OMSCS Buzz

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Vaibhav Jain.  He’s a Tech Lead who’s built high-impact systems across India, Singapore, and the Netherlands. From scaling logistics with machine learning to architecting low-latency crypto fraud detection, he’s done it all while leading teams across multiple time zones. But he’s not just building systems; he’s building people. Vaibhav is an OMSCS alum, a mentor to over 40 engineers, and has conducted senior interviews for tech giants like Palantir and Coinbase. If you want to know what it takes to operate with a global mindset, this is the episode for you. TIMESTAMPS- (00:00) - Cold Intro (01:50) Involved in competitive programming, preparation for software engineering career (05:08) Moved from India to Singapore to explore, thought process, cultural differences (08:37) Differences in ways of working in Singapore between India startup and Singapore "scale-up" (11:45) How to motivate and persuade people when people might be resistant (14:38) "Leading from the front" and building teams that work together (17:50) Differences between junior and senior engineers (20:32) Moving to technical side, differences between real-time and event-driven (25:45) move to Amsterdam to work for crypto company (29:00) System design approach switching from tracking parcels to tracking finance (32:01) How agentic tools like Claude Code are changing the way fraud is perpetrated (35:01) What is good enough in software development related to fiduciary duties (38:58) Where does the OMSCS program come into the picture, reasons for attending (42:41) How does OMSCS keep up with the needs of the global audience (44:45) Rapid fire questions: counties visited, programming languages, travel, hiking, and more (47:48) Closing thoughts: How OMSCS has been helpful and bridging gaps VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback & Guest Nomination Form. EDITOR – Jim Lohse 

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Dr. Ana Mary Rusch and Alex Duncan, two members of OMSCS staff and the OMSCS Buzz team!Dr. Ana Mary Rusch has a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and with second majors in both Geography and Political Science, a master’s degree in Geography, and a Ph.D. in Global and Sociocultural Studies, all from Florida International University. Dr. Rusch has worked with online education for most of her career in different capacities across content and design with a focus on research and teaching. Currently, Dr. Rusch’s current research focuses on online education, at-scale education, and affordable degrees and has published in several avenues such as Learning @ Scale and SIGCSE Technical Symposium.Alex is the Associate Director of Student Experience for OMSCS. He oversees course maintenance, addresses student feedback, and chairs the annual OMSCS Conference. His research interests lie at the intersection of online education, learning at scale, and student experience. TIMESTAMPS- (0:00) - Cold Intro(3:16) - Alex's Introduction and Academic background (9:34) - Ana's Introduction and Academic background (21:55) - OMSCS and Covid 19 (24:58) - Day in the Life(34:38) - OMSCS Moonshot Ideas(41:00) - OMSCS Conference (51:47) - Closing Thoughts 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  Dr. Maria Konte. She is a researcher at Georgia Tech whose work sits at the intersection of Internet security, network measurements, and online misinformation. She’s done incredible work uncovering how malicious actors exploit online ecosystems and how we can build safer, more trustworthy digital spaces. TIMESTAMPS- (0:00) - Cold Intro (02:05) From Greece to Boston to Georgia Tech Researcher / Professor (05:10) Internship at Verisign Labs with Cybersecurity team as PhD student (09:50) Early research focused on identifying abused networks and social media research (12:15) Course Navigator Lab building a product to help students choose classes (21:45) Discussion of RAG Architecture for Course Navigator (with AI Agents) (22:47) Teaching Computer Networks (26:07) Teaching Modern Internet Research Methods course (29:53) Creative thinking in research, "is there an art to doing research?" (33:42) What sorts of research projects and topics are interesting to Dr. Konte? VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback & Guest Nomination Form. EDITOR – Jim Lohse 

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Erik Goh. Erik is an OMSCS student with a fascinating career ranging from film freelancing to startups to academic research at the intersection of media, machine learning, and computer science education. TIMESTAMPS-(0:00) - Cold Intro (1:15) - Episode begin (02:19) - From film industry to tech  (08:52) - Discovery of GANs and their potential for music and video  (09:58) - Major contract in Singapore  (14:10) - Building the Lightbox tool for professors (17:10) - Bridging startup life with OMSCS (24:43) - Balancing marketing career, marriage, and OMSCS (34:43) - Unsupervised learning work in CS 8903 and advice to learners VISIT ⁠https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast⁠ for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback & Guest Nomination Form. EDITOR – James Lohse 

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Bree Shi—Research Program Director in the College of Computing at Georgia Tech and founder of the Human-Augmented Analytics Group. Bree’s work bridges AI, bioinformatics, and innovative online programs, empowering students and researchers across disciplines. In this conversation, we explore the creation of HAAG, her approach to mentorship, and the future of collaborative research in a digital world.  TIMESTAMPS- (0:00) - Cold Intro  (1:20) - Episode begin (4:00) - Bio Mathematics academic background (9:04) - Programming background (11:04) - HAAG research group (27:00) - Learnings from online research (37:00) - Advise to 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 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