Fernando J. Yánez

I'm a

About

PhD Student

First-year PhD student in the Department of Computer Science. I work under the direction of Prof. Joseph Jay Williams on adaptive experimentation by framing real-world scenarios as multi-armed bandits problems, looking to both enhance and personalize the user experience by leveraging the exploration-exploitation trade-off when faced with different intervention possibilities.

I'm interested in building the future of education by personalizing the content and explanations we show students, aiming to maximize their understanding. Traditional education is based on previous limitations, dating back to medieval times, where one person must address many students at the same time. Thus, their teaching techniques had to be developed to address many at a time. Nowadays, we have the technology to build Intelligent Adaptive Teaching Systems that will personalize their teaching to the individual. This work will touch many areas such as Adaptive Algorithms, Generative Modeling, Machine Learning, Recommendation Systems, Information Retrieval, and Cognitive Science. I'm looking forward to joining efforts with people in these areas.

Facts

Books read since 2020 (non-fiction)
(see my Goodreads page)

Posts written
(see my posts page)

Resume

Research Experience

Intelligent Adaptive Interactions Lab - University of Toronto

Jul. 2021 - Present

Ph.D. Student. Toronto, Canada.

  • Implementing Multi-Armed Bandits looking to personalize education. My interests lie in the intersection between Machine Learning, Statistics and Human-Computer interactions.
Oct. 2021 - Present

Work-Study. Toronto, Canada.

  • Management within the lab to boost research quality and collaborations.

QUANTIC - Barcelona Supercomputing Center

Sep. 2019 - Nov. 2019

Visitor Researcher. Barcelona, Spain.

  • Study of Gaussian Processes and possible intersections with Quantum Computing.

Metropolitan University

Jan. 2019 - Jan. 2020

Researcher. Caracas, Venezuela.

  • Improving Classification Accuracy of Three-Player GANs by adding different training techniques.
  • Selecting the Propeller with maximum Efficiency in Radio-Controlled Aircraft Design using Neural Networks.
Jan. 2018 - Jun. 2018

Undergraduate Thesis. Caracas, Venezuela.

  • Implementing Redundancy Analysis by means of a Neural Network.

Education

University of Toronto

Sep. 2021 - Present

Ph.D. in Computer Science (Direct Entry). Toronto, Canada.

Carnegie Mellon University

Jul. 2021

Simon Initiative LearnLab Summer School. Online.

  • Computational Models of Learning Track. Built a generative model of learning to predict human learning implementing the Apprentice Learner Architecture.

Metropolitan University

Jan. 2016 - Jul. 2018

B.Sc. in Systems Engineering. Caracas, Venezuela.

Apr. 2016 - Jul. 2017

Diploma in Advanced Mathematics. Caracas, Venezuela.

Simon Bolivar University

Jan. 2018 - Mar. 2018
Oct. 2013 - Mar. 2016

Partial studies of B.Sc. in Production Engineering. Caracas, Venezuela.

Teaching Experience

University of Toronto

Sept. 2021 - Present

Teaching Assistant. Toronto, Canada.

Department of Computer Science

  • CSC108 Introduction to Computer Science (Fall 2021).

Metropolitan University

Sept. 2018 - Dec. 2019

Adjunct Instructor. Caracas, Venezuela.

Department of Project Management and Systems

  • BPTSP05 Algorithms and Programming (Winter 2019, Spring 2019*).

Department of Mathematics

  • BPTMA21 Statistics I (Winter 2019, Spring 2019*).
  • BPTMI11 Differential Equations (Winter 2019, Spring 2019).
  • FBTMM00 General Mathematics (Fall 2018, Winter 2019*, Spring 2019*).
  • FGPMM02 Elements of Mathematics II (Fall 2018).

* Course Coordinator

Apr. 2016 - Dec. 2017

Undergraduate Teaching Assistant. Caracas, Venezuela.

Department of Project Management and Systems

  • BPTSP05 Algorithms and Programming (Fall 2017).
  • FPTSP15 Economic Engineering (Winter 2017).

