Software engineers can advance many areas of academic study and research. They can also further humanitarian efforts by creating technological solutions that address a wide range of real-world people problems.
It was this philanthropic aspect that attracted Gurkirat Singh Guliani to the field.
During his time at the University of Washington Bothell, Guliani (Computer Science & Software Engineering ’24) applied his technological skills to preserve endangered languages, help people find jobs and explore solutions for the many wildfires that spread through Washington state. He also worked as a peer health educator at the University’s Health & Wellness Resource Center and was a student ambassador for Undergraduate Admissions.
His intentions were the same in both his research and his campus roles: to make a positive impact on his community, no matter how big or small.
Now, in recognition of his charitable spirit, Guliani has been named one of the 2024 Husky 100 honorees. Every year, the University of Washington recognizes 100 undergraduate and graduate students from the Bothell, Seattle and Tacoma campuses who have made the most of their time at the UW — inside and outside the classroom. These Husky 100 students actively connect the dots between what they learn in their studies with what they want to do to make a difference on campus, in their communities and for the world. Guliani is one of six honorees from UW Bothell.
“Gurkirat is passionate about serving students in our campus community and is continuously growing his academic skills and knowledge,” said Jo Blue, assistant director of the HaWRC. “I am immensely proud to have him represent the University in this way.”
Gurkirat is passionate about serving students in our campus community and is continuously growing his academic skills and knowledge. I am immensely proud to have him represent the University in this way.
Jo Blue, assistant director, Health & Wellness Resource Center
Education in endangered languages
Under the guidance of Min Chen, professor in the School of STEM, Guliani worked on a project titled “Melodic Transcription in Language Documentation and Application” or, simply, MeTILDA.
“It is a web-based software to preserve endangered languages,” Guliani explained noting that an endangered language is a language that is at risk of no longer being used, fading away as its speakers slowly shift to other languages. According to Guliani, of the more than 7,100 languages in the world half may be in danger of disappearing in the next several decades.
For the MeTILDA project, Guliani worked primarily with the language spoken by members of the Blackfeet Nation, one of the 10 largest Indigenous tribes in the United States.
“I collaborated with researchers and linguists from the University of Montana and Blackfoot Community College to understand the specific requirements for MeTILDA,” he said, “so that educators can use it in a classroom and effectively teach students with it.
“After gathering their feedback and needs, I developed features accordingly.”
Protecting Punjabi, too
Gullani detailed his software research and development work as a lead author of a research paper submitted to the International Conference on Multimedia Information Processing and Retrieval, for which Chen served as program chair.
“Gurkirat dedicated numerous hours to volunteering for this conference presented by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,” Chen said. “For his contribution, he was awarded the IEEE 2023 IRI Outstanding Service Award, which honors long and distinguished service to the IEEE Systems Council at a level of dedication and achievement rarely demonstrated.”
Guliani said his work on the MeTILDA project taught him the importance of preserving language — and inspired him to make efforts to preserve his mother tongue, Punjabi, which is in danger of extinction.
“For my master’s project,” he said, “I decided to build a mobile application that can help children learn to speak and write Punjabi.”
The application he developed is geared toward anyone 10 years or younger and is designed so that users can either draw or pronounce letters or words, then get immediate feedback on their performance.
Care for the campus community
Guliani’s commitment to human concerns is not just limited to his academic endeavors. He also made it a point to engage deeply with the diverse community at UW Bothell by working as a peer health educator at the HaWRC where he help connect students to the CARE Team Center and the Counseling Center.
“Most students are not aware of the resources available to them, and my job is to assess their situation and refer them to the appropriate resources,” Guliani said. “Throughout my time as an undergraduate and graduate student, I became increasingly passionate about mental health as I observed how stress can impact people.
“I wanted to take this job to raise awareness and help people through difficult times.”
Guliani’s desire to help also led him to work as a student ambassador for Office of Admissions office. “I like interacting with prospective students on campus tours,” he said, “and sharing valuable insights into various aspects of campus life and resources such as scholarships, clubs, employment and more so they can make the best out of their Husky experience, too.”
Amplifying job opportunities
The dedication Guliani has to his community extends beyond the campus. In late 2022, for example, when the technology sector experienced turmoil after major companies in the United States laid off thousands of people, Guliani immediately jumped into action to help those affected.
“I conjoined with Sai Prameela Konduru, then the CEO of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science Alumni Association, to find the impacted individuals. We circulated a form on relevant social media channels such as LinkedIn and Facebook,” he explained. “We subsequently did a quick screening of the responses and added job seekers to a WhatsApp group. From there we created a platform for them to ask for referral support and to interact with other job seekers.
“Our efforts supported more than 80 individuals of which more than 30% landed jobs within two months of the initiative,” he reported proudly.
And for his efforts, the BITSAA community recognized Guliani with the 2022 Outstanding Leadership Award.
Pursuing passion
Still eager to learn and do more, Guliani recently applied his skills in the NASA Minority Serving Institutions Wildfire Climate Tech Challenge.
Prior to this, he had little knowledge of wildfires, but that did not deter him from participating “to learn more about wildfires and how I could solve this problem by leveraging technology.
“After attending the weekly information sessions, I understood the wildfire domain better,” he said. “My hope is to find an innovative solution that addresses the escalating issues caused by wildfires exacerbated by climate change.”
Whether wildfires, unemployment or preserving endangered languages, one thing remains the same: In every instance, Guliani works to use technology for human good.
“That is my passion,” he said. “And my time at UW Bothell has prepared me well to go after it and pursue my dreams.”
