Bio: Ando is a PhD student at the School of Information at UC Berkeley. Prior to Berkeley, Ando worked as a systems engineer, mixed-media artist, virtual reality pioneer, entrepreneur and filmmaker. Trained as a chip designer, he spent his formative years developing ASICs to optimize video streaming, and off-grid renewable energy systems for communities in east Africa. He created one of the first 360 video capture cameras, created and directed multiple live-action and interactive VR experiences selected at Cannes & Sundance Film Festivals. He co-developed the first underwater camera trap and used it to automatically identify individual manta rays. Ando was the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Ballast Technologies, and he created the field of aquatic virtual reality to study the effects of ‘virtual nature’ on the human brain, and build empathy for the ocean. He holds multiple patents in these fields and a Masters degree in Computer Engineering from North Carolina State University.
Research: Ando uses satellite data and machine learning algorithms to monitor human impacts on ecosystems at scale. His research sits at the intersection of environmental justice, deep learning and sustainability. He has designed marine biodiversity crediting mechanisms to ensure the longevity and well-being of ocean habitats, and is currently pursuing research that uses deep learning to inform policy for unsustainable mining practices, as well as self-supervised learning methods specific to satellite data modalities.
Fields of Interest: Data Science, Remote Sensing, Mining, Deep Learning, Ecosystems, Environmental Justice
