Bala K Padmanabhan

Bala K Padmanabhan is a results-driven engineering and numerical analysis expert with more than 10 years expertise in the analysis and design of drilling and production platforms for hydrocarbons and has led and managed teams in this space. During this period, he has leveraged the expertise and knowledge developed in numerical simulations for his Doctorate to design and develop many software solutions that make engineering analyses efficient and automated. He has developed and ported such routines from MATLAB to Python 2.7 using libraries such as Numpy, SciPy and mathplotlib.

For his Doctoral thesis, he has used panel methods for the analysis of the fluid structure interaction of floating platforms in the ocean environment. He is conversant with integral equation methods such as Boundary Element and Finite Element Methods, and also Finite Difference and Finite Volume methods used in fluid dynamics problems. These applications include parallelizing code for running simulations on HPC systems using libraries such as OpenMPI, PVM, SCALAPACK, and PBLAS. As an early adopter of version control, he has used CVS in these applications. He is also a co-developer of MANOA (Matrix and Numerically Oriented Analysis) a public domain FEM code written in C and Fortran.

Besides engineering, Bala K Padmanabhan has been a led analytics and data science efforts in the Real Estate Investment and the O&G gas pipeline space. He has developed financial models and analytics models to make data-driven business decisions. He has used python (v2.7 and 3.0) packages pandas, numpy and scikit-learn, to model variables such as demographics, unemployment rate, housing affordability ratios and proprietary data in machine learning algorithms such as kNN to develop optimum investment strategy. In the O&G pipeline space, he has worked on finding ways to reduce false alarms generated by SCADA systems using AI/Machine Learning packages such as keras, Tensorflow, scikit-learn, scipy, pandas and numpy.

He has used his experience in functional programming languages such as C and Fortran, and OOP paradigm in his use of python. His strength is in solving complex problems with simple and fit-for-purpose solutions. He forges strong relationships with clients, partners and team members and builds consensus among team members.

Geophysical Developer

Lumina Geo, LLC, Spring, TX Present

Develop modules for commercial geophysical software Lumi in MATLAB and Python.

Develop custom HTTP server in C and Node.js for Lumi as a first for executing it through a web-based interface. Eventually, to be deployed over Docker. Eventually, to be deployed over Docker. Used git for source and version control.

Development and management of projects based on agile methodology and SDLC principles. Participated in sprint reviews and daily scrum meetings to touch base with team members on progress. Used JIRA for project tracking and handling tickets and bug reports.

System administrator for Linux machines used to support distribution of Lumi builds.

Used bash scripts to automate builds on Linux systems and Powershell on Windows for the same.

Senior Data Scientist

UTSI International, LLC, Webster, TX 03/2019-10/2019

Modeled anomaly detection in O&G pipeline data from SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system to reduce false alarms. Used Python packages like keras, Tensorflow, scikit-learn, pandas and numpy. Used R to create regression models to predict anomalies.

Created matplotlib and wxWidget Python scripts to visualize SCADA data.

Used Python models for logfile analysis of SCADA servers.

Obtained training in and evaluated AWS Datalake for O&G pipeline SCADA anomaly detection applications.

Created Python packages matplotlib and wxWidget scripts to visualize SCADA data.

Used Flask and Shiny to share Machine Learning models and results with stakeholders.

Business Intelligence Manager

Alpha Capital Partners, LLC, Houston, TX 06/2017-11/2018

Built dashboards and insights using Spotfire, Excel, Python and R.

oUsed TERR and Iron Python scripts for generating regression analyses and predictions of rent, economic data from government sources (Census, BLS) and developing visualizations from which actionable insights can be generated.

Researched large real estate and economic data sets.

Standardize data mining and collection methods.

Develop machine learning for analysis and fund strategy.

oUsed Python packages pandas, numpy and scikit-learn, to model variables such as demographics, unemployment rate, housing affordability ratios and proprietary in machine learning algorithms such as kNN to develop optimum investment strategy. Machine learning packages Caret and Random Forests in R were also used.

Extract economic data from government sites (Census, BLS), transform for further processing, and save to local database. Used Python with government provided APIs to extract data.

Senior Data Analyst/ Principal Engineer

Bechtel, LLC, Houston, TX 2015-2016

Data analyses/numerical simulation for global motions and loads on floating offshore platforms using MATLAB, Python, Fortran90/95, and in-house proprietary software. Signal processing of model test data using MATLAB/Simulink for comparison with theoretical data.

Senior Data Analyst/ Principal Engineer

FloaTEC, LLC, Houston, TX 2006-2015

Led the use of MATLAB, C, Python and Fortran 90/95 extensively for Time-Series analysis of floating offshore platforms. Used MATLAB and Spotfire for the visualization of data. Led to the standardization of post-processing across projects/engineers. Used shell scripts to post- and pre-process data and set up batch jobs. Used make and config utility to compile packages. Used CVS for version control.

Data analyses/numerical simulation for global motions and loads on floating offshore platforms using MATLAB, Python and in-house proprietary software. Signal processing of model test data using MATLAB/Simulink for comparison with theoretical data.

Developed Java application for visualization of surface meshes of offshore platforms using Java3d library.

Drastically reduced design cycle times (by more than half) for floating offshore platforms by building sizing tools using a Excel VBA. The sizing tool also allowed for standardization of sizing process among engineers.

Developed VBA and Excel based application via complex SQL querying for accessing weight control database of offshore platforms. Utilized Solver Add-in to optimize ballast conditions of offshore platforms.

Data Analyst/ Senior Engineer

McDermott, LLC, Houston, TX 2000-2006

Data analyses for global motions and loads on floating offshore platforms using MATLAB and in-house proprietary software. Used shell scripts to post- and pre-process data and set up batch jobs. Signal processing of model test data using MATLAB/Simulink for comparison with theoretical data.

Numerical Programmer/Engineer

OffCoast, Inc. (Kailua, Hawaii) 1997

Performed numerical analysis of Mobile Offshore Bases for the Office of Naval Research using panel methods.

Developed a commercial version of Green Function subroutine in FORTRAN for water wave problems. Used CVS for version control.

Certification

Data Science Specialization, Johns Hopkins University, via Coursera, 2016

oUsed R extensively.

oPerformed exploratory data analysis which includes techniques to clean data, visualize data and feature selection.

oFrom exploratory data analysis, used a variety of machine learning algorithms from logistic regression, random forests and generalized regression models.

Machine Learning for Data Science and Analytics, Columbia University, 2016.

Statistical Thinking for Data Science and Analytics, Columbia University, 2016.

Software Skills

Programming Languages & Environments

FORTRAN90, FORTRAN, C, Java, C++, C#, Unix shell programming (bash,csh,sh), Matlab, SlaTEC, R, Python, NumPy, Flask, Pandas, Scikit, Javascript, Visual Studio, SQL, Tableau, Spotfire, Node.js, LAPACK, Blas, SCALAPACK, PBLAS

Education

PhD, Engineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa

MS, Engineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa

Bachelor of Technology, Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India

Select Articles and Papers

Padmanabhan, B. and Ertekin, RC (1997), "Hydrodynamic Analysis of Floating Bodies on Parallel Computers," Proceedings, 7th International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, pp. 467-472.

Padmanabhan, B. and Ertekin, RC (2011), "Interaction of Waves with a Steady Intake/Discharge Flow Emanating from a 3D Body," Journal of Offshore Mechanics & Arctic Engineering, 2011.

Contact this candidate