Abhiram Mullapudi

అభిరామ్ ముళ్లపూడి

Abhiram Mullapudi

I build digital water systems that integrate machine learning, wireless sensor networks, and physical modeling to improve the resilience of urban water infrastructure. I am currently working at Inframark as a Lead Data Scientist, where I develop scalable machine learning solutions for small and medium-sized water utilities. My interests lie in signal processing, probabilistic methods, and optimization for cyber-physical infrastructure systems. I have a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, specializing in intelligent infrastructure systems. I write about some of these at randomstorms.substack.com. I am based in Washington, DC 🌸. During my free time, I row with the amazing crew at Capital Rowing Club and try to get my heart rate into a Gaussian distribution.

Work Experience

Lead Data Scientist

2025 — Present

Inframark

Leading the development of machine learning-based solutions for optimizing the operation of collection systems and wastewater treatment plants.

Senior Data Scientist

2023 — 2025

Xylem

Designed and implemented end-to-end machine learning-based solutions that inform decision-making in urban water infrastructure systems. Led the development of statistical and machine learning-based methodologies for time-series filtering and anomaly detection for predictive maintenance and operational decision-making. Developed a Flyte-based MLOps platform to streamline end-to-end machine learning model development, deployment, and maintenance for Xylem's digital water products.

Hydraulic Control and Optimization Engineer

2020 — 2023

Xylem

Pioneered advanced machine learning and data engineering solutions for urban water infrastructure, transforming raw sensor data into actionable intelligence that optimizes water network performance, predicts critical operational challenges, and enables data-driven decision-making for utilities and municipalities. Developed a 1D-CNN model that leverages NOAA rainfall forecasts and near-real-time flow measurements to accurately predict 24-hour inflow to water treatment plants. Engineered an advanced 1D-CNN interpolation framework for processing spatially distributed river level data, enabling comprehensive environmental monitoring and regulatory compliance reporting. Designed a high-performance real-time processing system leveraging symbolic programming and advanced statistical techniques to detect network irregularities across 600+ concurrent data streams. Created machine learning-powered visualization platforms that translate complex water network dynamics into intuitive, actionable insights, including predictive treatment plant inflow dashboards and public-facing Combined Sewer Overflow event tracking.

Open Source Projects

Publications

Bayesian Optimization

Identification of stormwater control strategies and their associated uncertainties using Bayesian Optimization

Abhiram Mullapudi, Branko Kerkez

Preprint, 2023

Bayesian optimization as a data-driven approach for identifying control strategies that achieve desired stormwater network responses.

pystorms

pystorms: Simulation sandbox for the evaluation and design of stormwater control algorithms

Sara P. Rimer, Abhiram Mullapudi, et al.

Environmental Modelling and Software, 2023

Curated collection of stormwater control scenarios enabling development and comparison of control algorithms.

Phosphorus removal

Improvement of phosphorus removal in bioretention cells using real-time control

Brooke E. Mason, Abhiram Mullapudi, Cyndee L. Gruden, Branko Kerkez

Urban Water Journal, 2022

Real-time control improves nutrient capture efficiency in bioretention cells, reducing required infrastructure size.

StormReactor

StormReactor: An open-source Python package for the integrated modeling of water quality and water balance

Brooke E. Mason, Abhiram Mullapudi, Branko Kerkez

Environmental Modelling and Software, 2021

Python package for updating pollutant concentrations in EPA-SWMM during simulations.

PySWMM

PySWMM: The Python Interface to Stormwater Management Model (SWMM)

Bryant E. McDonnell, Katherine Ratliff, Michael E. Tryby, Jennifer Jia Xin Wu, Abhiram Mullapudi

Journal of Open Source Software, 2020

Python wrapper for interfacing with EPA's Stormwater Management Model.

Deep RL

Deep Reinforcement Learning for the Real Time Control of Stormwater Systems

Abhiram Mullapudi, Matthew J. Lewis, Cyndee L. Gruden, Branko Kerkez

Advances in Water Resources, 2020

Using reinforcement learning for autonomous stormwater systems that dynamically adapt to watershed conditions.

rrcf

rrcf: Implementation of the Robust Random Cut Forest algorithm for anomaly detection on streams

Matt D. Bartos, Abhiram Mullapudi, Sara C. Troutman

Journal of Open Source Software, 2019

Detecting anomalies in streaming data by estimating structural shifts in random forests.

Shaping streamflow

Shaping streamflow using a real-time stormwater control network

Abhiram Mullapudi, Matt D. Bartos, Brandon P. Wong, Branko Kerkez

Sensors, 2018

Precisely shaping stormwater network response using wireless sensor network data.

Smart stormwater

Building a theory for smart stormwater systems

Abhiram Mullapudi, Brandon P. Wong, Branko Kerkez

Environmental Science: Water Research and Technology, 2017

Re-imagining physical watersheds as interconnected systems that can be dynamically reconfigured for targeted pollutant removal.

Writing

Rowing

Rowing on the Anacostia River

I row with the amazing crew at Capital Rowing Club on the Anacostia River. Nothing motivates you to reduce CSOs more than rowing past them every other day.

Orangetheory

OTF heart rate zones with Gaussian distribution

I love trying to make a Gaussian distribution with my heart rate zones in HIITs :P

Thanks for scrolling down, here are some of my dogs