My Story
I was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee — Go Vols.
As a competitive junior and collegiate tennis player, I played in national and international tournaments and was a proud member of the UT men’s tennis team from 2013–2017. Tennis was an integral part of my early life, and I believe the lessons that come from competitive sports — discipline, handling adversity, being a good teammate — are some of the most valuable things I’ve ever learned.
I graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering, then spent three years working in defense at Lockheed Martin Santa Barbara Focalplane as a Test and Systems Engineer. Moving to California unlocked a whole new set of obsessions: I became an avid surfer, picked up hiking and backpacking, and generally try to spend as much time outside as possible.
I returned to graduate school in fall 2020 to join UCLA’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department as an MS/PhD student, focusing on causal generative models, robustness, and interpretable AI. I’m always looking for the next interesting read in macroeconomics, behavioral science, and policy.
In Summer 2024, I married the love of my life, Cindy Pham, who I met while working at Lockheed Martin in Santa Barbara. We got married in Buellton, CA surrounded by family, friends, and — most importantly — our dog, Matcha. We currently live in Los Angeles, doing our best to get outdoors, find interesting places to eat, and travel when we can.
Community
During my time at UT, I lost a close friend and teammate who battled a rare pediatric cancer while still competing in tennis and inspiring our entire program. The Sean Karl Foundation, started by Sean’s family and friends in his memory, works to bring awareness and raise funds for research into Ewing’s Sarcoma and other rare pediatric cancers.
Some quotes I keep coming back to
“The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.” — Thoreau
“The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most brilliant man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him.” — Tolstoy
“The person you are right now is as transient, as fleeting, and as temporary as all the people you’ve ever been. The one constant in life is change.” — Dan Gilbert
“Karma is just you, repeating your patterns, virtues, and flaws until you finally get what you deserve.” — Naval
“If you are lucky, your solution becomes the next generation’s problems.” — Ezra Klein
Contact
Best reached by email: sunaybhat1@gmail.com