About Me

Hey! Thanks for stopping by. I tend to ramble a bit when I write, so fair warning—this might get a little long. But I’m glad you’re here!

If you’re looking for what I’ve been up to professionally, you can check out my LinkedIn. For more casual thoughts and project updates, my blog is probably a better place. This page? It’s more about the story behind the code.

How I Got Here

I’ve always been fascinated by how things work—not just what they do, but the engineering that makes them possible. Growing up in Colombia, I was that kid who would take apart electronics and (sometimes successfully) put them back together. I started with mechatronics, learning the fundamentals of systems, circuits, and control theory.

But somewhere along the way, I discovered programming, and everything clicked. Code wasn’t just a tool—it was a way to build things that could scale, adapt, and solve real problems. From there, I dove deep into computer science, systems programming, and eventually security.

What I’m Into

Right now, I’m particularly excited about three things:

Compilers and Low-Level Systems: There’s something incredibly satisfying about working close to the metal. I spent last summer working on visualization tools for kernel compilation offloading in LLVM. Getting to contribute to a project that powers so much of the software we use daily? That was surreal. I love thinking about how code gets transformed from high-level abstractions down to machine instructions.

AI and Intelligent Systems: I’m fascinated by cognitive architectures and how we can build AI agents that reason, plan, and optimize for complex problems. I’ve been working on systems for urban planning—turns out, cities are incredibly complex systems that benefit from intelligent decision-making. I also spent time researching how AI can enhance sustainable infrastructure development.

Cybersecurity: There’s a unique thrill in thinking like an attacker to build better defenses. I’ve worked on building security scanners, implementing DAST and SAST methodologies, and hunting for vulnerabilities in real systems. Security isn’t just about finding bugs—it’s about understanding systems deeply enough to know where they’ll break.

Projects I Care About

Aura: I built this Discord bot for university students to make learning more engaging. It’s AI-powered and designed to help with educational activities. It started as a small project but grew into something students actually use daily.

Ziv Compiler: This is my playground for understanding programming language design. Building a compiler from scratch forces you to think about every abstraction layer, every optimization, every design decision. It’s humbling and educational in the best way.

Open Source Contributions: I contribute to LLVM, Scikit-Learn, Pandas, Mozilla, and various other projects. Open source is how I learned most of what I know, so giving back feels natural. Plus, code review from maintainers who’ve been doing this for years? That’s the best education you can get.

Learning by Building

I’m a big believer in learning by doing. Reading papers and documentation is great, but nothing compares to actually building something, breaking it, and fixing it. That’s why I volunteer for research projects, contribute to open source, and take on projects that are slightly above my current skill level.

I also love teaching. In my free time, I mentor students in data science and programming. Explaining concepts to others is one of the best ways to solidify your own understanding. Plus, seeing someone have that “aha!” moment when a concept clicks? That’s pretty rewarding.

Beyond Code

When I’m not staring at a screen, you’ll find me doing things with my hands. I play the saxophone (jazz is my favorite), and I enjoy building physical things—whether it’s electronics projects or just tinkering with mechanical systems. There’s something grounding about creating tangible objects after spending so much time in the abstract world of software.

I used to practice archery competitively. While I don’t shoot as much anymore, the discipline and focus it taught me still influences how I approach problem-solving today. Aim carefully, breathe, execute—turns out that works pretty well for debugging too.

What’s Next

I’m always looking for interesting problems to work on—whether that’s ML research, systems programming, security, or something I haven’t encountered yet. I’m particularly interested in low-resource language models, compiler optimization, and building developer tools that actually improve productivity (not just add more abstraction).

If you’re working on something cool and think I might be able to contribute, or if you just want to chat about compilers, security, or AI, feel free to reach out. Email works best, but I’m also on Twitter and GitHub.

Quick learner passionate about building things that matter. Always eager to take on challenges that push my limits.