OMSCS Buzz

S6E7: Dr. TJ LaGrow on Machine Learning & More

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Dr. TJ LaGrow. He teaches CS 7641 at Georgia Tech, one of the largest Machine Learning courses in the country.  Dr. LaGrow is a quadruple degree holder from Tech, and prior to being a Yellow Jacket, he worked at a medical imaging startup. He’s passionate about the intersection of artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and scalable education. TIMESTAMPS-  (00:00) - Cold Intro  (02:15) - Reflection on theater days starting in high school  (03:58) - Decided a PhD would lead to a more stable life  (10:32) - Choice to go to Georgia Tech  (15:33) - Talks about getting into work on diabetic retinopathy  (18:30) - More on diabetic retinopathy, prevalent in rural areas  (21:50) - Advice about startup incubators  (27:18) - What excites you about machine learning today?  (33:12) - Talks about his favorite books about AI and ML  (37:20) - FlexStack program  VISIT ⁠https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast⁠ [https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast]  for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback & Guest Nomination Form.  EDITOR – Jim Lohse

S6E6: Dr. Ellen Zegura on Software-Defined Networking, Computing for Good, & More

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with  Dr. Ellen Zegura. She is a Regents Professor in the School of Computer Science at Georgia Tech, a Fellow of both the ACM and IEEE, and the recipient of Georgia Tech's highest faculty honor — the Class of 1934 Distinguished Professor Award. Over a 30-year career, she has shaped the internet's foundational architecture through topology modeling and Software-Defined Networking, pushed the limits of connectivity in disconnected corners of the world, and built an entirely new discipline around computing for social good. In this episode, you'll hear about her remarkable career arc, the hard lessons of doing technology work in the real world, and what it actually takes to make computing matter beyond the lab. TIMESTAMPS-  (0:00) - Cold Intro  (1:13) - Episode begins  (2:10) - Internship experience  (7:20) - PhD journey  (11:17) - Influential Web in the 1990s  (14:25) - GT-ITM Network Generator Project, network topological structure  (18:07) - Olympics Comes to Atlanta (23:10) - Disruption Tolerant Networks and Message Variance (Discussion of Origin of Software Defined Networking)  (31:45) - Development of the Internet, What’s Stressing the Internet?  (38:26) - Mobile Revolution’s Effect on GA Tech; Creation of Schools under CoC  (44:06) - Computing for Good and Travels to Liberia (50:40) - Role at the National Science Foundation (NSF)   VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast [https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast]  for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback & Guest Nomination Form.  EDITOR – Jim Lohse

S6E5: Checking in with Dr. David Joyner

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with friend of the show, Dr. David Joyner, making his third appearance. As Executive Director of Online Education & OMSCS in Georgia Tech's College of Computing, Dr. Joyner is a Tech mainstay. In this episode, we’ll dive into topics like knowledge-based AI, the future of pedagogy, and more.   TIMESTAMPS-  (0:00) - Cold Open  (1:24) - Episode Begins  (3:06) - KBAI course beginning  (6:44) - Knowledge encoding and LLMs  (14:52) - Edtech and LLMs  (31:00) - Automation in different fields   (44:49) - Rapid Fire round  (1:04:36) - Outro  VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback & Guest Nomination Form.  EDITOR – Sid Ramesh

S6E4: Dr. Joy Arulraj on Database Systems, AI, & the Future of Learning

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with  Dr. Joy Arulraj. He is an Associate Professor in the School of Computer Science, leading the Advanced Database Systems Lab with groundbreaking work at the intersection of database systems, non-volatile memory, and AI integration. In this episode, you’ll hear about his career journey and incredibly fascinating research across data systems and machine learning.  TIMESTAMPS-  (0:00) - Cold Open  (1:05) - Episode begins  (2:02) - Internship experience  (7:17) - PhD journey  (11:29) - Databases and LLMs  (17:28) - AI use in improving Databases   (32:02) - PDF Parsing problem  (38:00) - Database implementation course  (40:55) - Rapid fire round  LINKS FROM THE EPISODE- 1. Bw-Tree - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/bw-tree-icde2013-final.pdf 2. BzTree - https://www.vldb.org/pvldb/vol11/p553-arulraj.pdf 3. EvaDB - https://github.com/georgia-tech-db/evadb 4. TokenSmith - https://github.com/georgia-tech-db/tokensmith 5. Intel Center for Visual Computing - https://www.openedgecomputing.org/blog/index.html HN comments on the impact of LLMs on education - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47477925 7. BuzzDB - https://buzzdb-docs.readthedocs.io/8. Andy Pavlo's Database Course at CMU - https://15445.courses.cs.cmu.edu/9. Uber's indexing system - https://www.uber.com/us/en/blog/h3/ 10. Rajni Restaurant - https://rajniatl.com/ 11. Soldiers and Cooks restaurant - https://www.cooksandsoldiers.com/ VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback & Guest Nomination Form.  EDITOR – Sid Ramesh

S6E3: Vaibhav Jain- Engineering with a Global Mindset

On this episode, host Tanmay Shah chats with Vaibhav Jain.  He’s a Tech Lead who’s built high-impact systems across India, Singapore, and the Netherlands. From scaling logistics with machine learning to architecting low-latency crypto fraud detection, he’s done it all while leading teams across multiple time zones. But he’s not just building systems; he’s building people. Vaibhav is an OMSCS alum, a mentor to over 40 engineers, and has conducted senior interviews for tech giants like Palantir and Coinbase. If you want to know what it takes to operate with a global mindset, this is the episode for you.  TIMESTAMPS-  (00:00) - Cold Intro  (01:50) Involved in competitive programming, preparation for software engineering career  (05:08) Moved from India to Singapore to explore, thought process, cultural differences  (08:37) Differences in ways of working in Singapore between India startup and Singapore "scale-up"  (11:45) How to motivate and persuade people when people might be resistant  (14:38) "Leading from the front" and building teams that work together  (17:50) Differences between junior and senior engineers  (20:32) Moving to technical side, differences between real-time and event-driven  (25:45) move to Amsterdam to work for crypto company  (29:00) System design approach switching from tracking parcels to tracking finance  (32:01) How agentic tools like Claude Code are changing the way fraud is perpetrated  (35:01) What is good enough in software development related to fiduciary duties  (38:58) Where does the OMSCS program come into the picture, reasons for attending  (42:41) How does OMSCS keep up with the needs of the global audience  (44:45) Rapid fire questions: counties visited, programming languages, travel, hiking, and more  (47:48) Closing thoughts: How OMSCS has been helpful and bridging gaps  VISIT https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast [https://omscs.gatech.edu/omscs-buzz-podcast] for the entire catalog of episodes and our Feedback & Guest Nomination Form.  EDITOR – Jim Lohse