Nando de Freitas is a researcher in the field of

machine learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of study in artificial intelligence concerned with the development and study of Computational statistics, statistical algorithms that can learn from data and generalise to unseen data, and thus perform Task ( ...

, and in particular in the subfields of

neural networks A neural network is a group of interconnected units called neurons that send signals to one another. Neurons can be either Cell (biology), biological cells or signal pathways. While individual neurons are simple, many of them together in a netwo ...

Bayesian inference Bayesian inference ( or ) is a method of statistical inference in which Bayes' theorem is used to calculate a probability of a hypothesis, given prior evidence, and update it as more information becomes available. Fundamentally, Bayesian infer ...

and

Bayesian optimization Bayesian optimization is a sequential design strategy for global optimization of black-box functions, that does not assume any functional forms. It is usually employed to optimize expensive-to-evaluate functions. With the rise of artificial intell ...

, and

deep learning Deep learning is a subset of machine learning that focuses on utilizing multilayered neural networks to perform tasks such as classification, regression, and representation learning. The field takes inspiration from biological neuroscience a ...

Biography

De Freitas was born in

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

. He did his undergraduate studies (1991–94) and MSc (1994–96) at the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...

, and his PhD at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

(1996-2000). From 2001, he was a professor at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

, before joining the

Department of Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to applied disciplines (including the design and ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

from 2013 to 2017. He now works for

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

DeepMind DeepMind Technologies Limited, trading as Google DeepMind or simply DeepMind, is a British–American artificial intelligence research laboratory which serves as a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. Founded in the UK in 2010, it was acquired by Go ...

Awards and recognition

De Freitas has been recognised for his contributions to machine learning through the following awards: * Best Paper Award at the

International Conference on Machine Learning The International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) is a leading international academic conference in machine learning. Along with NeurIPS and ICLR, it is one of the three primary conferences of high impact in machine learning and artificial ...

(2016) * Best Paper Award at the

International Conference on Learning Representations The International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR) is a machine learning conference typically held in late April or early May each year. Along with NeurIPS and ICML, it is one of the three primary conferences of high impact in mach ...

(2016) * Google Faculty Research Award (2014) * Distinguished Paper Award at the

International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence The International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI) is a conference in the field of artificial intelligence. The conference series has been organized by the nonprofit IJCAI Organization since 1969.Jointly sponsored by the IJCAI O ...

(2013) * Charles A. McDowell Award for Excellence in Research (2012) * Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems Young Researcher Award (2010)

References

External links

Nando de Freitas home page
Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Zimbabwean scientists University of the Witwatersrand alumni Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Members of the Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford Fellows of Linacre College, Oxford Machine learning researchers Artificial intelligence researchers Google employees British computer scientists {{compu-bio-stub