Gustavo Lacerda

on vacation in Brooklyn, NY (June 2008)

See http://www.optimizelife.com

I'm a grad student at UBC, interested in machine learning and AI, and information theory. I like pretty math, especially when it helps us answer questions about the real world. My best / most useful skill seems to be programming (this is distinct from "hacking", at which I'm merely ok). I can be a pedanticist about notation, and often wish that standard mathematical language were based on typed lambda calculus. I'm a former semantic web dreamer, but remain fond of argument diagramming.

My background is diverse. I have degrees in Mathematics (BS) and Logic (MSc). My most important publication so far was at UAI2008 (using ICA to infer the structure of causal networks). I'm a reviewer for CogSci, and I've recently had recommendations written by profs in Computer Science, Philosophy, Statistics, and Brain and Cognitive Sciences.

At SFI, I'm hoping to boost my research on complex networks.