I am Sonal Kumar, a Ph.D. student in Computer Science at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), working under the mentorship of Prof. Dinesh Manocha and Prof. Ramani Duraiswami. As part of the Gamma Lab and PIRL Lab, my research is centered on audio-language models, multimodal learning, and advanced reasoning in speech and audio processing. My work aims to bridge the gap in audio comprehension for AI, applying resource-efficient techniques to complex audio and language understanding tasks.

Previously, I served as a Software Engineer II at Cisco Systems, Bangalore, where I led projects in network automation and developed machine learning solutions to enhance customer service. My industry experience also includes a Research Scientist Internship at Adobe, where I focused on audio generative models within the audio research team.

I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Computer Science and Engineering from Christ University in 2021. During my time there, I served as the President of Neuron, the university’s first AI club, where I led research-focused hackathons and initiatives to promote AI innovation. My undergraduate years also saw me winning multiple hackathons, including national and international competitions.

You can find my publications and research projects under the Research tab. I am passionate about collaboration, so please feel free to reach out if you’d like to work together on advancing audio-language intelligence!