Women in Tech: Interview with Khyati Sethia, Researcher at IT4Innovations, Czech Republic

News from Tuesday 25 June 2024

Khyati Sethia is Researcher at IT4Innovations in Czech Republic. She became interested in high-performance computing after working as a Business Intelligence Developer and pursuing a master's degre in Data Science. Her internships in cloud computing led her to IT4Innovations, where she uses HPC for deep learning in medical research. She enjoys tackling challenging AI problems and collaborating on innovative projects.

Khyati, when did you first become interested in high-performance computing?

After completing my Bachelor's in Electronics and Communication Engineering, I worked as a Business Intelligence Developer for Cognizant India. My growing interest in data analysis led me to pursue a master's degree in Data Science at the University of Salford in Manchester, which led me to apply HPC to solve data-related issues in the Czech Republic. Currently, I'm a researcher at the Infrastructure Research Lab at IT4Innovations, which is part of the VSB – Technical University of Ostrava.

You are working at the IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Center. What brought you there?

During my master's, I required cloud computing resources for neural network training. Fortunately, I came across several summer internship opportunities that involved utilising HPC. I completed a summer internship in Slovenia, where I focused on predicting electricity consumption by various industries. This led me to secure a job at IT4Innovations National Supercomputing Center to continue working on exciting new projects.

How do you use the HPC in your work?

I use deep learning techniques to segment body organs, focusing on liver vessels, to aid doctors in surgical planning. This research requires significant processing power and time, which is why we employ HPC resources.

Also, we use software to send data into HPC to utilise the cluster resources and receive the response back into software for executing inference from our laptops. Additionally, I work on simulating data using 3D software and rendering large scenes on the cluster. We use HPC for all tasks which need cloud computing.

Apart from developing the necessary code, we also concentrate on improving the performance of our software applications. Our team is dedicated to innovation, regularly publishes research papers, and presents our findings at conferences.

What interests you most while pursuing a career in HPC?

Engaging in research using computing resources across real-world scientific disciplines is exciting and rewarding, especially with the potential to improve healthcare. Working with people from diverse backgrounds is gratifying, and I hope to see more gender diversity in HPC. I love working on challenging AI problems and I am amazed at the rapid advancements in technology. Collaborating with companies and doctors for applied research projects is also exciting.

What inspiring advice would you give young women interested in a technical career?

I recommend female students to consider a career in HPC by studying, e.g., the EUMaster4HPC master's programme and undertaking internships and jobs in computing and HPC.