5 years...

Emory 5 years, November 19, 2022

So I am 5 years with the Department of Biomedical Informatics, Emory University this month. However, that is counting in the 7 months I spent in 2016, March - October. If not for that, my continuous 5 years would be on June 19, 2023. In both cases, I am reaching the 5 years soon. This is very long, especially for me as I consider myself nomadic with frequent migrations. This period also includes my 3.5 years of postdoc life since I defended my PhD thesis in 2019 July (ULisboa/Portugal) and 2019 August (UCLouvain/Belgium). The pandemic, travel restrictions, pandemic-related challenges, and other factors made the time go faster, I guess? The years 2020 - 2022 feel like a big monolith, rather than 3 whole years. It is not to say all the three years were same. But they kinda went fast. Really fast. Despite the 5 long years (or 4.5 years, if I do not include the 2016 stint), I was also working with different PIs over my time here. So it was not like I was working on the same projects or topic/domain for the whole time.

In addition to this Emory 5 years, this year feels special to me for two more reasons along the memory lane. First one is, it is 10 years since I left Sri Lanka for my grad school. Then it is also 3 decades since I turned 5. I started counting decades from 15, considering my earliest memories are from when I was 5 years old. So, this year, as I am 35, makes me 3 decades of memories (1992 - 2002, 2002 - 2012, 2012 - 2022). Surely, the last decade (2012 - 2022) was the most eventful and remarkable. I hope the next decade 2022 - 2032 will bring me interesting memories too!

I was interacting with my mentees who apply for gradschool this year. That made me recall my time applying for gradschool in autumn 2011 and my first semester in ULisboa/Portugal in autumn 2012. We had a cool bunch of Erasmus Mundus EMDC MSc 2012 - 2014 group. Our EMDC batch was the middle one among the 5 years program. We had 2 years of seniors before us, and 2 years of juniors after us. That left me in a great spot to observe the past and future of EMDC masters program as I did that. (Same situation with my Erasmus Mundus Ph.D., EMJD-DC as well.) Some of us did a PhD. Others joined the industry after the MSc. Among those who left academia, some started companies. Most others joined big companies in Europe and elsewhere. A few others joined some crazy startups. Some of us left Europe and ended up in third countries (i.e., countries other than our home country and countries in the EU). Some stayed in Europe. Others went back to their home country. Among those who did a PhD, some did an Erasmus Mundus PhD (like me), while others did some other PhD program. Again, after PhD, some joined the industry while the others continued with academia. Among those who continued with academia, the lucky/smart ones became a tenure-track professor instantly, while the others like me became a postdoc. Now, I have the capability to reach out to everyone to give the exact numbers for these categories. But I think that is not important as this is just for my personal blog after all.

Neurasmus page showing students and alumni

EMDC first years were either in Portugal or Spain, where we all spent the 3rd semester in KTH/Sweden. For the forth semester, some of us came back to our host countries (Portugal or Spain), some stayed in Sweden (mostly just with KTH, while some went on to do an industrial internship at Sportify), and some did an internship in a third European country (such as France, Germany, or Switzerland). I came back to ULisboa/Portugal, making it ULisboa/Portugal -> KTH/Sweden -> ULisboa/Portugal for my MSc. That also means, I was one of the few with minimal diverse experiences during my MSc, as I spent time in just two countries where many of us were in three countries. I compensated for this lack of migrations during my Ph.D., with my 3 international research internships (Croatia, USA, and Saudi Arabia) that spanned continents, in addition to my two universities (ULisboa/Portugal and UCLouvain/Belgium). I started my affiliation with ULisboa in 2012 August and spent 7 years doing my MSc and Ph.D., making it the longest university of my life so far, even longer than my 5 years (so far) at Emory University. #WeAreTécnico!

Today a Twitter friend introduced me to Neurasmus, a EU joint-degree MSc program influenced by Erasmus Mundus, but with a neuroscience focus. They also have a nice web page that documents all the students and alumni of the programs in a single place neatly! I wish our Erasmus Mundus programs had something similar. We actually have one for our Ph.D. (EMJD-DC), although not as fancy. But we do not have one for our MSc (EMDC). I remember some of us from the EMDC 2012 intake made a pact to visit Lisboa in 2022 August/September (marking the 10 years). But a pandemic and 10 years have changed many things.

https://twitter.com/pradeeban/status/1580967108321587203?s=20&t=RegDHN3nybldtJxjMNPwzQhttps://twitter.com/pradeeban/status/1580967108321587203?s=20&t=RegDHN3nybldtJxjMNPwzQhttps://twitter.com/pradeeban/status/1580967108321587203?s=20&t=RegDHN3nybldtJxjMNPwzQhttps://twitter.com/pradeeban/status/1580967108321587203?s=20&t=RegDHN3nybldtJxjMNPwzQhttps://twitter.com/pradeeban/status/1580967108321587203?s=20&t=RegDHN3nybldtJxjMNPwzQ

#WeAreTécnico

Exactly 10 years after I joined Técnico Lisboa for the first time for my masters, this month Técnico created an alumni network to connect past and present students and faculty of the university. It has a LinkedIn integration. If you too are from Técnico, feel free to say hi!

Técnico alumni network

Portugal, from ten years ago...

