OMSCS Buzz

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Murilo Gustineli. Murilo is a current OMSCS student and co-lead of the Applied Research and Competitions Group within the Data Science at Georgia Tech club. In this episode, you’ll hear about his fascinating career journey from growing up in Brazil and swimming competitively to finding a new passion in machine learning through OMSCS. TIMESTAMPS- (0:00) - Cold Intro  (1:07) - Episode Intro  (2:30) - Competitive Swimming (3:19) - Undergrad education (10:09) - Career in Technology (18:10) - DS@GT group (30:12) - Conferences VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback & Guest Nomination Form. EDITOR –  Sidharth Ramesh

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Joves Luo. Joves is a long-time member of the OMSCS community as an alumnus and one of the Head Instructional Associates for CS 6515, Graduate Algorithms.  He’s also a tenured software engineer at Google with extensive experience in distributed computing, cloud, and systems design.  In this conversation, we discuss Joves’s career journey, his perspective on the Grad Algorithms course, and more. TIMESTAMPS- (0:00) - Cold Intro  (1:06) - Episode Intro  (3:15) - Initial Career (11:50) - Learning from OMSCS courses  (15:15) - TAing for Grad Algo (GA) (33:20) - Wisdom and Advice about taking GA (40:25) - Working at Google (1:05:00) - Advice to software engineers VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback Form. EDITOR – Sidharth Ramesh 

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Dr. Melody Jackson. She is a pioneering researcher and educator at Georgia Tech. Dr. Jackson is the creator and director of Georgia Tech’s BrainLab, where she leads groundbreaking work in brain–computer interfaces, helping people communicate and control technology using only their thoughts. She’s also a founder of the emerging field of Animal–Computer Interaction, designing systems that allow service dogs and other animals to interact with technology in meaningful ways. With a career that bridges industry innovation, academic leadership, and student mentorship, Dr. Jackson’s work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, NIH, DARPA, and more. Her journey—from earning her Ph.D. in Computer Science at Georgia Tech to shaping the future of human– and animal–technology interaction—continues to inspire students, researchers, and technologists worldwide.TIMESTAMPS- (0:00) - Cold Intro (1:14) - Episode Intro (2:30) - Lifelong professional dog trainer! (8:50) - Work in FIDO project (18:40) - Research associate background (22:05) - Industry to Academia journey (28:22) - Research problems (40:55) - Moonshot projects (47:42) - Advice for OMSCS students interested in research VISIT ⁠https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast⁠ for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback & Guest Nomination Form. EDITOR – Sidharth Ramesh

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Dr. Ana Rusch, Alex Duncan, & Hannah Moon, three key members of the OMSCS community and masterminds behind the annual OMSCS conference. Tune in to hear about the origins of this conference, highlights from the 2025 edition, and what to expect in next year's event.VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback & Guest Nomination Form. EDITOR – Serge Nino-Martin Villasica 

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Dr. David Joyner, Associate Dean for Off-Campus & Special Initiatives and the Executive Director of Online Education & OMSCS in the College of Computing, a Principal Research Associate at Georgia Tech, and the inaugural holder of the Zvi Galil PEACE (Pervasive Equitable Access to Computing Education) Chair. He is the author of multiple books and 50 plus papers on online CS education. He's been a leading figure in the OMSCS community since its inception, and he has won several awards over the years including the 2022 College of Computing Outstanding Faculty Leadership Award. Excited to have him back on the show!  TIMESTAMPS- (0:00) - Cold Intro (1:21) - Episode Intro (2:45) - New initiatives in OMSCS (9:20) - Partnership with companies (16:04) - New course offerings (20:13) - How AI affects the curriculum (23:04) - Impact of research funding in OMSCS (28:40) - Book: Teacher’s Guide to Conversational AI (40:59) - Final thoughts  VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Guest Nomination & Feedback Form. EDITOR – Serge Nino-Martin Villasica 

