About Me

I dislike writing about myself, but here it goes.

I am born and raised Toronto, Ontario, Canada, specifically, Etobicoke. Don't worry, you're almost certainly pronouncing Etobicoke wrong. My paternal grandparents are from Pisticci, Italy and my maternal grandparents are from the Ukraine, but my parents were born in Toronto. I speak neither language, but have a healthy enjoyment for both cuisines.

From very young, I've been a geek. I like all things science and technology. In grade 5, I discovered the joy of programming. In grade 12, I spent a semester learning at the Ontario Science Centre Science School. That was the moment when my geekiness was declared terminal.

I went to the University of Waterloo for Computer Engineering. They did a better job of empyting my soul than filling my mind. I am something of a contradiction as I am full entrenched in the practical mindset of an engineer, but I enjoy esoteric computer science things like type theory and functional programming. I am constantly intending, but never finishing, designing a functional language and operating system, called Sorbus, designed to provide theoretical beauty and yet practicality. Please don't shatter my stupid, stupid dreams.

Away from the vast Italian community in Toronto, I found that I could not get decent bread in Waterloo. I taught myself to make artisanal bread and eschew most technological help, including packaged yeast. I have a sourdough that I have maintained since the summer of 2003. His name is MycE (pronounced Mikey) which is short for mycological experiment. I also produced osmotolerant yeast after I acquired some microbiology skills. I also built a proofing oven to raise bread. In general, I like cooking, but I approach it in a very technical way. I want to know the chemistry, physics, and biology in making a good meal. I have stolen a huge number of recipes from my nonna and picked them apart technically. I have catalogued most of them in a the Family Cookbook which is quite large.

I find cooking quite theraputic, even when not engaging in the science. I have a few other incongruent traits. I have some limited artistic ability. I made all the images on this website, including the SVG portrait of myself. I dislike sports, yet enjoying biking and going to the gym. In fact, I started going to the gym to assure myself that it would be terrible and then I could justifiably stop, but that didn't quite work out.

If I have a belief in programming it is this: programming is only as interesting as the problem you are solving. I have no interest in writing business CRUD-type applications. I have always been intersted in biology. I added a biology minor to my computer engineering degree in the hopes of doing bioinformatics. I am now pursuing a masters in bioinformatics at Wilfrid Laurier University, which is litteraly down the street from the University of Waterloo.

During my minor, I became heavily involved in the Waterloo iGEM team. The iGEM competition was created by Tom Knight and Drew Endy to foster the growth of synthetic biology, the true intersection of biology and engineering. This makes me warm and fuzzy on the inside.

I also have some crazy dietary issues. Genetically, my gastrointestinal system kind of sucks. It took me a while to figure out and now I have a huge matrix of food sensitivities.