For this Applied Data Science student, engineering is in his DNA
May 5, 2025
Meet ADS graduate student Anshul Patil
Anshul Patil
Major: Applied Data Science
Department: Engineering Education
Advisor: Xiao Fan, Ph.D.
Surrounded by technology and born into a family of engineers in India, Anshul Patil felt a deep connection with math and technology.
He received an undergraduate degree in electronics and telecommunications engineering from Pune Institute of Computer Technology, yet he knew he wanted to continue his education and zero in on artificial intelligence. After searching for universities in Europe, he found himself drawn to the United States.
“State-of-the-art technology is being used in the U.S. The level of research going on is unparalleled,” he said.
He chose the University of Florida’s new Master of Science program in Applied Data Science (ADS). Now in its inaugural year, the program allows Patil to specialize his data interests, which for him is biomedical imaging.
Launched in the fall of 2024, the 30-credit, non-thesis ADS degree program is designed to prepare students and professionals to meet the growing demand for data-driven decision-making across a wide range of industries. The program equips students with comprehensive skills that combine knowledge from data science, statistics, machine learning and domain-specific applications, enabling them to extract meaningful insights from complex datasets.
With access to UF’s HiPerGator supercomputer and help from expert faculty from the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, ADS students gain technical proficiency and applied experience. Graduates are prepared to pursue impactful careers in sectors such as finance, healthcare, manufacturing, transportation and more.
Patil is thrilled to be part of this new program, as well as of UF’s proactive efforts to meet AI’s swelling workforce demands.
Question: What drew you to engineering?
Patil: I was always interested in math, programming and a little bit of electronics. Also, my parents are both engineers.
Q: What made UF stand out when applying for graduate programs?
Patil: UF’s biomedical engineering department is one of the best in the country, and the kind of research that is going on here is really astonishing.
Q: Can you explain your program’s focus?
Patil: I am specializing in biomedical engineering courses, like deep learning for medical image analysis. But apart from the specialization, the Master of Science in Applied Data Science program also covers a wide area of statistics and probability — like the math concepts that we will eventually need as data centers and machine-learning engineers. It also covers technical aspects like Python and several machine-learning frameworks.
Q: What’s it like to be a part of the inaugural class of this program?
Patil: It’s definitely fun, but it’s also interesting. Our coordinator is giving special attention to this first batch of students. She’s tending to every possible need and ensuring we get an adequate amount of electives to choose from.
Q: Are you currently working on any research?
Patil: I am a research assistant analyzing large genome data sets by utilizing machine learning frameworks like PyTorch and also developing language models. The model will help us detect genetic variants associated with different diseases.”