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Maritza Mills. Maritza is a product manager who most recently was at Google focused on cloud and AI. Previously, she has held product management roles at AWS and a startup acquired by Thomson Reuters. She's an OMSCS alum and Instructional Associate for KBAI.  Tune in to learn about her career journey, OMSCS experience, and her unique perspective as an AI product manager for one of a handful of companies at the forefront of AI innovation. TIMESTAMPS- (0:00) - Cold Open (1:22) - Episode Intro (5:22) - Early Years (10:45) - Product vs Project Management (13:28) - Product Management at Google and Amazon (22:28) - OMSCS journey (29:31) - Music as Discovery: GenAI and Creativity (36:30) - Further Research Plans (42:46) - Impact of OMSCS in career (52:36) - Final Thoughts  VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback & Guest Nomination Form.EDITOR –  Serge Nino Martin Villasica

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Dr. Jon Duke. He is the Director of the Health Emerging and Advanced Technologies Division at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, Principal Research Scientist in the Georgia Tech College of Computing, and instructor for CS 6440 Graduate Intro to Health Informatics. He holds an MD from Harvard Medical School and a Master’s in Human Computer Interaction from Indiana University.  In this episode, you’ll hear about topics like healthcare data interoperability and large-scale health data analytics.  TIMESTAMPS- (0:00) - Cold Open (1:22) - Episode Intro (2:21) - Pre-Med and History major (3:44) - Early interests in Japanese History (5:42) - Healthcare systems outside US (9:15) - Transitioning into Computing / HCI (17:55) - Regenstrief at Indiana University (23:08) - The OHDSI Project  (29:03) - CHAI at Georgia Tech (37:10) - CS 6440 Health Informatics Course VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback & Guest Nomination Form. EDITOR – Serge Nino Martin Villasica 

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Rob Lindgren. Rob is an OMSCS alum and machine learning engineer at Capital One. Previously, he conducted applied NLP research in Dr. Ashok Goel’s Design & Intelligence Lab, and studied the effectiveness of NLP for economic forecasting at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Enjoy this alumni spotlight! TIMESTAMPS- (0:00) - Cold Open (0:17) - Episode Intro (2:05) - Current work at Capital One (5:48) - Impact on OMSCS (9:58) - OMSCS Research  (20:50) - Research outside GaTech (26:42) - Advice on transitioning to CS  VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback & Guest Nomination Form.EDITOR –  Serge Nino Martin Villasica

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Professor Irfan Essa. He’s a long-time member of the Georgia Tech community and holds numerous titles including Senior Associate Dean in the College of Computing and Director of the Machine Learning @ GT Center. He’s also a Principal Scientist and Research Director at Google  DeepMind. Professor Essa works in many areas of computing including machine learning, computer vision, robotics, human computer interaction, and computational journalism, having published over 200 articles and papers throughout his career. TIMESTAMPS- (0:00) – Cold intro  (0:23)- Episode intro (2:10) - Early work as a PhD student  (12:00) - Computer Vision (24:55) - Work with Google (30:30) - Machine Learning and Impact at GT (39:58) - Perception of Technology in Society (49:15) - Final thoughts  VISIThttps://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback & Guest Nomination Form. EDITOR – Nikita Burks-Hale 

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Jim Lohse.  Jim was born and raised in Silicon Valley, but has lived in Utah since 2007.  He’s been an Instructional Associate for OMSCS since 2020, and he’s also a full-stack developer who helps small businesses accelerate their digital initiatives. Outside of software development, he is an avid fan of playing truck and train simulation games and exploring the mountains near his home. Enjoy this IA spotlight! TIMESTAMPS- (0:00) - Cold Open  (1:10) - Episode Intro (1:50) - Growing up in Silicon Valley (4:08) - Transitioning into technology (11:12) - Intro to Info Sec (CS 6035) (12:37) - Becoming an Instructional Associate (13:44) - Research experience with OMSCS (16:24) - Blogging and YouTube (18:21) - Hobbies (20:27) - Final Thoughts LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimlohse/ Website for Jim's Weekly Security Postshttps://www.tekhub.live/ Jim's streaming channels:https://www.twitch.tv/truckandtrain https://www.youtube.com/@truckandtrain https://www.truckandtrain.com VISIThttps://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback & Guest Nomination Form. EDITOR – Serge Nino Martin Villasica 

