Joao Hitoshi Soares Castro

Hi, I’m Joao Hitoshi, and this is my portfolio where I’ll be going into the technical details of my projects.

I am a rising junior at Carnegie Mellon University, pursuing a major in Computer Science with an additional major in Artificial Intelligence. Having completed most of my core coursework, including foundational classes like Introduction to Computer Systems (15-213), I am now focusing on specialized electives in both Machine Learning and Computer Science. My primary interests are systems and machine learning. I enjoy system-level programming in C/C++ because it gives me a deeper understanding of software when I work with higher-level systems. In machine learning, I am focused on adapting to the industry’s rapid evolution and hope to apply various techniques to challenges in prediction and automation. One of my recent projects, SoloMuse, involved developing an LSTM-based model. For my next project, I am excited to explore transformers to better understand their practical applications. I am eager to make the most of my remaining two years at CMU to deepen my expertise in these fields, and I’m especially looking forward to upcoming classes, next semester, like Introduction to Computer Security (15-330) and Computer Vision (16-385).

A Bit of My Story

I was born in São Paulo, Brazil, and lived there until I left for college. At two years old, I started at Graded, The American School of São Paulo, where I became fluent in English. As a typical Brazilian, I grew up playing soccer daily for both my school and a local club. I also played competitive tennis, participating in state and national tournaments. As I got older, I transitioned away from tennis and took up golf, eventually reaching a 13 handicap. While my focus on school has led me to step back from competitive sports, I’ve become deeply invested in football. I am the commissioner of a fantasy football league that has been running competitively with my friends for five years now, and you can find me watching NFL RedZone most fall Sundays. I also enjoy following F1, especially with Gabriel Bortoleto racing, and pretty much any sport involving Brazil. My other interests include playing guitar (my favorite song to play is “Everlong” by The Foo Fighters), watching movies (my favorite is Arrival, and my Letterboxd is jhitoshi), and playing video games (my favorite is Red Dead Redemption 2).