Hey there 👋 welcome to my website!
I’m Stefano and pictured here is my artificially intelligent dog, Kernel. I grew up near the sandy beaches of Florida while Kernel grew up in DALL·E 2, an AI system that creates realistic images. We both love data as it clearly plays a huge role in our daily lives.
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All jokes aside, it’s honestly crazy to see what AI technology can create nowadays. Here, I simply added a 1024 x 1024 pixel picture with an empty bottom right corner and the AI took over from there adding "my" dog, my body, the bush, and building.
Creating this page has allowed me to reflect on the fascination I’ve had with technology since I was young. Growing up, tinkering with a Motorola flip phone or experiencing the noise of dial-up internet sparked my curiosity. Even at school, it was exciting to see new technology make its way into the classroom. It went from “Andy has Tetris on his phone” to “Okay class, today we're using AutoCAD software to build robotic parts”.
As my curiosity grew, I realized Computer Engineering would provide me with a great opportunity to learn more about hardware. I went to Syracuse University and — oh boy, I left with more questions than answers at times. I took courses in software development, coding and algorithms, operating systems, data mining, cybersecurity, and machine learning. There was so much more to tech than just soldering parts of a handheld device or 3D printing a steering wheel. It was understanding how software components complemented the hardware that really opened my eyes to the vastness of technology.
During the final projects of my undergraduate degree, I spent most of my time working with my team on a watch capable of detecting sound in the form of frequency waves. We touched topics in keras, tensorflow, and wavenetclassifier, and dived into documentation for pydub and pyaudio while building a casing for the watch. We trained and tested the model with large data samples using Python and hardware equipment. In the end, in its final design, our watch could detect fire alarms and police sirens at various ranges in an outdoor setting, and then display the sound identifier which came in the form of a picture on the watch interface. Ultimately, I really enjoyed spending those countless nights in the lab working out a complex problem and bringing the solution to fruition.
After college, however, I wanted to continue down a newfound curiosity — data. I wanted to explore how data impacts the world we live in today. I saw how data impacted the watch project and we saw its scale to make images like that with “Kernel” possible. My interests led me to pursue analytical positions for companies in multiple industries such as law, travel & tourism, and media. I got the opportunity to learn more about the business behind each of these organizations, collaborate with multiple teams in marketing, sales, product, engineering, analytics, and enterprise, and work with modern data stacks.
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As such, at this stage of my journey, I’ve created this portfolio to serve as a platform to share my perspective on transitioning into a data career. I also wanted to share the projects I’m working on now and those that I’ve completed in the past. I’ve extensively used SQL and Python programming languages to query tables and scrape webpages, respectively. I learned about Snowflake and Databricks features and capabilities as it impacts analytical teams. I orchestrated DAGs in Airflow and made sure processes affecting production environments were constantly running. I developed visualizations in Power BI, Mode, and Looker to aid business stakeholders in tackling their immediate and long-term performance goals. Finally, I collaborated with my teammates in GitHub, Slack, and Jira on many projects from start to finish. Now, with my motivation at its peak, I'm looking ahead towards new opportunities to continue learning and growing!
In my spare time, I have the wonderful opportunity to volunteer at my local boathouse with a fantastic non-profit organization. Our mission is all about spreading the joy of water sports like paddleboarding and kayaking, while ensuring that everyone in our community has access to our beautiful waterways, free of charge.
One of my roles involves working closely with our dedicated Planet Patrol team, striving to maintain the cleanliness of our beloved cove. Together, we embark on missions to collect floating trash and tackle invasive species. It's truly rewarding to witness the positive impact we make on the environment.
During our public programs, I take on the responsibility of organizing and transporting essential safety equipment and boat supplies to the cove. It's my pleasure to guide visitors and ensure they are well-informed about the importance of wearing safety gear correctly. I also enjoy teaching them the art of paddling, the proper technique for entering and exiting a kayak, and how to gracefully execute a water exit.
Volunteering with this organization has been an incredible journey, allowing me to combine my passion for water sports with my desire to give back to the community. I'm grateful for the opportunity to share my knowledge and skills with others, and witnessing the joy on their faces as they embrace the water is truly priceless.
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