OMSCS Buzz

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Dr. TJ LaGrow. He teaches CS 7641 at Georgia Tech, one of the largest Machine Learning courses in the country.  Dr. LaGrow is a quadruple degree holder from Tech, and prior to being a Yellow Jacket, he worked at a medical imaging startup. He’s passionate about the intersection of artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and scalable education. TIMESTAMPS-...

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with  Dr. Ellen Zegura. She is a Regents Professor in the School of Computer Science at Georgia Tech, a Fellow of both the ACM and IEEE, and the recipient of Georgia Tech's highest faculty honor — the Class of 1934 Distinguished Professor Award. Over a 30-year career, she has shaped the internet's foundational architecture through topology modeling a...

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with friend of the show, Dr. David Joyner, making his third appearance. As Executive Director of Online Education & OMSCS in Georgia Tech's College of Computing, Dr. Joyner is a Tech mainstay. In this episode, we’ll dive into topics like knowledge-based AI, the future of pedagogy, and more.   TIMESTAMPS-  (0:00) - Cold Open  (1:24) - Episode Begins ...

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with  Dr. Joy Arulraj. He is an Associate Professor in the School of Computer Science, leading the Advanced Database Systems Lab with groundbreaking work at the intersection of database systems, non-volatile memory, and AI integration. In this episode, you’ll hear about his career journey and incredibly fascinating research across data systems and machine le...

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,...

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. Rusc...

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 G...

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 mu...

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 futur...

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 student...

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:...

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...

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 perspectiv...

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 I...

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 episod...

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 an...

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 A...

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...

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)...

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 le...

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 explo...

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 T...

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) - Col...

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...

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 i...