About

Kanika Nema is a Principal Software Engineer at Microsoft, with over 16 years of relevant experience in the field. She is a skilled kernel programmer with a keen interest in storage, low-level systems, and open source. Kanika is an eager learner with an eye for detail, which has helped her make significant contributions to the projects she has worked on. Currently, Kanika is part of the team delivering the next age Azure and Mariner enabled Edge Platform and Services at Microsoft. Prior to this, she worked as a Senior Staff Engineer at Pavilion Data, where she was responsible for working in the Data Management Systems (DMS) layer of the Pavilion NVMe-oF array. Her key contributions included working on core IO path features such as Data Reduction, memory management, caching, NVMe/iSCSI support for Linux and ESXi initiators, and overall stability. Before joining Pavilion Data, Kanika worked as a Staff Engineer at VMware, where she worked on end-point security of virtual machines. Her key contribution was in designing and implementing a driver in the kernel and support required in the hypervisor to present guest context to the user. She also worked in the storage layer of the ESX kernel, where she helped build the infrastructure that helps storage partners to work in the ESX world. Kanika fixed many complex bugs related to races, memory corruptions, and performance. Kanika holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune. She also completed her Junior College education from Fergusson College and her 10th grade from St. Helena's High School, Pune. Kanika started her schooling at Holy Innocents High School, Wellington, TN. Kanika's technical skills include software engineering, Azure, and infra. She is a diligent worker with a passion for learning and making significant contributions to her work.