Shams Abrar
Tech Lead for BModelr Inc. • AI & Robotics Researcher • Community Volunteer
Based in Philadelphia, PA. Building innovative solutions at the intersection of AI, robotics, and healthcare. Passionate about using technology to solve real-world problems.
Technical Lead, Vida AI by BModelr
Mar 2025 – Present
Spearheading our agentic AI platform—live with 10+ clients and on track for June 2025 MVP
- •Architecting the Agentic Core: Design and run a horizontally-scaling Node.js + Python microservices mesh on Kubernetes, powered by Supabase RPCs and MCP for real-time context across ERP, CRM, Slack, and email.
- •Building Intelligent Workflows: Implement an event-driven controller that spins up specialized AI agents on demand—automating decision loops in finance, operations, and people analytics for immediate client impact.
- •Deploying Early Decision Support: Launch a vector-database–backed app that helps pilot clients optimize resources and boost efficiency by 10% in real time.
- •Ensuring Enterprise-Grade Security: Engineer zero-trust, multitenant authentication and fine-grained RBAC with audit logs and SOC-aligned data protocols—validated by 10+ enterprise clients.
- •Continuous Delivery & Observability: Establish GitHub Actions → Vercel CI/CD with canary releases, Prometheus + Grafana dashboards, and self-healing auto-scaling policies—enabling one-click deployments and 99.9% uptime.
Career Journey
Recent Career Milestones
View Full JourneyTechnical Lead
Vida AI by BModelr • Mar 2025 – Present
Spearheading the architecture and development of a next-generation, agentic AI server—an autonomous workflow automation engine built on the open Model Context Protocol (MCP). Deployed an early decision-support app with 10% efficiency gains and engineered a scalable microservices stack ready for thousands of concurrent contexts.
AI Robotics Research Scientist
Drexel Robotics Lab – Multi-Robot Systems • Sep 2024 – Present
Developing end-to-end multi-robot systems using CNN perception and Spatio-Temporal GNNs in PyTorch—achieved +25% obstacle detection and +40% coordination efficiency—and led a 5-member team surveying 50+ LLM-robotics papers.
Advanced-Data Analytics & BI Intern
Exelon • Sep 2024 – Nov 2024
Architected an Azure Cloud mapping app (1 M+ API calls/mo), integrated ArcGIS into React + Flask, and reduced reporting time by 35% with SQL & PowerBI pipelines.
Research & Publications
DistillMed: Efficient ICD Coding Through Neural Distillation
Shams Abrar, Dr. Edward Kim
Drexel University STAR Scholars Program • 2024
Large Language Models for Multi-Robot Systems: A Survey
Peihan Li, Zijian An, Shams Abrar, Lifeng Zhou
Drexel University • 2024
Artificial Intelligence for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Diabetes Kidney Disease: a systematic review
Shams Mohammad Abrar
Independent Research • 2023
The Repercussion of SARS-CoV-2 on the Blood Glucose Level of Diabetes Patients' Prior and During the Lockdown in Bangladesh
Shams Mohammad Abrar
Heliyon • 2021
Industrial Wastewater Treatment – Chemical and Radiation Techniques
Shams Abrar, Anindita Saha, Md. Marjanul Haque, Md. Razzak, Ruhul A. Khan
Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission • 2022
Improving Machine Learning based Crime Prediction for the city of Philadelphia
Alex Zavalny, Mustafa Eren, Naman Bajpai, Justin Getty, Ishan Patel, Rithvik Sukumaran, Arya Gopikrishnan, Shams Abrar, Andrew Rogers
Drexel University • 2023
Unveiling the female sexual offence cases examined during COVID pandemics in a tertiary medical college Dhaka, Bangladesh
Nazmun Nahar Rojy, Shams Mohammad Abrar, Mohammad Nahyan
Sir Salimullah Medical College, Dhaka • 2022
Campus Leadership
Hack4Impact Drexel
President
Apr 2025 – Present
- Lead one of 20+ nationally recognized chapters, collaborating with Hack4Impact National and peer chapters
- Delivered a React Native mobile app for Ronald McDonald House charities
- Currently under a year-long contract developing solutions for Veterans Rebuilding Life
- Host open GBMs & hack-nights and manage a dev-team pipeline (application → interview → bootcamp → Agile sprints; 5–7 hrs/week)
- Ran workshops teaching React and basics of web development to 200+ students
- Oversee 2–3 nonprofit projects annually, monthly Learn-to-Code workshops, and termly project showcases
Sigma Phi Epsilon
Vice President of Communications
Sep 2024 – Apr 2025
Oversaw all internal and external communications for a 50-member chapter, crafting strategic messaging, managing public relations, and driving member engagement. Led administrative operations—drafting meeting agendas, coordinating events, and maintaining chapter records—to ensure consistency and alignment with our national mission.
- Managed chapter communications strategy across email, social media, and print materials
- Coordinated with university administration and national headquarters on chapter initiatives
- Maintained detailed records and documentation for chapter operations and events
- Facilitated executive board meetings and chapter-wide communications
Featured Projects
Dr. Debbie
An AI health companion for post-hospital recovery and rehabilitation. Features physical therapy routines with computer vision, medication tracking, and a conversational AI assistant to guide patients through recovery at home.
Ready, Set, Insure
A seamless AI-driven insurance assistant that provides instant recommendations and approvals. Addresses pain points in insurance selection by automating user lookup, understanding customer situations, providing creative solutions, and selling benefits—all with minimal human involvement. Built with GPT-4, Twilio, Flask, MongoDB, and ElevenLabs.
Stemflow AI
Engineered an AI-driven MERN stack platform, boosting knowledge retention by 400% with automated flashcards. Refined educational content by analyzing 50+ YouTube video transcripts with LLAMA, boosting user engagement. Optimized user interactions across 100+ tests, enhanced AI accuracy and managed Agile/JIRA-driven project timelines.
BirderBase
Interactive web application that enhances birdwatching experiences through advanced mapping and computer vision. Users can explore bird sighting clusters in Philadelphia, upload images for species identification, and receive AI-generated descriptions of birds they encounter.
Achievements
High School Valedictorian
Dhaka Residential Model College
Graduated as valedictorian of my high school class, ranking 1st out of over 300 students.
- Maintained a perfect GPA throughout high school
- Completed 7 Advanced Placement courses with scores of 5
- Served as president of the Science Club and Math Team
Top 5, Bangladesh Chemistry Olympiad
Bangladesh Chemical Society
Placed in the top 5 among more than 20,000 participants in the Bangladesh Chemistry Olympiad.
- Advanced through three increasingly difficult rounds of competition
- Demonstrated mastery of university-level chemistry concepts
- Selected for the national training camp for international competition
National Camper: Astronomy & Astrophysics
Bangladesh Astronomical Society
Selected as one of the top 20 students from over 4,000 participants to attend the national training camp for the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics.
- Completed rigorous training in celestial mechanics, astrophysics, and data analysis
- Participated in observational astronomy sessions using professional equipment
- Developed a research project on variable star classification
National Camper: Earth Science
Bangladesh Geological Society
Selected as one of the top 20 students from over 4,000 participants to attend the national training camp for the International Earth Science Olympiad.
- Received intensive training in geology, meteorology, oceanography, and astronomy
- Participated in field studies and laboratory work
- Developed research skills through guided projects
STARS Scholar
Drexel University
Selected for the Students Tackling Advanced Research Studies (STARS) program at Drexel University, which provides research opportunities to exceptional first-year students.
- One of only 50 students selected from the entire freshman class
- Awarded funding for independent research
- Paired with faculty mentor Dr. Kim who received the Outstanding Faculty of the Year award for our research
Community & Philanthropy
Volunteer Leader, Sigma Phi Epsilon & Saint Baldrick's Foundation
As a proud member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, I volunteer for Saint Baldrick's Foundation—our fraternity's official philanthropy partner. Together, we organize campus-wide events to raise funds for childhood cancer research.
- Raised $40,000+ each year through individual fundraising, panhandling events, grilled-cheese stands, and bake sales
- Organized and led chapters of the fraternity's philanthropy committee to plan campus and community drives
- Managed the carnival activities including inflatable games and food stands at our annual fundraiser
- Served on the Sigma Phi Epsilon philanthropy committee for two consecutive years (2024, 2025), coordinating charity events and volunteer efforts
- Represented SigEp at Drexel's Greek philanthropy summit, sharing best practices for campus fundraising
- Designed marketing materials and managed logistics for monthly fundraising campaigns
Annual Fundraising
Years of Service
Events Organized