On October 28, during the PhD Open Days, the Alumni Session also took place, featuring João Gante, an alumnus of the PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering and an engineer at Hugging Face, as well as Melissa Bacatelo and Francisco Quartin de Macedo. The session was hosted by Fátima Vaz, a faculty member at Técnico.

João Gante began by discussing his academic journey, notably his PhD (2015–2020). Although he initially aimed to work on high-performance computing problems, his interest in machine learning grew through exposure to the field. He ultimately specialized in machine learning applied to telecommunications. His PhD was supervised by Leonel Sousa, a faculty member of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Gabriel Falcão, a professor at the University of Coimbra.

The alumnus highlighted that during his doctoral studies he had the opportunity to explore a variety of topics, which he considered crucial for his next steps. He had his first contact with machine learning through Professor Mário Figueiredo, a DEEC faculty member and researcher at the Institute of Telecommunications, which ultimately shaped his academic and professional trajectory.

During his PhD, he also joined nPlan, a startup specializing in applying artificial intelligence to construction projects. Although he started informally, this experience allowed him to enhance his programming skills through interactions with senior engineers, which also had a positive impact on his academic work.

In 2022, João Gante joined Hugging Face, a company developing open-source AI tools. He became part of the Transformers team — responsible for the architecture of AI models — and contributed to building models such as Llama, DeepSek, and OpenAI-GPT. Next year, he will join the team responsible for Gemini as a research engineer.

Throughout his talk, the alumnus emphasized that during his PhD he had the freedom to explore topics that were not yet mainstream, contributed to impactful projects, and interacted with people who encouraged his growth, highlighting the role of his supervisors.

He concluded his presentation by sharing some of the challenges he faced, including reviewing scientific articles, the rigidity of PhD scholarship rules, and the fast-paced growth of AI. He also discussed some of the most significant decisions along his journey, including the choice between becoming a researcher or an engineer, the need to focus on a single project — which sometimes required leaving others aside — and the importance of physical rest.

The session ended with questions from the audience, covering topics such as mindset changes during a PhD and mental health. João Gante emphasized the importance of students always asking “why,” especially when they do not understand certain issues.

Stay curious and open to new ideas. It’s okay not to know everything, you will understand over time, but never give up.

alumnus of the PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering