SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

Proficient in C/C++ programming and shell scripting. Experience in GIS analysis for decision support systems and environmental impact studies. Experience in Google's Android mobile development and beginner in iPhone development. Skilled in graphics and 3D visualizations. Experience with web design, Flash animation and multimedia presentations.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Programming Language: C/C++, Java, Shell scripting, Android API, LaTeX
• Operating System: GNU/Linux, MS Windows
• Software Packages: MATLAB, Surfer, ArcGIS, Macromedia Flash, Adobe Photoshop

OTHER SKILLS

• Good analytical skill, aesthetic sense, digital photography
• Quick learner of new programming languages and hardware programming platform

EDUCATION

Doctor of Philosophy (Water Resources Modeling) Aug. 2005 -- Present
Univesity of South Florida, Tampa, Florida

Masters in Civil Engineering (Spatial Analysis, Environmental Applications of GIS ) Aug. 2005 -- May 2008
Univesity of South Florida, Tampa, Florida

Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering Jun. 2000 -- May 2004
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India

PUBLICATIONS

• Virdi, ML, TM Lee, and A Swancar, (in preparation) Simulating the effect of climate extremes on groundwater flow through a lakebed in central Florida, Water Resources Research
• Saha, AK, MK Arora, RP Gupta, ML Virdi, and E Csaplovics, (2005) GIS Based Route Planning in Landslide Prone Areas, International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 19 , pp. 1149-1175, doi: 10.1080/13658810500105887

EXPERIENCE

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) May 2007 -- Present

Simulating the effect of climate extremes on groundwater flow through a lakebed in central Florida over the decade (1996--2006)

• Developed continuous spatio-temporal maps of the potentiometric surface using data gap-filling, kriging and interpolation
• Conceptually improved a USGS finite difference model (FORTRAN) for hydrological modeling of extreme climatic effects on lake-groundwater interactions
• Wrote Python and Shell/VBA scripts for automating interpolation, kriging and spatial analysis tasks in Surfer and ArcGIS

University of South Florida (USF) May 2007 -- Present

• Developed C++ programs to analyse time-series of soil moisture data to estimate evapotranspiration
• Spatial analysis for pre-/post-mining and ’what-if’ scenario using ArcGIS and integrated surface and groundwater model for assessing phosphate mining impacts on the lakes & stream flows
• Developed a model for studying scouring effects of Tampa Bay hydraulics on bay bridge pier
• Teaching assistant for undergraduate level courses related to computational tools and numerical analysis; water resources. Developed C/C++ programs to solve finite difference equations using numerical analysis techniques

Centre for Remote Sensing (IIT Roorkee) June 2004 -- May 2005

Shortest Route from Satellite Images: Dijkstra’s Algorithm

• Processing of Satellite Image for nodal heights/hazard factors for determining cost
• Implementation of Dijkstra’s algorithm for Shortest Route
• Development of Landslide-Safe Intelligent Route Finder (LaSIRF), an image processing program specifically developed for route planning in areas susceptible to landslides, like the young mountains of Himalayas and Alps. It utilizes various input data layers, viz., DEM, landuse/landcover, and landslide hazard zonation developed using satellite imagery
  
  Project Guide: Dr. Manoj Arora, Associate Professor, IIT Roorkee
  
  

Center for Studies in Resource Engineering (CSRE, IIT Bombay) June 2003

Summer Internship, Project Trainee

• Processing of Brightness Temperature Data and Imaging of Himalayan Region (IRS P-4 satellite data)
• Snow/Ice studies of Himalayan Snow
  
  Project Guide: Dr. K. S. Rao, Principal Research Scientist, CSRE, IIT Bombay

Summer Undergraduate Research Award (IIT Roorkee) June 2002

Virtual Fluid Mechanics Laboratory

• Two month project on Development of Virtual Laboratory for Fluid Mechanics
• Simulation of experiments using Visual Basic 6.0 & AVI Animator

PROJECTS

Summary of projects. For full description and more projects, visit the PROJECTS page.

• Developed two mobile applications using Android API and text-to-speech (TTS) engine to announce name of the caller; to remotely execute tasks on mobile device by sending a specifically formatted command as a text message, May 2009
• Developed a software for planning landslide safe and geographically shortest route in hilly regions. This included processing of Satellite Image for nodal heights/hazard factors for determining cost factors for moving from one pixel to another. Spring 2004
• Processing of Tb (Brightness Temperature) data using IRS P-4 satellite (passive microwave radiometer) data to obtain maps of snow/ice for Himalayan region. IIT Bombay, Summer 2003
• River Channel Morphology Model for 3D Extrapolation of Rivers. GIS 6306, Fall 2006
• Developed topographic map of the Himalayan region of Haridwar during field survey camp using GPS, dumpy level and theodolite, Fall 2002

INTERESTS

Computing Interests
Computer/network security and ethical hacking, hardware programming using Arduino platform, developing Android based applications, website designing

Hobbies
Singing, Skating, Digital Photography, Dancing, Playing Billiards and Volleyball, Solving Puzzle Games

AWARDS/ACHIEVEMENTS

• Winner of College of Engineering poster competition award for Annual Research Day at USF, 2010 
• 3rd Prize, SYNAPSE, a national level competition on Remote Sensing during COGNIZANCE -- 2003, technical competition at IIT Roorkee, Spring 2003
• Winner of Summer Undergraduate Research Award (SURA -- 2002) for development of ’Virtual Fluid Mechanics Laboratory’, Summer 2002
• Selected among 23 students nationwide for the Indian National Biology Olympiad (INBO -- 99), represented Punjab state, at Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), Mumbai, 1999
• Recipient of National Talent Search Scholarship, a national merit based scholarship program by the Government of India (NCERT, New Delhi), 1997
• Member, Tau Beta Pi – Engineering Honor Society(TBP), American Geophysical Union (AGU) and American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Florida Water Environment Association (FWEA)

REFERENCES

Available on Request