Department of Physics

  • BPTFI01 Physics I (Spring 2016).

Metropolitan University

Sept. 2014 - Mar. 2016

Undergraduate Teaching Assistant. Caracas, Venezuela.

Department of Physics

  • FS1112 Physics II (Winter 2015, Spring 2015).
  • FS1111 Physics I (Fall 2014, Winter 2015).

Industry Experience

Microsoft

Jan. 2020 - Sept. 2021

Software Engineer. Vancouver, Canada.

  • Developer at the Services Platform for Account & Connected Experiences team in the W+D organization contributing to different web services powering Windows’ and account.microsoft.com’s experiences, while connecting with major backend services (e.g., Office, Xbox).

Patents

Microsoft

Inventor

2021
  • Rey, R., Yanez, F., Houfa, M. (2021). Shared Visual Content Filtering during Virtual Meetings. MS#410324-US-NP.
  • Yanez, F., Rey, R., Houfa, M. (2021). User-specific Computer Interaction Recall. MS#409592-US-NP.
2020
  • Rey, R., Houfa, M., Yanez, F. (2020). Method and System of Intelligently Providing Responses for a User in the User’s Absence. MS#409015-US-NP.

Publications

Workshop Papers

Author

2021
  • Li, T., Nogas, J., Yanez, F., Modiri, A., Deliu, N., Prystawski, B., Villar, S.S., Durand, A., Rafferty, A., Williams, J.J. (2021) Algorithms for Adaptive Experiments that Trade-off Statistical Analysis with Reward: Combining Uniform Random Assignment and Reward Maximization. Paper presented at the Causal Inference Challenges in Sequential Decision Making: Bridging Theory and Practice workshop at the annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems.
2019
  • Yanez, F., Medina, A. Trabucco, J. (2019). Building Bridges: Implementing Redundancy Analysis by means of a Neural Network. Paper and poster presentation at the LatinX in AI Research workshop at the annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems.

Honors & Awards

Microsoft

July 27-29, 2020

Software Engineer. Vancouver, Canada.

  • Honorable Mention in a project for Microsoft’s Hackathon.

Latinx in AI Workshop at NeurIPS

2019

Researcher. Vancouver, Canada.

  • Travel Grant of 3,210 USD to participate in the Research Workshop at NeurIPS.

Metropolitan University

2016 - 2019

B.Sc. Student. Caracas, Venezuela.

  • Graduated Cum Laude in B.Sc., 2nd in class.
  • Academic Performance Scholarship.
  • Honorable Mention in Undergraduate Thesis.

Leadership Experience

Find Your Path Organization

Oct. 2021 - Present

Toronto, Canada.

  • Volunteer Tutor for High School students from Black Communities.

Microsoft

Jan. 2021 - Apr. 2021

Vancouver, Canada.

  • Volunteer interviewer for the University Graduates program.

UNIMET SAE Aero Design

Sep. 2017 - Jul. 2018

Caracas, Venezuela.

  • General Secretary.
Sep. 2016 - Jul. 2017

Caracas, Venezuela.

  • Member.

Thespis Theater Group

Sep. 2016 - Jul. 2018

Caracas, Venezuela.

  • Member and actor.

Federation of Student Councils

Sep. 2016 - Jul. 2017

Caracas, Venezuela.

  • Member.

Art of Living Foundation

Jan. 2015- May 2017

Caracas, Venezuela.

  • Volunteer.

Saint Augustine High School

Sep. 2010- May 2017

Caracas, Venezuela.

  • Personal Growth Counselor.

AIESEC

Dec. 2016 - Jan. 2017

Curitiba, Brazil.

  • Volunteer at a home for children in risk situations.

USB Ultimate Frisbee Team

Sep. 2014 - Jul. 2016

Caracas, Venezuela.

  • Member.

Contact

Location:

Intelligent Adaptive Interactions Lab
Dynamic Graphics Project
Department of Computer Science
University of Toronto
40 St George Street
Toronto, ON, M5S 2E4

DM:

LinkedIn: yanezlfernando