My journey to Lisboa

Ten years ago, on a day like this, I left home for Colombo airport to head towards Lisboa for my grad school. I thought I was going to grad school. To do coursework and do research. Maybe for a couple of years? I did not know I was on for a life of adventures of diving into cultures and making friends. A journey that changed me completely.

 

The journey was not direct. I first had to go to New Delhi to get my Portuguese student visa. Getting the visa was a story on its own.  Then three days later, with the visa stamped on my passport, I headed towards Lisboa via Dubai. Two days of August 2012 are of high importance to me. One is the Monday 20th for leaving home to live abroad for the first time, and the other is the Thursday 23rd to arrive in Lisboa finally.

View from my apartment in Lisboa, August 2012

During those early days in Portugal, I would think about where I would be in 10 years. Here, I am writing this blog post from Atlanta. Arrival in Lisboa was smooth. Emirates upgraded me to business class. The border control was friendly to me. The landlord was waiting for me with my name typed on his tablet. On his drive, he mentioned, "Portugal is having economic hardship now. But we are always happy." I also asked him why it was cold in the summer, coming from Colombo. He replied it was the end of the summer and almost autumn. The following days, I walked the streets alone. Everyone was helpful, despite me not knowing the language. Most people there can and will speak English, unlike, for example, in France. In some ways, it was like the opposite of Emily in Paris. Lisboa was nicer to me. (Oh yes, I have made a blog series about my life in Lisboa,  Pradeeban in Portugal!) But I did not know that I would end up doing my Ph.D., primarily based in Lisboa, eventually spending seven years of my life centered around Portugal until I completed my Ph.D. in 2019.

The Pacific Ocean, Santa Monica. June 2022

Moving to Lisboa started season 2 of my life. Due to Erasmus Mundus mobility requirements, I moved back and forth from Lisboa to cities in other countries - Sweden, Belgium, Croatia, Saudi Arabia, and the USA. Then in June 2018, I moved to Atlanta after submitting my thesis. I finally defended my Ph.D. thesis in July 2019 in Lisboa and August 2019 in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Erasmus Mundus joint degree requirements! 

I moved out from Lisboa in June 2018, did not visit Portugal after July 2019, and my last connection to Portugal was completed with my final Ph.D. defense in August 2019. But I feel I am still in season 2, which Lisboa started in my life. The last three years of the pandemic have significantly changed many aspects of our life and even how we interact with people. Things have slowed down significantly. My travels since February 2020 are entirely restricted to local trips within the USA. My life in Lisboa and my seven years of Erasmus Mundus are like pleasant dreams. I believe I will have an equally exciting season 3 somewhere sometime later. Until then.

When the reality exceeds the hype

Utqiagvik airport, midwinter 2021, -35C

Some events in life - we anticipate those for a long time. Before they happen, they feel almost like a dream. Then it happens. Sometimes they disappoint, after all those hypes and hopes. Other times, they surprise us even beyond our expectations.

 

A few come to my mind. First, the Erasmus Mundus. Doing an MSc in Europe, not just in one country - but two! It felt like too good to be true. Then I got accepted and spent 2 years in Portugal and Sweden: 3 semesters in Lisboa and a semester in Stockholm, to be precise. I left Sri Lanka on the 20th August 2012, 10 years ago, and arrived in Lisboa on the 23rd August, after spending a few days in New Delhi. The Erasmus Mundus experience, especially as a masters student living alone for the first time, together with many similar students, felt special and it pleasantly surprised me.

 

Utqiagvik airport, summer 2021

When I was in my third semester of the MSc, I applied to the PhD program under the Erasmus Mundus (now discontinued and replaced by Marie Curie funding) funding again. It felt it is going to be a larger version of the Erasmus Mundus masters, spending time in 2 EU countries again - but for 4 - 5 years. More time for those pleasant encounters. Then it happened. I spent my PhD in not just 2 countries in 2 years - rather 5 countries in 5 years! In addition to my universities in Portugal and Belgium (the host universities of my PhD program), I spent a few months in other universities in Croatia (1 month), USA (7 months), and Saudi Arabia (2 months), with research internships. While my MSc started this mobility experience with Portugal -> Sweden -> Portugal, my PhD felt like my MSc experience on steroids. More diverse experience. Now, looking back, my MSc + PhD experience of 7 years, 2012 August - 2019 August (2 years of MSc followed by 5 years of PhD) feels like a sweet past birth. An ultimate nomad life. I surely want to go back to Portugal for those memories.

 

No sunrise in the midwinter in Arctic

My visit to the North Slope in Alaska in 2021 was a travel experience that exceeded my extremely high expectations. I visited Anchorage (and surrounding towns - Whittier and Spencer Glacier) and Utqiagvik (and Point Barrow) in the summer, after wanting to visit Alaska for 2 decades since 2001. Utqiagvik, the Arctic Alaska, felt other-worldly, despite being the USA. I had to visit Alaska again (!!!) within a few months, in the midwinter, as I was so mesmerized by Alaska - this time to Anchorage, Fairbanks (and College), and Utqiagvik. Again, Alaska exceeded my expectations, making me want to go there for the third time. I even like that tiny Utqiagvik Barrow Airport. It does not have restaurants or anything fancy. But it has a minimalist and home feeling to it. Love that.

