I’m originally from Praia do Francês, in Marechal Deodoro, Alagoas (Brazil) — where I’ve called home since 2003. Life eventually brought me to Saint Louis, in the United States, where I live today.

I hold a PhD in Computer Science from CIn/UFPE and was a Lecturer (Associate Professor level) at IFAL from 2018 to 2024. I still believe the only reason I didn’t become a soccer player, surfer, or musician was lack of time (or perhaps talent?).

The truth is that I play well, catch good waves, and in computing the results are simply easier to document.

Felipe presenting a talk on AI and computer vision at Saint Louis University

Academic and professional path

Before research, I worked as a full-stack developer at Indra. Then came my PhD at UFPE, with a period as a visiting researcher at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany, my academic career as a Lecturer (Associate Professor level) at IFAL, and the founding of the Laboratory of Data Engineering and Analysis (LEAD), the first data science laboratory in Alagoas. Along the way I also collaborated with Doity and the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA).

Felipe surfing a wave
There has to be a photo, otherwise no one believes it. :)

Today

I work as a Research Scientist at the Remote Sensing Laboratory at Saint Louis University. My research is in applied AI — deep learning architectures, models at runtime, and foundation models — put to work for the common good, especially the environment and agriculture. I am also Co-PI on GENESIS, a USDA-NIFA-AFRI grant starting in 2027.

My posts document that journey: technology, AI, software engineering, and data science — but also what it means to live far from home, move to another country, and relearn everyday life. Between code and contemplation, with a daily longing for the sea.