Main
Sid Ravinutala
Data Scientist
Background in Computer Science, Development Economics, and Econometrics. Loves building bespoke machine learning models to inform business actions. Enjoys learning, experimentation, and building things.
Education
2016
Harvard University
MPA/ID, Kennedy School of Government Cambridge, USAAreas of study: econometrics, macroeconomics, microeconomics, data science, statistics, machine learning
Thesis: Redesigning India’s Urea Policy (awarded best policy paper)
2004
University of Melbourne
B.Eng (Electrical) & B.Sci (Computer) Melbourne, AustraliaProfessional Experience
currentApril 2020
Data Science Director
IDInsight Cambridge, USA- Establishing and growing the data science function within the organisation.
- Helping clients discover how data science can address their business challenges.
- Tech lead / lead data scientist on multiple projects.
- Example Projects:
- Predictive model to locate out of school girls in India
- FAQ Whatsapp bot for vaccine hesitancy for Govt of South Africa.
- Service for matching beneficiaries with eligible government benefits in India.
- Optimising school infrastructure investment for the government of Morocco.
20202019
Senior Data Scientist
Coles Pty Ltd Melbourne, Australia- Built forecasting engine for supermarket items at the store level.
- Designed and led the build of a forecasting engine for new items.
- Contributed to an internal package for discrete choice models.
- Led knowledge sharing on choice models and causal inference.
20192018
Senior Data Scientist
QuantumBlack, McKinsey Cambridge, USA- Pharma - Mined electronic medical records to understand causes of patient switching behavior.
- Disaster recovery - Developed Monte Carlo models to quantify uncertainty in key milestones to inform mitigation strategies.
- Chemicals manufacturing - Identified root cause of variability in production yields. Optimized manufacturing process using genetic algorithms.
- Internal R&D - Contributed to an internal package for causal inference using Bayesian Networks.
20182016
Graduate Research Fellow
Centre for International Development Cambridge, USA- Developed statistical models to identify export sector growth opportunities at sub-national level in Colombia.
- Built collaborative filtering models to predict rural agricultural diversification and recommended possible areas for investment in Colombia.
- Used Collaborative Filtering and network analysis to understand patterns in global tourism using credit card transactions data.
20162015
Team Member/Economist
CEA’s Office, Ministry of Finance New Delhi, India- 2016 Economic Survey – Conducted analysis and wrote the chapter on fertilizer subsidy in the 2016 Indian Economic Survey.
- Policy reform for fertilizer – Demonstrated how current policy leads to shortages and black markets. Worked with Ministry of Fertilizer & Chemicals to design a new policy that was presented to the cabinet.
20142012
Senior Associate
Clinton Health Access Initiative sub-Saharan Africa20122011
Access to Medicines/UNITAID Analyst
Clinton Health Access Initiative Kampala, Uganda20112005
Manager, Technology Consulting
Accenture Pty. Ltd Melbourne, AustraliaPublications and Presentations
2021
Using machine learning to improve education intervention targeting
CIES 2021 Conference Session2016
Redesigning India’s Urea Policy, Harvard Kennedy School,
MPA/ID Final Capstone Paper2016
Economic Survey of India
Ministry of Finance, Government of India2004