 

I am happy for these memories. But that also means I also want to go back in time (i.e., visit these places again). Hope I will still love Alaska and Portugal the same when I visit them again.

Grad school and destinations

Flights, a major part of our life!

One of my juniors asked my opinion on going for higher studies in Europe. I have blogged about Erasmus Mundus a few times. But I decided to make yet another blog post based off of our discussion.

 

Erasmus Mundus used to have both MSc and PhD programs - I did Erasmus Mundus MSc and Erasmus Mundus PhD. With the program restructuring, the Erasmus Mundus PhDs are discontinued. We have the Marie Curie scholarships for PhD instead. 

 

He was planning to apply for a PhD with just a BSc. But EU PhDs almost always (there could be exceptions) require you to have an MSc unlike USA or Australia. So, if you want to do a PhD in EU, you are mostly going to do what we I did - do an MSc (go for Erasmus Mundus - it was a dream come true for me) first. Then apply for a PhD.

 

The 2-years MSc and 5-years PhD was my case. I wasn't in a rush - I took my own time. More likely scenario will be 2-years MSc and 4-years PhD. There is really no rush to leave the school, unless you have no grant - but always strive to get a grant - Erasmus Mundus, Marie Curie, etc will help. Personally, I loved my MSc days. 2 years - 4 semesters. 4th semester was the thesis semester (research). The first 3 semesters were courses only (no research). It was like an extension to our BSc (Eng) from Sri Lanka - if you think about it, it makes sense in the EU - most do an integrated MSc there (i.e., enter the program after highschool and finish BSc + MSc combined in 5 years). 

 

In comparison, in the USA, more likely you will spend 5 years of (MSc + PhD combined, as you go directly from BSc  ➡ PhD.  In such places where you start PhD directly after your BSc (like in the US or Australia), you don't have that relaxing period where you just attend the lectures and do coursework/group-projects. They had to already think about finding the advisor, etc. 

 

Our EU MSc days were like fun, friendships, and feeling young. Only one catch is, if you go for an MSc in the EU, by the early second year (i.e., 3rd semester) you have to apply for the PhD again (with recommendation letters and all). That gives a slight uncertainty and anxiety: for instance, what if you couldn't get into a good PhD program in the EU after the MSc? US does not have a good credit transfer system from MSc programs, especially from other countries. So, if you try to apply for a PhD in the USA after an EU MSc, you are mostly going to sit with those who arrived there just with a BSc (in other words, you may feel like you have wasted 2 years for nothing in the EU with your MSc). That's why the strategy is, if you do your MSc in EU, do your PhD there as well.

 

If time is a concern, USA, Canada, or Australia can be better choices. Australia is very quick. I have friends who completed their PhD in 3 - 4 years directly after their BSc. US universities will typically require IELTS and GRE for the PhD. EU did not require GRE, and we were exempted from IELTS since we come from an English-speaking university.

Viseu - Virtual Internet Services at the Edge

Indeed, I have named yet another project after a Portuguese town - a tradition I started during my PhD days with Sendim, Óbidos, and Évora. This time, I have Viseu. I am loving my footnotes for each of these works.

A few things that made my 2020 interesting..

Panama Canal

2020 is the weirdest year ever. Although 2020 is not close to my happy years (2019, 2017, 2015, and 2013), this post focuses on the happy moments.

1. Panamá: a lovely Central American country and wonderful people

Self-discovery on a solo trip. This country made me feel energetic.

 2. A new year in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka

Feeling like 2012 and before.

 3. Surviving the 2020 home alone, except for virtual meet-ups

The unexpected COVID-19 pandemic and forced separations of families due to travel restrictions.

4. Getting overwhelmed by the architectural marvels of Doha

The Katara Cultural village and Souq Waqif - bringing me back the memories of KAUST, Saudi Arabia.

5. Watching villagers walking the streets as early as 3 am in Northern Bali!

A scenic ride across this island of active and friendly people

6. Les Waterfalls, Tejakula

Getting soaked in the rain and a waterfall that reminded me of Sri Lanka.

7. Singapore with my niece and nephew

Some family time outside Sri Lanka and enjoying this small island nation.

Souq Waqif, Doha

8. The magnificent views from the canyons of Arizona and Utah

South Rim of the Grand Canyon and the weird cliffs seen from the Bryce Canyon.

9. Giving a keynote speech at MoNeTec 2020

Supposed to be in Moscow in October. But became virtual due to COVID-19.

10. Making a diverse array of cocktails and shots 

Made a collection of liquors to mix and drink during the weekends.

 11. Writing a grant proposal and sleepless nights

It wasn't accepted though.

12. Sand that feels like cocoa powder

Climbing up and down the Coral Pink Sand Dunes!

13. Developing Niffler open-source DICOM framework

My paper got accepted to IEEE Access. I also named two of my other research works after Portuguese towns, Sintra and Viseu.

A rainy night in Singapore

14. Receiving my Ph.D. degree certificates and diplomas

Those certificates from Belgium and Portugal signify the official completion of my Ph.D. double degree.

15. Summer and the lakes of Georgia

Lake Lanier and Allatoona lake have beautiful beaches.

16. The Disguiser and Nirvana In Fire

Yú Mànlì (于曼丽) has become my most favorite fictional character.

