OMSCS Buzz

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Dante Ciolfi. Dante is a Research Associate and educator at Georgia Tech whose journey through technology and teaching is nothing short of inspiring.  From building websites in the early days of the Internet to training the next generation of computing professionals, Dante’s career has spanned industry, education, and social impact. He’s taught students from all walks of life, helped shape Georgia Tech’s Computing for Good program, and continues to explore how project-based learning and Web equity can make computing more inclusive and meaningful.  TIMESTAMPS- (0:00) - Cold Open  (1:04) - Episode start  (2:25) - Dentist background (11:40) - Switch to programming (17:51) - Teaching CS (30:40) - Computing for Good Course (38:28) - Advice for OMSCS students  VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback & Guest Nomination Form. EDITOR – Sid Ramesh 

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Professor Jay Summet.  He is a Senior Lecturer and OMSCS Associate Director for Academic Affairs. He teaches CS 7638: Robotics AI Techniques, and a fun fact about him is that “he owns more bikes than cars, more degrees than bikes, more computers than degrees, and more robots than computers”. TIMESTAMPS- (0:00) - Cold Intro  (1:04) - Episode start (2:04) - Early interest in Computers (7:30) - Georgia Tech teaching experience (16:27) - AI for Robotics OMSCS course  (23:18) - Experience as Academic Advisor (36:30) - Career Advice 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 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