Computing Reviews News

Featured Reviewer: Marius Iulian Mihailescu

Featured in Five is a monthly section where we pose questions to a Computing Reviews featured reviewer. Here are the responses from our March featured reviewer, Marius Iulian Mihailescu. 

Q) What is the most important thing that's happened in computing in the past 10 years?

A) Over the past ten years there have been many great advancements in computing, but I believe the rise of deep learning and artificial intelligence (AI) has been the most significant breakthrough. It has the potential to drastically alter our lives in the years to come.

Deep learning includes teaching artificial neural networks to recognize patterns in massive datasets. It is a subfield of machine learning, which is a subset of AI. Natural language processing, driverless vehicles, image and speech recognition, and other fields have made tremendous strides because of this technology.

The availability of vast datasets, the rise in processing power, and the creation of more complex algorithms have all made deep learning viable. The application of AI has rapidly expanded across numerous industries, including healthcare, banking, and transportation, because of significant investments in research from companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft.

Q) If you weren't working in the computer science field, what would you be doing instead?

A) I can’t see myself doing anything but computer science. It is my passion and my way of life. But if there were a career change opportunity in my life, I would probably look to the following:

• Entrepreneurship: I could start my own business, either in a field for which I am passionate or based on an identified market need.
• Science and research: I could pursue a career in a scientific field such as physics, astrophysics, geography, or meteorology. I could conduct research in academia or work in research and development for a company.
• Creative fields: I could explore careers in art, music, or writing. I could use my skills to create original works or collaborate with others on creative projects.

Ultimately, the choice of a career path depends on an individual's interests, skills, and passions. There are many opportunities available to those who are willing to explore.

Q) By the end of your career, where do you think computer science will have taken us? What are you working on that might contribute toward that?

A) Computer science has already brought about significant advancements in AI, machine learning, robotics, and data science. Looking forward, I believe that it will continue to transform many aspects of our lives via increased automation, improved healthcare, extended AI capabilities, enhanced cybersecurity, and more sustainable technologies.

Specifically, quantum computing has great potential, despite numerous obstacles. Academia and business continue to work at making this technology a reality.

Q) Who is your favorite historical figure? Why?

A) Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer. Lovelace is a major figure in the history of computing because of her work on the Analytical Engine and her observations regarding its prospective capabilities. She was ahead of her time in realizing the potential of computers to perform tasks other than computations. Her contributions to the field continue to inspire many.

Q) What is your favorite type of music?

A) Rock (Nightwish, Xandria, Edenbridge); classical (Beethoven, Mozart, Bach); and 80s pop/disco.

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Click here to read one of Marius Iulian Mihailescu's reviews.

Featured Reviewer: Mohammad Sadegh Kayhani Pirdehi

Featured in Five is a monthly section where we pose questions to a Computing Reviews featured reviewer. Here are the responses from our February featured reviewer, Mohammad Sadegh Kayhani Pirdehi. 

Q) What is the most important thing that's happened in computing in the past 10 years?

A) I believe quantum computing has been a tipping point for computing, although it is still in its infancy. New requirements will demand higher computation speed.     

Q) If you weren't working in the computer science field, what would you be doing instead?

A) I would only ever be working in the computer science field, particularly wireless communications.

Q) By the end of your career, where do you think computer science will have taken us? What are you working on that might contribute toward that?

A) In my opinion, computer science has passed its prime. There will of course be more advancements, but not like those seen between 1970 and 2000, a golden age of computing. Nowadays, as people look at the universe, many countries try to invest in science to gain more insights into other systems beyond our solar system, establish infrastructures on the moon for colonization, and so on. So, computing is an effective tool to realize these new objectives. My current work in channel coding and multicore systems relates to these issues.    

Q) Who is your favorite historical figure? Why?

A) I cannot identify one “who.” Throughout history, many great people have made incredible sacrifices for the benefit of humanity, from Spartacus and Galileo, to Amir Kabir in my own country, to Patrice Lumumba, Albert Einstein, John Forbes Nash Jr., and countless others.

Q) What is your favorite type of music?

A) I am a music lover. Pop is my favorite.

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Click here to read one of Kayhani’s reviews.