17. Attending KDD and EuroPar conferences at once virtually!

Two conferences, same days, different timezones -- thanks to the pandemic.

18. Camping in Dreher Island State Park

The airport sleeper tries sleeping in a tent for the first time.

19. Storm in Hunting Island beach of Atlantic Ocean

Who expected a storm when we walk on an isolated beach in South Carolina?

Non-touristy Northern Bali

20. Two nights in a boathouse in Key Largo

Just before heading south through various connected islands.

21. Walking on an abandoned national highway in Saddlebunch Keys

The old state road 4a felt like walking back in a frozen time.

22. The most vibrant Key West!

Key West had the Bahamas vibes, but crazier. It also had several stray hens, fondly known as Key West chickens.

23. Power cut in Atlanta!

Some darkness and Internet failure, thanks to some storm in a far far region.

24. Vultures and Alligators in the Everglades

And a lovely sunset walk followed by mosquitos.

25. A boat ride in the keys, Biscayne National Park

The waves were quite strong, spraying salty ocean water on us.

Moon shines over Dreher Island State Park

26. A long night walk under a snow storm in Flagstaff, Northern Arizona

First time enjoying several inches of powdered snow at the same time with a snow storm + some hail.

27. Exploring Orlando

Also, a day in Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, eating way too many corn dogs from morning until night.

28. A random walk in Savannah

It is a beautiful and relatively walkable town.

29. The colorful petrified forest national park and the views of the painted desert

The Blue Mesa is otherworldly.

30. INESC-ID Virtual Natal

I attended several virtual sessions by ULisboa, feeling connected although I am not in Lisboa.

Every year, I have one new year's resolution - to outperform my previous years. :) Overtaking 2020 shouldn't be too hard for 2021. But I hope 2021 brings back the happiness to the 2019 pre-pandemic level. I wish you a happy new year. Thanks for reading my list until the end. You may read the blog posts of all the previous years as well.

Pandemic Atlanta Lockdown - Week 39

This week I received my Ph.D. degree certificate and diploma from my university in Portugal. My Ph.D. is a double-degree from Portugal and Belgium. I already received my degree certificate from Belgium on September 17th. I completed my research by June 2018 before I moved to Atlanta. But my defense got slightly delayed as I continued to improve my thesis with the feedback from my supervisors and the thesis committee. Eventually, I defended it in July 2019 in Lisboa, Portugal, and August 2019 in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Now, after slightly longer than a year, I also have both degree certificates. It took longer than usual to receive the certificates due to the COVID19-induced university shutdowns. Now with both degrees in my hand, I feel happy. It was a good journey. I will continue to extend and apply the findings from my Ph.D. research for the problems of biomedical informatics.

I have named my next project Viseu (Virtual Internet Services at the Edge), which I am working in parallel with Sintra (Self-adaptive Inter-domain Network Transfers for Radiology). Sintra and Viseu are a continuation of the Ph.D. research I completed last year in Portugal and Belgium. They follow my tradition of naming my projects with the Portuguese town names, starting from Sendim (2015), Óbidos (2017), and Évora (2018). Now, I am running out of Portuguese town names to make acronyms or backronyms for my research projects.

The year is coming to an end soon. The coming week is the last full work-week. YouTube Music has made some  summary of the videos that I have watched in this year. I don't think it is accurate as it seems to show only the music that I listened through the YouTube Music App, and not the ones I watched directly on YouTube.com.

Thanks for the music @BrumaOtilia🇷🇴 and @ICE_Gang🇰🇷.💚❤️ pic.twitter.com/vmWAAWs8vd

— Pradeeban (@pradeeban) December 11, 2020

 

 

Pandemic Atlanta Lockdown - Week 29

Time flies fast...

This week went ahead as usual. I got some time to reflect on my 2010s. Interesting how people come and go in our lives. 

If we consider our life a novel or a teledrama, some people just take a few pages, some - perhaps a footnote, and some take whole chapters. Some people appear briefly before and later come back to occupy the later chapters. Life is quite dynamic, and more so for me since 2012 as I keep moving between countries. My friendships have become relatively shorter, as my friends and I, we all have been in continuous migrations thanks to the Erasmus Mundus, and its mobility during my MSc (2012 - 2014) and PhD (2014 - 2019). Sometimes, life is more interesting than a movie, with its twists and turns. Not forgetting to mention how nightmarish 2020 has been so far, for the whole world!

Since 2012, I've been living a kind of nomadic life, and my friends (2012 - 2019) themselves as well, thanks to @EUErasmusPlus.

I made every friendship with the realization that I will have to bid goodbye in a year or two, if not in months.https://t.co/r4LOyATVI6#Lisboa 🇵🇹 https://t.co/S3ahpaUIKR

— Pradeeban (@pradeeban) September 26, 2020

Pandemic Atlanta Lockdown - Week 24

Malibu Summer Rose

I was busy with two conferences this week - SigKDD and EuroPar. That also means, my week was different from the regular.

I can remember things when I am drunk. My behavior doesn't change with alcohol. Not sure whether it is good or bad. I got only drunk twice outside my home. It is funny how these moments make a good memory.

