Programming Tutor for University & Engineering Students — MATLAB, Python, C/C++, Java, SQL, R and Machine Learning (Lead Software Engineer, Master's in CS)

Find out more about Kamyar

• Can you tell us about your first experience using a computer?

  Like many people in my generation, I started using a computer as a young student at school. I remember using the internet, Google website, to do some research for a school project, and my dad helped me out with it. It felt like a miracle that we could have all the world's information at our fingertips. Since then, I have always been fascinated by how in only two decades we have witnessed this breakthrough in information technology to the point that now computers are an inseparable part of our daily lives.

• What is the technological evolution that has marked you most and what will be, in your eyes, a turning point in this field?

  Undoubtedly, Artificial Intelligence is a turning point in the history of computers. Computers are becoming smarter by the day and replacing us in not only repetitive tasks but more recently, in creative thinking. We can see that computers are beginning to synthesize arts, understand different languages, create poetry, and it won't be long until we see computers help us to solve the mysteries of our universe. This is the reason I decided to pursue a career in Artificial Intelligence and I will likely dedicate the rest of my life to contributing to this field.

• Explain your expertise, your interest in it and, more broadly, its importance in the computer world.

  After studying the prerequisites for a master's in Computer Engineering, I am now studying master's in Artificial Intelligence and doing research on developing forecasting models for time-series data. I have years of experience coding in different programming languages like Python and MATLAB and also teaching them to undergraduate students. Learning programming is a must in today's world, and I even believe that it should be taught to school students in every high school. Computers are the future and we humans need to be able to communicate with them and program them.

• Do so-called 'visionaries', such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg inspire you or do you have other role models?

  If I had to choose two main role models in this field, one would be Andrej Karpathy and the other Andrew Ng. They are two of the most influential computer scientists and teachers in the AI field. Andrej's course on Computer Vision and Andrew's Machine Learning Course on Coursera both are the best courses in the AI field and have inspired many students including me. These courses have helped me fully grasp the underlying logic behind these AI algorithms and be able to easily convey this knowledge to my students. I believe that to become a good teacher, one must fully understand a concept and also know the step-by-step process of understanding it. To do so, I always watch other tutorials from these role models to help me excel at my tutoring job.

• What would you say to an uncomfortable person in front of a screen who says that "IT is too complicated"?

  I would say that like any other skill, learning to work with computers can be overwhelming for a beginner because they see that proficiency is so far ahead of them. Some people say it takes you 10,000 hours to become an expert in a field. Therefore, what we can do is not focus on how complicated a skill is, but rather focus on the number of hours we can spend daily to improve ourselves in that field incrementally. We should divide the bigger tasks into smaller tasks and gradually learn this skill in a step-by-step manner. Once you solve a small problem, it gives you a sense of joy that allows you to move on and solve bigger problems. Also, during this journey, it is better to only focus on improving ourselves and not competing with others.

• What are your other passions, related or non-related to computers?

  I love meeting new people and socializing. I think humans are social creatures and we should not entirely immerse ourselves in the virtual world of the internet and computers. As an international student, I love exchanging cultures, trying new food, listening to new music, and adding new colors to the spectrum of my life. I am an advocate of a holistic approach to living life. This means that my goal is to not only become an expert AI developer but also build strong social connections and live a life full of new experiences.