Featured Reviewer: Jose Manuel Palomares

Featured in Five is a monthly section where we pose questions to a Computing Reviews featured reviewer. Here are the responses from our January featured reviewer, José Manuel Palomares. 

Q) What is the most important thing that's happened in computing in the past 10 years?

A) For me, the Internet of Things has definitively and irreversibly changed computing: billions of sources sensing the environment, acting on it, and sending data that is transformed into knowledge. All these facts reshape the conception and requirements of computing. The immediacy of real data can feed intelligent devices to produce knowledge; however, with billions of nodes sending data, networks must be efficient so that the huge amounts of date can be handled properly, for example, irrelevant data should be pruned as earlier as possible. This paradigm stresses the computing field in every different aspect: hardware, software, networking, power consumption, and so on. I think the IoT is the major challenge for computing in the foreseeable future.

Q) If you weren't working in the computer science field, what would you be doing instead?

A) Probably something related to cinema and the audiovisual field. However, I also love rugby and I’m a rugby coach for kids in my spare time. Thus, if I wasn’t working in computer science, I could be a coach.

Q) By the end of your career, where do you think computer science will have taken us? What are you working on that might contribute toward that?

A) It is hard to know. I guess computers will be able to provide intelligent information obtained from billions of sources in milliseconds. Will that lead us to a Terminator-style apocalypse in which computers decide that humanity must be eliminated? No, I don’t think so. What about a WALL-E-style future in which robots do all the work humans did and humans become lazy beings? No, I think intelligent robots and devices, combining machinery and computing, will allow humanity to change their workforce to different scopes, and these devices will be constrained and limited by ethical issues as in Asimov’s “Three Laws of Robotics.”

Q) Who is your favorite historical figure? Why?

A) Actually, I don’t have a single historical figure: I believe in humanity as a whole. We have all progressed not by means of a single person but by the impulses of many people (who when combined are millions). One such relevant person, who acted as a science propeller, was Leonardo da Vinci: a genius, a person ahead of his era, a visionary.

Q) What is your favorite type of music?

A) I like rock music, and in particular heavy metal. 

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Click here to read one of José Manuel’s reviews.

 

 

Featured Reviewer: Romina Fucà

Featured in Five is a monthly section where we pose questions to a Computing Reviews featured reviewer. Here are the responses from our December featured reviewer, Romina Fucà. 

Q) What is the most important thing that has happened in computing in the past 10 years?

A) I have been helped by computers in the last ten years like never before. Over the past decade, their speed has increased, and what was once a suggestion for me to explore in research has become a daily guide for my work. With the advances in technology, I let go of my narrow, small-scale aspirations and began to think of the bigger picture by interfacing with real scientists around the world. I sometimes say “I live in the cloud” because remote cloud services help me meet my needs every day.

Q) If you weren’t working in the computer science field, what would you be doing instead?

A) I would be a guide in a fine arts museum. When I was a child, I used to travel with my parents in a caravan, and we visited many interesting historical and artistic sites in Europe and elsewhere. Churches, castles, and ancient relics of the past gave me the ambition to learn a coherent chronology of paintings and painters. I now easily recognize their style and historic location.

Q) By the end of your career, where do you think computer science will have taken us? What are you working on that might contribute toward that?

A) I’m a humanities, arts, and social sciences (HASS) education tutor who branched out into technology and computing, so I personally see computers advancing toward human skills at an increasing pace, with the likelihood that they will be able to perform comparably with humans before the end of my career. I work to let the public know that modern computing uses different logic than the old, classic programming languages with which we are familiar. I have learned much from reflecting about computers, and so too can others benefit from learning new ways to communicate with them. We will probably be able to expand or abandon our usual ways of communicating for better styles, and perhaps—who knows?—we will successfully meet life on other planets.

Q) What is your favorite type of music?

A) I love instrumental music such as Gabriel Yared’s By the Sea and The English Patient, John Barry’s Born Free, and Astor Piazzolla’s music featured in Frantic; these are usually queued up in my list of favorites, as well as being the soundtracks to well-known movies. In addition, I like popular songs such as “I Will Remember You” by Sarah McLachlan, “Somewhere Only We Know” and “I’m Not Leaving” by Keane, and “Somewhere My Love” by Ray Conniff and The Singers.

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Click here to read one of Romina’s reviews.