The first time, Barcelona (2013) Bar and club crawl. Lost count of the shots. My bestie sensed I was slightly unstable, grabbed my last shot glass from my hand, spilled it to the ground in the bar, and told me, "Enough" (He was drinking as much as me - but he had a higher tolerance then).  I was waiting outside for a few minutes after I went out of the bar to vomit in the street corner. I couldn't bother to find the bathroom in the bar. My friend came outside to ask whether I am doing ok. I told him I vomited, and now I am ok. Then we (I guess, maybe 6 out of 17 - 20 of the original group that we were with) decided to go back to the hotel.

I went out and vomited instantly.

The second time was in San Francisco (2016) on a cruise in a conference dinner. We were student volunteers. The professor in charge had given us the drink tickets and said, "you can have as many you want." I drank maybe 8 or 9 drinks. Somehow my friends (the other student volunteers) lost me when the boat landed (I thought so - they later told me I left before them). I walked alone for 30 - 40 mins straight to the hotel using my memory - because I know I was too drunk to call an Uber and interact with a human. I judged that walking drunk is safer than an Uber (and a potential to vomit inside the Uber). I safely arrived at the hotel and fell asleep instantly after removing my shoes.

I don't get drunk as often. So when I do, my memories are vivid. Other times I drank outside my home, never reached that level at all. First, drinks outside are expensive (unless I buy bottles - which I sometimes did), unlike me stocking hard liquor at home and drinking. Second, we never had alcoholics in our bunch (usually international students). Most of us were doing one or more of the below: partying, trying to find relationships/romance/..., and exploring the new countries and cultures. Getting hard-core drunk was not anyone's goal. We were mild at our parties.

During the pandemic era, I got drunk home alone twice (and perhaps drunk more than what I am used to when I go out - as usually it is just one or two beer or cocktail - the cocktails outside are watered down with too much ice too). In any case, I know when I am getting drunk. So I stop before that.

Next weekend is a long weekend. I am looking forward to it.

Innovating the work week?

An illustration of data flow. 😅

Who else thinks innovating the workweek is a good idea, during the pandemic work from home? I am seriously considering that. The approach is simple. Rather than Monday - Friday, you choose your own workweek, making sure you don't have meetings and responsibilities for the regular weekday that you select as your "weekend" day. It could be Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. This thought is not entirely new to me. That is precisely what I did in Portugal during my Ph.D., because movie theaters, parks, and beaches were emptier on Wednesday than on a Sunday. However, there are a few challenges to emulate this. First, unlike me during my Ph.D. time (my Ph.D. supervisor is the most understanding professor ever, and we knew each others' work styles very well), students may not have that luxury and freedom. Besides, collaborations and other responsibilities will most likely prevent the majority of employees from attempting this. But I still think this could be an interesting option if supported by the employer, especially during the pandemic WFH. Before COVID19 WFH, I also worked 7:25 a.m. - 4:45 p.m. every day. In Atlanta, I rarely did the 995 (9 a.m. - 5 p.m., 5-day workweek) anyway as I like to start and finish earlier. Now, my times are quite stretched as I work from home alone. I start around 8 - 9 a.m. and go until late. 

There are a few EU countries that have adopted or planning to adopt a 4-day workweek. Interestingly, in Asia, it is going in the other direction towards a 6-day work week, including weird systems such as 996 (9 a.m. - 9 p.m., 6 days). In the future, if I happen to create my own company, I will consider our own workweek, with seven days of work followed by three days of "weekend", making a long week of 10 days, innovating the calendar altogether. Then, every weekend will be a long weekend, while maintaining the same work hours per month. During one of the upcoming weeks, I will try a weekend workday and split my weekend into 2, with either Saturday and Tuesday off, or Sunday and Wednesday off. I will see how that goes.

Pandemic Atlanta Lockdown - Week 20

I am a GitHub Arctic Code Vault Contributor.

I have named my project, Sintra (Self-adaptive Inter-domain Network Transfers for Radiology). Sintra is a romantic and historic town in Portugal that I love. It is touristic and quite close to Lisboa, well-connected by train and bus. I used to name a few of my projects with Portuguese town names during my PhD: Sendim, Óbidos, and Évora were those 3 towns. Now, Sintra becomes the 4th Portuguese town which name my project after. Interestingly, all those 3 projects were implemented during my stay in INESC-ID Lisboa, Portugal. This is the first time outside Portugal. But that doesn't matter anyway. I name my project whatever I want, and that makes me happy. :P

My initial plan for the work-from-home/lockdown era was to "somehow survive" it, as many of my plans came to a virtual halt. I was assuming it to last only a few weeks, maybe until May 2020. But now I come to the realization that the pandemic is here to stay, perhaps even for the whole of 2021. I cannot be in a "survival mode" for a year to come.

Seeking entertainment from my friend in class, 2012

The forced separation of families due to the pandemic and the associated travel restrictions has left many of us home alone. However, replacing that with the shallow online communications (such as Twitter) is counter-productive in the long run. Now we are looking at the scale of years, rather than weeks! Even if most people don't really care about you on Twitter (I am referring to social media as "twitter" as it is the only social medium I use), the "likes," "retweets," and supporting comments from random Twitter people can be reassuring when there is no actual human interaction for months.

