Matteo Interlandi on Project Hummingbird

Hello and Welcome to Data Driven.

In this episode, Frank and Andy speak with researcher Matteo Interlandi about project Hummingbird.

Audio file

matteo-mixdown.mp3

Transcript

00:00:00 BAILey

Hello and welcome to dated driven.

00:00:02 BAILey

In this episode, Frank and Andy speak with researcher Matteo Interlandi about project Hummingbird.

00:00:09 BAILey

Now on with the show.

00:00:10 Frank

Second, hello and welcome to data driven.

00:00:21 Frank

The podcast where we explore the emerging fields of data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence.

00:00:27 Frank

If you'd like to think of data as the new oil, then you can consider us.

00:00:30 Frank

Car Talk because we focus on where the rubber meets the virtual road and with me on this epic Rd.

00:00:36 Frank

We're on the information superhighway as oh is Andy Leonard.

00:00:39 Frank

How you doing Andy?

00:00:40 Andy

I'm well Frank, how are?

00:00:41 Frank

You I'm doing alright. We're recording this on Wednesday, September 1st, 2021 and the the.

00:00:51 Frank

The the remnants of Hurricane Ida are ripping through the DC area.

00:00:57 Frank

Uh, so if, uh, if I suddenly get dropped, that's because we probably lost power.

00:01:03 Frank

But I do have the backup generator, the one that the professionals installed and my.

00:01:10 Frank

Duct taped together a solar generator so.

00:01:15 Frank

I will be offline.

00:01:17 Frank

For a short.

00:01:18 Frank

Bit and hopefully come back online.

00:01:20 Frank

How how you doing, Eddie.

00:01:23 Andy

I'm doing alright Frank. Well, we are you know I'm about gosh 250 miles South of UM we didn't get near the near the effects of Hurricane Ida as you did.

00:01:34 Andy

We're getting a little bit of rain now.

00:01:36 Andy

We've had some wind.

00:01:37 Andy

Gusts, but it's been really mild, and if you look on the radar.

00:01:41 Andy

Gotta watch it into track and I I do.

00:01:43 Andy

I'm a weather weenie and amateur but it it just kind of went around us to the to the West and it actually started the east when it got a little north of us and aimed right for your house.

00:01:54 Andy

I was looking outside that's where Frank lived, right?

00:01:56 Andy

And look, the eye is coming right for.

00:01:58 Andy

Frank what's left?

00:02:00 Frank

Well, fortunately we're safe.

00:02:02 Frank

There was some kind of flooding in Rockville and the small overnight, and some folks they got up.

00:02:09 Frank

No one, nobody died that I'm.

00:02:10 Frank

Aware of so.

00:02:11

It it says.

00:02:12 Frank

You know we're not.

00:02:13 Frank

Custom the floods or hurricanes or tornadoes up here in DC and and we're more used to the human threats of, you know, little things like terrorism and things.

00:02:25 Frank

Like that, but.

00:02:26 Andy

Yeah yeah, you guys got a little bit more to worry about that than we do here in FarmVille, right?

00:02:32 Andy

But you know these days.

00:02:33 Andy

Who knows?

00:02:35 Andy

The, uh, definitely our thoughts and prayers are with the folks in in Louisiana and Mississippi.

00:02:40 Andy

They were hit very hard.

00:02:42 Andy

I've got got friends in Georgia, Western Georgia were telling me that.

00:02:47 Andy

They they took a beating as well and you know it just it looks horrible I.

00:02:53 Andy

I you know, I've I've been in a few of those places after hurricanes have hit as part of like church efforts to help clean up and stabilize and stuff like that.

00:03:04 Andy

It looks like I don't know.

00:03:06 Andy

They people describe it as like a war.

00:03:09 Andy

I've never been in a war so I don't know.

00:03:10 Andy

I've seen pictures and.

00:03:13 Andy

There's a lot.

00:03:14 Andy

It looks like a lot of stuff is blowing over, and that sort of.

00:03:16 Andy

Stuff, it's just.

00:03:18 Andy

So, and they're talking weeks and weeks before power comes back on.

00:03:22 Frank

That's horrible, that's.

00:03:23 Andy

Similar places, yeah.

00:03:25 Frank

That's that's.

00:03:26 Frank

Probably going to be do more damage from for a lot of things.

00:03:30 Andy

Were you worried?

00:03:30

But on a.

00:03:30 Frank

More positive note, uh, a positive note.

00:03:31 Andy

Yes, on a positive note.

00:03:35 Frank

Uh, we are.

00:03:37 Frank

I am super excited to have a special guest and I say super excited because he's from Microsoft.

00:03:42 Frank

He's a senior scientist in Jelt at Microsoft, working on scalable machine learning systems.

00:03:50 Frank

Before he was at Microsoft, he was a postdoc scholar at the Computer Science department at UCLA, and this he was doing a lot of interesting stuff there.

00:04:03 Frank

He was doing research at Qatar or Qatar.

00:04:05 Frank

I'm not sure how to say that exactly, but he has a PhD in computer science.

00:04:11 Frank

In university.

00:04:12 Frank

Of Modena and or?

00:04:15 Frank

I'm going to botch this.

00:04:15 Frank

Reggio Emilia.

00:04:17 Frank

Welcome to the show, Mateo.

00:04:22 Frank

Awesome, so we are really excited to have you here.

00:04:25 Frank

We actually booked you a whole month in advance.

00:04:27 Frank

I've been looking forward to this.

00:04:29 Frank

Yeah, because you're coming by way of some of the folks at the Mlad conference.

00:04:35 Frank

And for those who don't know, I'm a I've mentioned this.

00:04:37 Frank

Mlad stands for machine learning and data science summit.

00:04:40 Frank

It used to be in person I think now it's entirely virtual for the foreseeable future.

00:04:45 Frank

Uh, but that why I attended M lads in 2016 summer of 2016 and it was uh, it was life altering like I don't say that.

00:04:55 Frank

Lightly so.

00:04:56 Frank

So Microsoft does amazing work in the machine learning and data science space.

00:05:02 Frank

Very much cutting edge stuff very much I.

00:05:06 Frank

I wouldn't say under the radar, but Microsoft does not do a great job putting its own horn, so we're very excited for you to come on Mateo and talk about this little project that you're working on.

00:05:17 Frank

And what is the is it have a code name or what?

00:05:20 Frank

What is it called?

00:05:22 Matteo

Hummingbird should the code name is actually I'm in.

00:05:26 Matteo

Don't have any specific internal names for.

00:05:28 Matteo

This for this.

00:05:28 Frank

OK, what what is GL stand for?

00:05:32 Frank

That was my that was my first question.

00:05:33 Frank

When I saw your bio.

00:05:35 Matteo

Uh is for Gray system lamp and is the after Jim Gray which.

00:05:41

Oh, OK.

00:05:41 Matteo

Is putting award yeah?

00:05:45

OK.

00:05:46 Matteo

So these are the search lab after this name yeah and use within the Azure data organization.

00:05:49

Oh, interesting.

00:05:53 Frank

And uhm, So what?

00:05:56 Frank

What what cool stuff does Hummingbird...