Sonal Somani

she/her/hers · Student at KU Leuven, Belgium · sonalm300@gmail.com

My interests lie at the intersection of psychology and data analysis. Currently, I am interested in psychopathology, especially in understanding cognitive dysfunctions underlying psychopathological disorders. Apart from this, I am interested in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Organizational Psychology domain.
In my almost 6 years of my professional career so far, I have gained experience in Data Analytics and Data Engineering. Of this, I have spent about 3.5 yrs in the CPG space wherein I have been analyzing consumer behavior and designing solutions to improve consumer experience in retail outlets as well as restaurants/bars/pubs.

I have been involved in designing workshops and training program for improving the inclusivity experience of my colleagues as well as in improving the hiring processes. Furthermore, I strongly believe in collaborative thinking as well as respecting diverse opinions.

In terms of languages, I speak Hindi and English with bilingual fluency and Dutch (A1 level right now and learning it).

#Togetherweembrace

Skills

Programming Languages & Tools
  • Languages: Python, R, SQL, Unix, Hive
  • Tools: Talend, Informatica, Git, Azure Dev Ops, VSC Code, Power BI, SPSS (basics)
EXPERIENCE IN AREAS
  • Consumer Behaviour Analysis
  • Assortment Optimization
  • Stakeholder Management
  • Team Engagement and Inclusion

Research Experience

Independent Research Work

Carried out research work in the field of Social & Organizational Psychology investigating the relationship between gender essentialism, relational balance, egalitarianism, work-family conflicts among Indian Couples under supervision of Dr. Sakshi Mehrotra

  • Conducted thorough literature review in the area
  • Designed and published an online survey for data collection
  • Designed hypotheses and conducted statistical analysis of the gathered survey data using R, SPSS
  • Prepared manuscript and is currently under revision
June 2020 - December 2020

Summer Research Intern

National Institute of Technology, Jaipur

Contributed to an ongoing research project in the Natural Language Processing and Machine learning research group by working closely with Ph.D. scholars and faculty to implement Question Answering System for Hindi language

  • Reviewed literature to understand state-of-the-art methods for vernacular languages processing
  • Developed Java modules for data pre-processing, document classification and answer extraction
  • Written a manuscript detailing all steps including results, limitations and future directions
    •  
May 2014 - July 2014

Publications

  • Somani, S., Sharma, N. (2015) Survey of Techniques used in Big Data Analytics for Insight Extraction. Published in proceedings of 29th National Convention of Computer Engineers and National Seminar on Emerging Technologies in Computer Engineering
  • Garg, K., Somani, S. (2014) Big Data Challenges: A Survey. International Journal of Computer Systems, 1(2)

Education

KU Leuven

Preparatory Programme : Master of Psychology

September 2021 - Ongoing

University of North Dakota

Psychology, Non Degree Student

Credit Courses - Introduction to Psychology, Research Methods in Psychology

November 2020 - September 2021

Indian Institute of Science

Data Mining Certificate, Continuing Education

Grade: A

August 2017 - Deecmeber 2017
  

Rajasthan Technical University

B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering, Undergraduate Degree

Percentage: 77/100 (Honours)

July 2011 - June 2015

Work Experience

Senior Data Scientist

Anheuser Busch InBev, India
  • Pivotal in the development and expansion of Global Assortment Capability to multiple markets across the globe
  • Analyzed Consumer Behavior, Shopper Profiles and Product Substitution patterns in the markets
  • Employed the use of Discrete Choice Models, Regression, Clustering, Genetic Algorithms for building the Assortment Optimization Engine
  • Used languages like R, Python, SQL for analyzing data and deploying machine learning solutions
  • Involved in recruitment efforts and mentored team members
    •  
  • Led efforts in the sphere of Diversity and Inclusion like conducting D&I workshops, surveys, and fostering a culture of allyship
  • Worked closely with the People Team to expand these initiatives and create bigger impact
May 2018 - August 2021

Data Engineer

Antuit.ai
  • Led interactions with firms, in the space of FMCG, Material solutions, to manage their data integration and visualization needs
  • Collaborated with partners from UK to build automated data ingestion workflows
  • Designed sales and marketing dashboards using Kibana as proof of concept for sales pitches
  • Used tools and languages like Talend, SQL, Python, Unix and Shell scripting to design data pipelines
    •  
  • Organized training for upskilling the team to get certified in Talend (Open Source ETL Tool for Data Integration)
  • Worked closely with the HR Team to design and organize activities to improve engagement
November 2016 - May 2018

Programmer Analyst Trainee

Cognizant
  • Built processes to automate P/L accounting by integrating disparate data sources
  • Handled client communications for the team
  • Optimized existing processes like reduced ingestion time from 3 hrs to 3 mins using parallel processing
  • Used tools and languages like Informatica, Unix, Python
  • Followed agile ways of working and utilized tools like Jira for the same
    •  
November 2015 - November 2016

Internships & Certifications

Psychology
  • Participated in an Organizational Psychology Internship conducted by Cognizavest (60 hours) for an application-based learning experience in 2020
  • Completed an online Research Internship (60 hours) conducted by Mindlogs Psychological Services covering research conduction steps & research writing in 2020
  • Participated in a workshop on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in an Indian Context (Basic Level) conducted by Dr. Jini K Gopinath in 2020
  • Completed Social Psychology course (38 hours) from Wesleyan University (Coursera), Grade: Distinction in 2013
    •    
Data Science
  • Attended Winter School on Deep Learning for Visual Computing under Dr. Debdoot Sheet (Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur) in 2017
  • Completed 4 weeks remote internship with Capstone Project in Data Science and Analytics under Dr. Sameer Mathur (Associate Professor, Marketing, IIM Lucknow) in 2017
  • Completed Inferential Statistics course (35 hours) from Duke University (Coursera), Grade: 95% in 2017

Awards

  • Golden Hoegaarden Knight, Annual Awards, AB InBev in September, 2020

    Received the award for Top Performer of the Year in the "Results" category. A total of 5 people won in this category out of 65 nominations from a total of ~2000 employees in the Analytics and COE India Function

  • Cicerone Team Award, AB InBev in December, 2020
  • Cicerone Team Award, AB InBev in April, 2020
  • Pint Team Award, AB InBev in September, 2019
  • Team Performer Award, Antuit in 2018
  • Individual Performer Award, Antuit in 2017

Volunteering Experiences

vivianne
Social Ambassador, Indian Development Foundation

Conducted door-to-door interviews for ~100 households in a low-income neighborhood to understand reasons behind families refraining from sending kids to school, taught Mathematics and English to underprivileged students (5th graders - class of 30)

SAHAI Helpline
Crisis Counsellor, SAHAI Suicide Prevention Helpline

Provided emotional support to people facing issues related to managing illness, self-esteem, experiencing stigma, managing emotions, etc. Responsibilities included crisis intervention, spreading awareness, counseling, and organizing fund-raising drives.

What else do I love?

Outside of work, I really enjoy travelling, taking road trips, trying new restaurants, and socializing over happy hours. I jump at every opportunity of trying out any adventure sport.

When indoors, I often binge watch series, and I have also picked up cooking/baking. Also, I really enjoy bollywood dancing.

   

Here are some select snaps of mine!