An economic depression is inevitable. It will cripple the developed world. Globalization, especially working in foreign countries, will become challenging. Already nations are adopting "citizens first" approach, closing their borders to foreign employees. We received an email, informing a pay cut of 5%. This comes in addition to the removal of the annual 3% cost-of-living increment of the salary. That is sad news this week. Depending on how I will see it, 2021 can be either a challenging or a difficult year. I must prepare to fight it, rather than taken by the waves in a survival mode.

Regardless of all these, companies do not stop sending me random emails, congratulating me for being a loyal customer, which I clearly am not. I also aim to be better prepared to fight this uncertainty that waits for me in mid-2021. In the meantime, focus and optimize for the pandemic life, in a positive manner.

You know your perception of time is messed up when you go, "oh, I miss those good old days," when you refer to 2020 early January, literally just half a year ago. Crazy days, indeed. Cheers for August!

[SDS 2020] Latency-Sensitive Web Service Workflows: A Case for a Software-Defined Internet

July 2nd: Today the Seventh International Conference on Software Defined Systems (SDS) went virtual. I had to present my paper "Latency-Sensitive Web Service Workflows: A Case for a Software-Defined Internet" in Paris at this conference. But, due to COVID19, we all uploaded the presentations with audio recordings. The sessions were asynchronous. But the keynotes were live, followed by Q&A. Due to this approach, the conference lasted only one morning 8 am - 1 pm Atlanta time (1 - 6 pm Paris time). The keynotes went on for 8 - 12 followed by an hour-long discussion with all the participants. This additional hour allowed us to network. However, we all noted that it cannot replace the physical networking that we usually have at the SDS conferences.

This is the last paper of my Ph.D. research. My Ph.D. was indeed an interesting 5 years of my life!

Abstract — The Internet, at large, remains under the control of service providers and autonomous systems. The Internet of Things (IoT) and edge computing provide an increasing demand and potential for more user control for their web service workflows. Network Softwarization revolutionizes the network landscape in various stages, from building, incrementally deploying, and maintaining the environment. Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) are two core tenets of network softwarization. SDN offers a logically centralized control plane by abstracting away the control of the network devices in the data plane. NFV virtualizes dedicated hardware middleboxes and deploys them on top of servers and data centers as network functions. Thus, network softwarization enables efficient management of the system by enhancing its control and improving the reusability of the network services. In this work, we propose our vision for a Software-Defined Internet (SDI) for latency-sensitive web service workflows. SDI extends network softwarization to the Internet-scale, to enable a latency-aware user workflow execution on the Internet.

Pandemic Atlanta Lockdown - Week 15

Mochi from Trader Joes

After the grant deadline and the conference, this week, everything is back to normal. I made my project into open source, after cleaning it up. Still, a long way to go, to make it flexible and readily usable by anyone. I also made some progress in my research, which is good. I am working on a paper with a deadline on July 15th. I foresee myself getting busy with that the coming week. I aim to seek more collaborators after my current deadline. Need to wear that researcher hat strong. :)

Not many updates this week. I got some excellent desserts such as Mochi from Trader Joe's. I have been waiting for these for almost four months now. I am happy I have them now. Trader Joe's never fails to amuse me. My fridge is also filled with liquors now. I must stop buying more liquors until I finish what I already have. I may buy Everclear, though. :)

I have had some fun conversations with friends and strangers this week on Twitter. Two questions that stood out and made me think:

1) Travel writer
2) Journalist
3) Restaurante Pastelaria no Parque das Nações
4) Climate scientist in Antarctica/Svalbard
5) Software company in Gansu or some remote China
6) Nomad with random jobs along the road
7) Liquor taster
8) Beetroot farmer in a relatively unknown country https://t.co/MBW47KYqwH

— Pradeeban (@pradeeban) June 25, 2020

1. Trying to find and redefine myself
2. Search for the meaning of life
3. Adventure
4. A desire for change in self and world
5. Curiosity
6. Learning to learn things on a meta-level
7. Flexibility
8. Collaborations spanning nations
9. Ability to switch domains at a high-level. https://t.co/ykcvBZ8PTF

— Pradeeban (@pradeeban) June 26, 2020

A photo thread on countries that I have visited (still on-going at the time of writing this blog post):

#Andorra, a beautiful #Catalan nation.

May 2015. pic.twitter.com/al2gabKF5p

— Pradeeban (@pradeeban) June 27, 2020

These days, I am just continuing the boring cycle. Boring and uneventful, but still alive. Being thankful is part of the COVID19 lifestyle. See you again next week, as a long weekend reaches us this Friday!

Remote conferences - Conferences during the COVID19 Era

Lisboa, 2013 NY, and my Zoom background

COVID19 has made the conferences go remote. Some conferences, such as SDS 2020, were postponed in the hope that COVID19 will end soon. But eventually, COVID19 became a deadly pandemic that no conference could survive. Some conferences, such as DisCoTec 2020 became free to attend for any participants while charging the authors a negligible fee. Other conferences offered discounted rates, such as 50%. For those who have already paid the full registration fees, refunds for the overpayment were issued.

DisCoTec used the Zoom webinar for the conference. Unlike a Zoom meeting that lets you see and listen to every participant, Zoom webinar gives a monologue-kind of environment. Most, if not all, presenters had recorded their presentation as videos. It is similar to the SDS 2020 presentation that I am supposed to give by the end of June. We all have recorded PowerPoint presentations with our voice over and uploaded them as videos for the conference. DisCoTec had a similar approach, with the videos uploaded to YouTube, unlisted. I mostly attended the tutorials (Monday), and DAIS sessions (Tuesday - Thursday). I skipped the workshops (Friday).

