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.
- LinkedIn: yanezlfernando
- City: Toronto, Canada
- Degree: Bachelor in Science
- Contact: fyanez(at)cs_toronto_edu
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.
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
Email:
DM:
LinkedIn: yanezlfernando