Rafael Afonso Rodrigues

Currently exploring how neuroscience can unlock cognition in artificial connectionist systems!

After a brief digression into management and economics (for which I still have an ever-present fondness), I pursued a BSc. in Computer Engineering at UAL, with a focus on security and networks. There, I developed a low-cost firewall using a Raspberry Pi, supervised by Dr. Mário Marques da Silva, President of the Sciences and Technology department.

Later on, I obtained a MSc. in Information Systems and Computer Engineering at IST, specializing in both Intelligent Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. During this time, I joined the research lab INESC-ID to accomplish my thesis under the supervision of Dr. Luís Veiga, our MSc. Degree Coordinator. I was tasked on behalf of Bridge Robotics, an innovative robotics startup, with researching a novel cloud robotics middleware capable of intelligent behavior and real-time resource optimization. This led me to discover the field of cloud robotics and study at the intersection of Robotics and AI.

Looking to advance the transformation of society I contributed over three insightful years to the landscape of warehouse automation at Ocado Group. Where, after helping develop a collaborative humanoid robot designed to pro-actively assist technicians with the help of AI (combining deep learning and computer vision), I investigated novel aproaches for robotic pick&place of groceries using single-arm and bimanual robots.

Seeking to further specialise in the operationalisation of algorithms I joined giffgaff, voted best mobile operator in the United Kingdom 5 years in a row. As the engineering lead for machine learning, I helped ensure my team's AI-powered solutions benefitted and served our millions of members. Nevertheless, unable to resist the itch of research, in particular the pull towards bringing sentience to artificial systems, I embarked on a part-time doctorate at the University of York. Under close supervision from Dr. Simon O'Keefe I investigate under-studied biological processes in spiking neural networks.

After almost 3 years of delivering AI products built by my team at giffgaff, I made the decision to join NVIDIA. With collaborators spanning from the United States to Poland, I now contribute to the optimisation of billion-scale Large Language model and other Generative AI models using state-of-the-art GPU clusters.


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