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...