Teaching Philosophy

My teaching is guided by three principles: adaptability — meeting each classroom where it is; trust and mutual respect — fostering an open, safe environment where students feel empowered to question and explore; and learning by application — grounding abstract concepts in real-world problems. I believe curiosity is a best motivator, and I design my courses to cultivate it.

Courses

Term Course Role Institution
Fall 2025 TCSS 555 — Machine Learning Guest Lecture / TA UW Tacoma
Fall 2024 TCSS 555 — Machine Learning TA / Grader UW Tacoma
Fall 2024 TCSS 343 — Design and Analysis of Algorithms TA / Grader UW Tacoma
Spring 2023 TCSS 143 — Fundamentals of Object-Oriented Programming Primary Instructor (instructor of record) UW Tacoma
Winter 2023 TCSS 143 — Fundamentals of Object-Oriented Programming Primary Instructor (instructor of record) UW Tacoma

Advising & Mentoring

  • Mayank Kumar, Ph.D. Computer Science, UCF, 2025-present, Privacy-preserving Synthetic Data Generation
  • Abinava Bharati Babu, M.S. Computer Science, UW Tacoma, 2025–present, Federated Synthetic Data generation for Hepatalogy (Committee Member for Capstone Project)
  • Jasmine Sellers, B.S. Computer Science, UW Tacoma, 2025, Software for Synthetic Data Generation
  • Jack McFarland, B.S. Computer Science, UW Bothell, 2024, Federated Reinforcement Learning for Fairness (Mary Gates Fellow)
  • Shane Menzies, B.S. Computer Science, UW Tacoma, 2024-2025, Federated Synthetic Data Generation for Genomics (Mary Gates Mentor; Mary Gates Fellow)
  • Trae Claar, B.S. Computer Science, UW Tacoma, 2024, Federated Synthetic Data Generation
  • 3+, M.S. Computer Science, UW Tacoma, 2026-present

Teaching Interests

  • 🧠 Machine Learning (graduate & undergraduate)
  • 🔒 Privacy in Machine Learning
  • 🤖 Trustworthy / Responsible AI
  • 🔐 Cybersecurity & AI Safety
  • ☕ Algorithms / Programming (undergraduate)
  • 🧬 Generative AI for Healthcare
  • 🔬 Synthetic Data and Applications
  • ⚖️ Auditing in AI -- Fairness, Accountability & Transparency
  • 🌐 AI for Societal Impact
Sikha Pentyala  ·  sikha@uw.edu  ·  University of Washington  ·  Last updated: 2025