There are several advantages in conferences going remote. First, remote online conferences let us continue conferences as usual, without giving up. Now the options are: remote conferences or postpone or cancel the conference. With the pandemic still going strong, postponing does not seem to work. That leaves us with either no conference for 2020 or a remote conference. Something is better than nothing! So remote conferences, it is. Second, they open up the conferences to a wider community - those who couldn't travel to conferences due to funding and visa limitations. Now, with less funding, we could join more conferences. OK, these advantages are quite obvious.

Now, let's look into the shortcomings of a remote conference, done in the DisCoTec way.

1. No scientific interaction between participants

Following the recorded presentations, there were live Q&A sessions that lasted up to 5 minutes. But, mostly, it was just listening to recordings. With time, I am sure the conference will list those uploads, making it possible for everyone to go and watch them on YouTube, on-demand. To incentivize attending to the conference session remotely, conferences must put additional efforts, beyond the Q&A. Otherwise, I may just watch them at leisure, and send my questions as emails to the authors.

Of course, the conference organizers created a slack channel (on Tuesday) for questions and answers from the sessions. Each conference session had its room. DisCoTec is an umbrella event with a parallel conference (including DAIS) and workshop sessions. So it had several rooms in the Slack channel with one general channel. 

2. No coffee-hour friendships and networking

One thing I usually love about conferences is the coffee hour discussions. We meet the presenter and ask questions or compliment their work. I am an extrovert when it comes to conferences. I roam around with a cup of coffee during the coffee breaks. I go and introduce myself to any lone participant and discuss their work. Penetrating an already existing group is harder. Sometimes, participants from the same university, company, or friends from the same country make a group and stick to each other. I always avoid that. Such groups usually appear less open to make new friends. On the other hand, I have always made friends with diverse groups that were formed on the spot. I have made groups at conferences, by joining several participants over the coffee hours. Then we all go for dinner or sightseeing together. The best of the conferences, indeed!

3. Less opportunity to find long-term collaborators

Conferences are an excellent opportunity to find long-term collaborators and even employers! During IC2E/SDS conference, I met my supervisor from Croatia for the first time. She had attended my presentation and found that her research aligned with my on-going Ph.D. research (which was still in its infancy). That's how I ended up in Croatia, spending a summer in a short-term scientific mission (STSM)! That STSM contributed to the core of my Ph.D. research. Such fruitful interactions won't happen easily in online conferences. At least not in this format. I tried to interact with participants on Twitter via the hashtags. But not much luck except for some minor chats. The potential to meet collaborators is highly limited in remote conferences such as this and almost non-existent for the audience. I hope that at least presenters got some visibility and interaction beyond the Q&A. Communications with potential future collaborators are the key motivation for conferences. Otherwise, I would rather publish my work in a journal instead. In fact, journals are even valued highly in academia. So there must be more incentives to submit and present our papers in conferences when the advantage of meeting researchers physically is no more.

4. Timezone differences

The timezone difference is the biggest challenge, even for an introvert who doesn't like to network with random researchers. The conference was in Malta timezone, as it was originally scheduled to be in Malta. So for the 10:00 - 18:30 sessions, I had to wake up early in the morning, as it is 4:00 - 12:30 in Atlanta time. I was planning to sleep early and wake up early. But I also had other work meetings, and I could not escape my work duties for the week. Hence, I ended up having to spend most of the week without proper sleep. I went to bed at regular times and woke up as early as 4 a.m. Given a chance, I would go to bed earlier and adjust my timing to the conference timezone, including the meal hours. That would have made me virtually travel to Malta!

Although when we travel to conferences, I still end up with little sleep - as I have to prepare my presentations and try to find some time to explore the city. I am used to timezone shifts. But the last week was like double work since I had the conference sessions followed by my regular work hours. If the conference sessions were held at Atlanta time, of course, I would have to sacrifice one of the two - either the work for the week or the conference.

Can we do better?

Yes. My university in Portugal (IST/Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa) is hosting remote seminars on Mathematics, Physics & Machine Learning weekly. I joined the session on "Learning from Distributed Datasets: An introduction with two examples" last week. It was interactive. The session was hosted in a Zoom meeting. So the participants were able to see each other and even interact with the presenters before the event. It was nice to introduce myself to my ex-colleagues remotely. It was my first IST seminar after two years. Also, it is my first remote IST seminar ever. These online open seminars are one good thing that happened out of the pandemic. The recordings are, of course, available to watch later.

So in my opinion, such Zoom meetings that allow the participants to see and interact with each other before the sessions and during the "virtual coffee breaks" is a better option. Of course, zoombombing will be an issue. Password-protected conference zoom meetings can fix that.

The current move towards online conferences to combat COVID-19 travel limitations is a welcome move. However, it is not sure how long this will last. It will depend on the COVID-19 as well as the associated travel restrictions. The conference committees should take extra measures to make the conferences more interactive, to encourage communications between the participants and networking, rather than merely playing the recorded videos followed by a customary Q&A. This is new to all of us. So, of course, this is going to take a lot of iterations. Moreover, I empathize with all the conference organizers. They all have made tremendous efforts to organize the conferences physically. But they had to cancel their plans and again prepare for the online conferences.

