Nelson Vargas
Applied Scientist Lead at Wake Forest University
Miami, Florida, United States
Summary
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Senior🎓
Top SchoolNelson Vargas is an Applied Scientist Lead with a decade of experience building and governing AI systems across federal agencies and industry, currently leading AI policy and NLP product work at the Department of Veterans Affairs from Miami. He combines a Ph.D. in Mathematics and advanced AI degrees with hands-on ML engineering—shipping high-impact NLP solutions that have saved millions and sped veterans’ claims—while also drafting agency-wide AI policy and governance aligned to OMB guidance. Nelson has bridged research and practice at organizations including FDA, Microsoft, and White House innovation programs, and teaches ethics and LLM fundamentals at graduate programs, reflecting his commitment to responsible AI adoption. An Erdős number of 4 hints at deep mathematical roots that inform his approach to robust, auditable models, and outside work he turns ideas into web apps and fuels creativity through music and sports-stats obsession.
10 years of coding experience
13 years of employment as a software developer
Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), Mathematics, Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), Mathematics at University of Puerto Rico, Río PiedrasMaster of Studies (M.St.), Artificial Intelligence Ethics and Society, Master of Studies (M.St.), Artificial Intelligence Ethics and Society at University of CambridgeDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Mathematics, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Mathematics at University of IowaMaster of Arts (M.A.), Mathematics, Master of Arts (M.A.), Mathematics at University of Northern IowaMaster of Science (M.Sc.), Artificial Intelligence, Master of Science (M.Sc.), Artificial Intelligence at The University of Texas at Austin
English, Spanish, Italian, French
Github Skills (6)
classification6
shapefile5
census4
react4
sustainability3
machine-learning2
Programming languages (3)
Github contributions (5)
nelabdiel/claims-attributes-api
May 2019 - Jul 2021
API that predict classification, flashes and special issues of benefit claims.
Contributions:22 commits, 8 PRs, 22 pushes in 2 years 1 month
classification
nelabdiel/nelabdielmusic
Nov 2020 - Apr 2023
Contributions:64 pushes, 2 branches in 2 years 6 months
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