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Dr. Kishore Ramachandran. He is a Professor in the College of Computing where his research areas specialize in architectural design, programming, and analysis of parallel and distributed systems.  He is also one of the founders of the OMSCS program along with previous director of the STAR Center, a collaborative partnership between Samsung and Georgia Tech. He is an IEEE Fellow and has dozens of other accolades to his name for his research and teaching during his time at Georgia Tech.    TIMESTAMPS-  (0:00) - Cold Open  (1:17) - Episode Intro  (2:05) - PhD journey  (4:08) - 37 years at Georgia Tech!  (7:12) - Academia and PhD students  (16:18) - Founding of OMSCS  (24:50) - Courses in OMSCS  (41:40) - Research Areas  (52:22) - Hobbies  (56:06) - Final Thoughts    VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback Form.  EDITOR – Serge Nino Martin Villasica 

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Peter Graening. Peter is a Lecturer and Academic Program Director for Georgia Tech Professional Education. He’s a decade-long member of the OMSCS community as a student, TA, and Instructional Associate.  Tune in to hear about his unconventional career journey and the outsized impact he's making as a Georgia Tech faculty member. TIMESTAMPS-  (0:00) - Cold Open  (1:22) - Episode Intro  (3:08) - Theatre Arts Experience  (10:19) - Experience at UPS  (14:18) - OMSCS Journey  (24:02) - GTPE  (30:43) - Final Thoughts  VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback Form.  EDITOR –   Serge Nino Martin Villasica 

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Dr. Santosh Vempala. He is the Frederick Storey II Chair of Computing and Distinguished Professor in the School of Computer Science.   His areas of research include the theory of algorithms, Foundations of Data Science, Theory of Brain, and Computing for Good. He has made substantial advances in these fields for which he is a Sloan, Guggenheim, ACM, and American Mathematical Society Fellow.  TIMESTAMPS-  (0:00) - Cold Open  (1:10) - Episode Intro  (1:55) - 2024 Fulkerson Prize  (3:51) - Work on Algorithms  (18:31) - Computing for Good  (24:24) - Advice on pursuing a PhD  (26:42) - Theory of Computing Journal editor (28:32) - Hobbies and Personal Life  VISIT ⁠https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast⁠ for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback Form.  EDITOR – Serge Nino Martin Villasica 

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Dr. Keith McGreggor. He is a Professor of the Practice at Georgia Tech and a serial entrepreneur with over ten startups under his belt. His thirty-plus years of academic research and teaching spans cognitive science, AI, and entrepreneurship.   TIMESTAMPS-  (0:00) - Cold Open  (1:17) - Intro  (1:51) - Career Journey  (2:45) - Creating first AI company in Atlanta  (5:15) - First 3D program for Macintosh - Phoenix3D - and working at Lockheed Martin (8:38) - Developing Color Architecture for MacOS (13:01) - Culture of Apple   (15:57) - AI and Consumer Electronics  (19:19) - State of AI Research  (25:48) - Paper on “Is Experience Knowledge Representation?”  (28:24) - PhD Journey and Venture Lab at GT (38:54) - Final Thoughts  VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback Form.  EDITOR – Serge Nino Martin Villasica 

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Maxx Lee. Maxx is Head of Systems Engineering at Scanline VFX’s Eyeline Studios, an innovative and renowned virtual production studio owned by Netflix. His IMDb includes VFX credits for movies like Godzilla vs Kong, Spider-Man Far from Home, and Divergent, and hit shows like Game of Thrones. Tune in to hear about Maxx’s exciting work in visual effects, his career journey in computer graphics and animation, and his reflections as an OMSCS alum. TIMESTAMPS-  (0:00) – Cold intro   (1:13) - Episode intro   (2:15) - Day-to-day at Eyeline Studios   (7:05) - Visual effects pipeline  (11:00) – VFX Industry Standards   (16:08) – Challenges while working on Godzilla vs Kong and other blockbusters (19:45) – Misconceptions and measuring success   (27:04) - Teasing upcoming shows! (28:40) – Initial interest in the VFX Industry   (33:07) – OMSCS Journey  (37:25) – Advice for getting into the VFX Industry  (40:39) - Episode wrap up  VISIT ⁠https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast⁠ for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback Form.   EDITOR – Nikita Burks-Hale 

