Akash Mankude graduated with Honors from Carnegie Mellon University where he majored in Economics and Mathematical Sciences and minored in Computer Science. With a focus on academic research during his undergraduate studies, he developed a solid foundation in macroeconomics through his Honors Thesis where he observed the relationship between technological innovation, population aging, and economic growth and productivity in a variety of countries using fixed effects regression modeling. He was also awarded CMU’s prestigious Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship to pursue his research into simulating consumer spending with Buy-Now-Pay-Later financial services using a hyperbolic discounting consumer savings model. He is experienced in data analysis and visualization and has a proficient understanding of macroeconomics. Akash is passionate and curious about financial markets and trading and joined the MSCF program to strengthen his financial and programming background, and he hopes to work as a quantitative trader after graduation.