Now CoopIS 2020 has gone online. It is one of the conferences I have presented in the past (I had papers there in 2015 and 2016). I am looking forward to attending more remote conferences whenever the topic is relevant to me, as long as the registration is free for the participants. I am yet not sure whether paying the registration fee is justified for a remote session, unless my paper is published in the conference.

Parque das Nações and Expo '98

Gil, the Mascot

Parque das Nações was built for Expo '98 World's Fair and incorporated into Lisboa. It is arguably my most favorite neighborhood in the world, with so many great memories. Over the 7 years between 2012 - 2019, I witnessed the growth and evolution of Parque das Nações. Old restaurants replaced by new ones. Old friends replaced by new ones. A good thing about migrating to new places is, you can start afresh. Life from bottom up. Meet new people and make new friendships. However, this also comes with a challenge. While you can make some nice friends, you will also lose that "best friend" moments. Most humans are wired to have their best friends from childhood and school days. Also, the quickly moving life makes you lose track of friends you made all along the way.

Pavilhão do Conhecimento

 

Also, not everyone that you meet on your path is on the same journey as you. In a flight, a few may be going to a new country for travel, a few may be returning home, and others may be traveling for routine business. While the Erasmus Mundus was my best memories so far, I cannot say the same for everyone. Others may have had a different experience. However, at certain point in our life at a certain place, we all crossed paths. Sometimes I imagine a future date where we can bring back all our old friends to Lisboa. It might be hard as we all are different continents and most have moved on with their life. I have developed this special bond for Lisboa, and Parque das Nações is surely a major part of it. I imagine a day I retire in this neighborhood decades later. :)

A few things that made my 2019 interesting..

UFOs and Bratislava

2019 is my best year so far, followed by 2017, 2015, and 2013. This post lists 30 things that made my 2019 interesting.

1. The finishing touches of my Ph.D.

Final moments of my terminal degree that lasted almost 5 years.

2. Successfully defending my thesis in ULisboa.
I got a Pass with Distinction.

3. UCLouvain Public Defense of my Ph.D.
As a double degree, I had to defend my thesis twice. My defense in Belgium officially concludes my Ph.D. of 5 years!

4. 10 Years of many things.
Time to reflect on the goods and bads of the 2010s, now with a little one.

 
5. Hosting a RIPE NCC Atlas Probe.
Fascinating to contribute to the Internet measurement community.

View from the Zugspitze Summit

6. Watching the Lunar Eclipse in Atlanta.
I was also present in Colombo during the Solar Eclipse. But did not dare to watch it.

7. Leuven twice - the second time was the charm.
Starbucks Leuven has also become my most favorite Starbucks.

8. Finding the Louvain-la-Neuve lake completely dry.
It was sad to see my favorite lake missing - although it was temporary.

9. Porto after exactly 6 years.
It was a magical experience, being in Porto on the same 3 days.

10. An overnight stay in Charleroi Sud, Belgium.
Realizing there is more than just a cheap airport in this region.

11. Time travel - Lisboa version.
The feeling of saudade was so real.

Panevėžys Train Station

12. Transcontinental boat ride in Istanbul.

Consistently chased by an army of seagulls.

13. Praia das Maçãs - The Apples Beach in Sintra.
A place where my favorite song from Romania was shot.

14. The bright and energetic Antwerp.
Probably the most random trip of the decade.

15. Random walks in Bratislava, Slovakia.
A cheap Ryan Air flight after a long time.

16. Getting a new passport.

For another decade, until 2029!

17. Hot summer days in Houston, Texas.
It was special as our first trip with our infant son.

The Hollywood Sign

18. My second GSoC Mentor Summit, after 8 years.
This year we successfully resurrected Emory BMI as a mentoring organization.

19. Cold evenings in Riga, Latvia.
Our first city from the former USSR.

20. A day in a "ghost town" in Estonia.
Pärnu, a summer resort that hibernates during autumn and winter.

21. Panevėžys, a way of travel.
Who guessed a boring town would influence us this much?

22. Zugspitze, on the top of Germany.
At 2950 meters, it is literally the highest point I have ever been in my life.

23. The majestic Salzburg.
It has this true European vibes.

Crowded Istanbul

24. Daily Duolingo lessons of Portuguese.
Because I don't want to forget the language.

25. Apple Picking in Ellijay.
It was an unexpectedly nice and refreshing activity.

26. Batu Caves, Malaysia.
It was also my first visit to Kuala Lumpur and South East Asia.

27. Long metro rides and walks in Los Angeles.
Evening rides to Santa Monica and Long Beach, and hikes in LA.

28. Postdoc life in Emory.
I presented my first conference paper as a Postdoctoral Researcher at BigData conference in LA.

29. Döner Kebab and Sahlep in Istanbul.
After some long walks during the Christmas vacation.

30. A "direct" flight via Male.
It was my first direct but not non-stop flight, from Istanbul to Colombo, via Male.

Every year, I have one new year's resolution - to outperform my previous years. :) I already have high expectations for 2020. I wish you a happy new year. Thanks for reading my list until the end. You may also read the blog posts of all the previous years as well.