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Justin Bailey. Justin is a Lead Software Engineer at a leading financial services company in New York City as well as a TA for the OMSCS program’s CS6310: Software Architecture and Design. Enjoy this TA Spotlight episode as we get to hear from Justin on his interests and career journey!  TIMESTAMPS-  (0:00) – Cold intro   (1:15)- Episode intro  (1:47) - 12k subs on YouTube!   (11:02) - OMSCS Experience  (15:56) - Other interests  (17:48) - Inspiration and motivation  (21:13) - Online platforms  (22:11) - Final thoughts  VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback Form. Please leave us a rating & review!  EDITOR – Serge Nino Martin Villasica 

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Dinesh Ayyappan. Dinesh is an OMSCS student, soon to be graduate, with an incredibly interesting journey ranging from studying mechanical engineering in the East Coast to teaching computer science in the Himalayan foothills to planting new roots in Singapore. He’s been to 31 countries and nearly every US state. In this episode, we dive into his career, personal interests, and words of wisdom from all his experiences.   TIMESTAMPS-  (0:00) – Cold intro  (1:14) - Episode intro  (2:10) - Background and early interests  (6:20) - Transition to teaching  (16:20) – Experience in Himalayas  (25:20) – Experience in Singapore  (29:55) – Philosophy of teaching  (34:02) – OMSCS journey  (42:17) – OMSCS Research – using LLMs in Education  (48:26) – Traveling Thoughts  LINKS- Dinesh's blog- www.dineshayyappan.com VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback Form.  EDITOR – Serge Nino Martin Villasica 

We are excited to kick off the Fall 2024 semester with a brand new season of the OMSCS Buzz podcast! On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Dr. Thad Starner. Dr. Starner is a professor at Georgia Tech and director of the Contextual Computing Group. He is a pioneer and prolific inventor in the fields of wearable computing and augmented reality with over 80 patents and 500 papers and presentations to his name. He’s the longest-serving Technical Lead on Google Glass and the recipient of numerous awards for his work on deaf education...among many other accolades. Tune in to hear about wearable computing, augmented reality, American Sign Language, and dolphins!  TIMESTAMPS-  (0:00) – Cold intro  (0:33) – Episode Intro  (2:15) – Ph.D. Journey – Your Mentors  (7:10) – Wearable Computing and Augmented Reality  (22:50) – Google Glass  (29:00) – CS 7470 Course  (38:05) – Dolphin CHAT Research  (48:00) – American Sign Language Initiatives  (49:00) – Learning at Scale  (54:30) – Episode Closing  RESOURCES:  PopSign – American Sign Language Learning Initiative  CHAT work with Dolphins  VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback Form.  EDITOR- Nikita Burks-Hale

On this episode, Tanmay chats with Owen Sizemore. Owen is an Android Software Engineer at Wealthfront, an automated investment firm in Palo Alto, California. Owen grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina and attended the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, studying Computer Science with minors in Political Science and Spanish. He’s an OMSCS graduate but continues to stay involved in the program as an Instructional Associate.   TIMESTAMPS-  0:00 – Cold Intro  (0:30) - Episode Intro  (2:30) - Current work at Wealthfront   (5:05) - Mobile development   (7:25) - Advice for new college grads   (11:05) - OMSCS Journey  (19:18) - AI and Foreign Language  (23:43) - Advice for OMSCS Students and Alum  (33:40) - Closing  VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback Form.  EDITOR – Nikita Burks-Hale 

On this episode, Tanmay chats with Anthony Miyaguchi. Anthony is a current OMSCS student and software engineer at Planet Labs, an Earth observation analytics company. He’s done it all while at Georgia Tech, from winning awards in student showcases to submitting papers at major conferences, to studying abroad at Georgia Tech’s campus in France. Tune in to hear about his incredibly interesting professional journey!  TIMESTAMPS-  (0:00) - Cold Open  (0:39) - Episode Intro  (2:06) - Undergrad experience in UCLA  (3:31) - Transition from hardware to data at Mozilla  (6:55) - Decision to graduate studies  (11:11) - Experience in Planet Labs  (21:36) - Data Science @ GT Club  (25:40) - Paper about Transfer Learning  (33:23) - Autobot VIP experience  (38:20) - OMSCS experience    (41:29) - Closing thoughts    Reach out to Anthony: acmiyaguchi@gatech.edu VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback Form.  EDITOR – Serge Nino Martin Villasica