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Meet Your Mentor!Mihir's Display Picture

We sat down with our 2025 Anvil REU Mentors to discuss their role at RCAC, what their REU students will be working on, and much, much more. Keep reading below to learn more about your mentor.


 

Mihir Ahlawat 

Please introduce yourself

My name is Mihir Ahlawat. I am a Senior AI Scientist at RCAC.

What do you do?

I am a Senior AI Scientist at RCAC.

Why would I come to you for help?

For guidance on everything AI, software development and a little bit of Kubernetes deployments.

What's one professional skill you're currently working on?

Learning to delegate tasks and ask for help from my teammates.

What's your go-to productivity trick?

I ask Siri to remind me tasks and make my grocery list.

What behavior or personality trait do you most attribute your success to, and why?

Not being afraid to try new things and having a strong willingness to learn.

What led you to this career?

My passion for problem-solving and curiosity about how AI systems can make research and decision-making faster and more efficient.

What are you currently excited about in your job?

I get to work with cutting-edge AI technologies and love seeing how people use them differently across various domains.

What's the biggest misconception people have about your position?

That I have all the answers about the latest developments in AI. I'm learning on the way as new things come up.

How long have you been on the Anvil team/at RCAC?

I've been with RCAC for a little over a year.

Education, publications, engagement (groups part of), etc...

I have a Master's degree from Purdue in Statistics and Computer Science.

Why did you decide to become a mentor for the REU program?

I enjoy sharing what I've learned and helping students discover how exciting and impactful research computing and AI can be.

  1. What do you hope the REU gets out of the program?

    Hands-on exposure to research computing and real-world problem solving.

  2. How can this help them in their college career?

    It helps them connect classroom concepts with practical applications, strengthening both confidence and skills.

  3. How can this help them in their professional career?

    It gives them a head start in understanding some key skills in AI roles like collaborative workflows, version control, and scalable computing.

What value do you get from being a mentor for the REU program?

I get to learn fresh perspectives from students and refine my mentoring and leadership skills.

What will your REU students be working on specifically?

You will work at the intersection of AI, data science, and research innovation, contribute to tools that promote transparency and reproducibility in science, and gain hands-on experience building multi-agent systems with real-world impact.