you succeed in this course by answering your questions, providing feedback on your work, and supporting your learning journey. I am looking forward to working with you throughout the quarter!

Carina Quan She/her

Hi everyone! I am a first-year master’s student in the Computer Science department. I also got my Bachelor’s degree from UCSB. This is my second time being the TA for CSW8. I am very excited to work with you all this quarter. If you have any questions, like how to take the online course, course content, or other CS courses at UCSB, you can always come and ask me:)

This course is an introductory coding class. You may feel like overwhelming at the beginning of the course. Please be confident in yourself and I am here to help you all.

In my free time, I like traveling with my family and friend. I always look forward to finding new things during my trip. I am looking forward to knowing you all!

Olivia Chen She/her

Hi y’all! Welcome to CSW8! My name is Olivia Chen, and I am a first-year undergraduate student. I am exploring different computer science fields like machine learning with UCSB Data Science Club. What made me really enjoy computer science at UC Santa Barbara was actually CSW8. After two years of programming in Java, learning Python from the professors in the CS department cleared up a lot of confusion I had with fundamental concepts. I now enjoy learning about data structures and memory allocation in my other computer science courses because the problems seem intimidating at first, but each problem is a learning curve that will make you surprised at what you can do. Outside of school, I love to dance, explore Isla Vista on my bike, and go to the beach. I am excited to be a ULA for this course and looking forward to meeting all of you!

Wesley Kam him/his

Hey everyone! Welcome to CS8! My name is Wesley Kam and I am a third year undergraduate student. I am interested in many computer science fields like machine learning and web development, but everythng leads back to my love for solving problems. Coding may seem intimidating at first, but my hope is that you will all learn to see it as a fun puzzle. I have experience with most of the popular coding languages like C++, Java, and Javascript, but Python is by far my favorite as it is one of the more intuitive and powerful languages out there.

Outside of academics, I enjoy staying active by playing sports or running. I also love video games and cooking/eating yummy foods. I am excited to be a ULA for this course and I look forward to meeting all of you!