Principal engineer loves teaching python and software design to students at all levels and ages

Find out more about Cesar

• Can you tell us about your first experience using a computer?

  I recall watching my dad use MS-DOS on an old PC at home and being curious but not quite being able to understand what went on while I was less than 10yrs old. My curiosity led me to learn how to start using floppy disks, copy files and run basic games, and I never stopped wanting to learn more and more about computers to this day.

• What is the technological evolution that has marked you most and what will be, in your eyes, a turning point in this field?

  One very important turning point was the internet which predates me, and then the web which grew very quickly while I was a kid. One other that I saw with my own eyes and understanding from the very beginning was the increase in number of cores for parallel computation which is fundamental to the success of GPUs and eventually led to the rebirth of computationally demanding ML models like neural networks which had been neglected for long because they were "inefficient". I was studying both computer graphics and AI around 2005 and saw the two on a collision course that eventually led to the current explosion in popularity of the field and terms like ML, AI and neural networks becoming mainstream.

• Explain your expertise, your interest in it and, more broadly, its importance in the computer world.

  I started using linux around 2002, python in 2005 and AI in 2006. I was attracted to linux because of its openness and flexibility, to python by its simplicity and quick iteration speed, and to AI because it seemed challenging and with a great potential to automate solutions. That trio turned out to be a very good combo in a world where AI is having a big impact, by running models written in python and running on cloud nodes running linux.

• Do so-called 'visionaries', such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg inspire you or do you have other role models?

  There are aspects of them that inspire me (e.g. following their passion to build very successful businesses) but I also think of other role models in two different categories: 1- thinkers like alain turing defying conventional wisdom, creating the first general purpose computer and defining the beginning of computer science, and others like turing award winners geoff hinton (father of deep learning) and judea pearl (father of bayesian networks) where their own curiosity and conviction led them to define entire fields within AI; 2- builders like linus torvalds (father of linux and git) or guido van rossum (creator of python) and travis oliphant (creator of numpy, scipy, anaconda) who focus on adding value by solving problems they care about without letting short term monetary gains be the driver of their decisions.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.

  I took my first AI course around 2005 mostly out of curiosity and seeking a challenge as other students around me said it was hard. We used Peter Norvig's AI book for that course when I didn't know how important it would become to me. 12 years later, I met him in person at a conference and had a conversation with him about the uncertainty in the future of AI.

• What would you say to an uncomfortable person in front of a screen who says that "IT is too complicated"?

  First acknowledge their frustration and recognize that many aspects are more complicated than they should be and recall being challenged by some concepts at times. Then listen to understand what exactly they're struggling with and, finally, come up with a way to relate the concept to something they're familiar with and hopefully help them not only understand the concept but appreciate the value in understanding it.

• What are your other passions, related or non-related to computers?

  Video games have been a reliable source of entertainment for me since I could play the first nintendo entertainment system. Besides that, I have taken an interest in psychology once I appreciated the value understanding people both as a coworker, technical leader, and a father

• What makes you a Superprof in IT?

  I think my legitimate passion for computer science and software development makes me excited to share with others what has become a source of joy in my life, hoping that they can look past the intimidating complexities and see what I see :)