Computer scientist · software systems · technical leadership · applied research
Software engineering, technical project management, applied research and Computer Science teaching — with emphasis on ownership, mentoring and rigorous systems thinking.
mail@diogo.site · Porto, Portugal
Senior SWE / Technical PM — Two-page profile for senior software engineering, technical project/program management and research-engineering roles. (tuned for 2 printed pages) · download as typeset PDF
I am a computer engineer from Porto, Portugal. My path into computing began in 2010, shortly after I first got access to a computer: I learnt programming logic, then C, and wrote small scripts to make tedious tasks disappear. The years that followed were spent around UNIX, multimedia and programming — first as a hobby, then as a degree, now as a profession.
I read Computer Science at the University of Porto and am currently a PhD candidate in Electrical and Computer Engineering at its Faculty of Engineering, where my work sits at the intersection of machine perception, interaction design and dependable systems. Alongside research, I provide systems analysis, strategic consulting and tailored training through Apontamento Cordial.
Away from the keyboard, I enjoy music, art and old TV shows, as well as tennis, jazz and contemporary dance, books, board games and time with friends.
Software, systems and research contexts
Engineering ownership. Led funded open-source platform development, coordinated contributors, made architectural decisions, and maintained a public-facing technical roadmap.
Research-to-system translation. Worked across dependable computing, robotics, machine perception and spatial interaction, keeping practical deployment constraints in view.
Milestones, stakeholders, risk and delivery
Execution discipline. I structure projects around clear goals, written decisions, risks, interfaces and incremental delivery.
Stakeholder fluency. I can communicate with engineers, researchers, students, institutional partners and non-technical decision-makers without losing technical precision.
Computer Science and engineering education
Teaching practice. Delivered workshops and talks on Git, dependable computing, embedded systems and decentralised networks.
Pedagogy. Completed evidence-based undergraduate STEM teaching training and a Portuguese trainer certification, with a focus on active learning and practical technical competence.
Remote-friendly, English-working, US-facing roles
Work posture. Comfortable with English-speaking, distributed and documentation-heavy environments. I am particularly interested in teams where seniority means raising technical quality, reducing ambiguity and mentoring others.
Apontamento Cordial
Strategic consulting. I conduct in-depth analyses of existing systems and processes, identify improvement opportunities, and recommend strategic solutions that raise productivity.
Tailored training. I design and deliver customised training programmes that meet the specific needs of client companies, equipping teams with the knowledge and skills to use technology effectively and fostering a culture of continuous learning.
Client-centric collaboration. I work closely with clients to gain a deep understanding of their needs and objectives, ensuring that training and consulting services align seamlessly with their strategic goals.
University of Porto
In September 2022 I joined the ANTAEUS project as a member of the on-board data-handling (OBDH) team. Our mission is to design and launch a 2U CubeSat to perform scientific measurements in the 100 keV – 10 MeV energy band and to validate a 2U instrument for future space high-energy astrophysics observatories. The project is led by the University of Coimbra in partnership with the Laboratory of Instrumentation and Experimental Particle Physics (LIP) and the University of Beira Interior. Its main scientific and technological conclusions will contribute to enhanced instrumentation for M-class high-energy astrophysics mission proposals in which the University of Coimbra participates, as well as to high-energy astrophysics based on a CubeSat constellation.
In October 2023 I became a supervisor of the Porto Space Team student society, having joined in July 2022 as head of its Department of Software and Computer Engineering, responsible for data handling in project INVICTUS — a hybrid-propellant (H3 category) rocket for the European Rocketry Challenge (EuRoC 2023), targeting a 3 000 m apogee and a safe parachute-assisted recovery.
GNU social — the free-software social networking platform
GNU social is social communication software written in PHP for public and private communications. It is widely supported, counts the Free Software Foundation among its users, and connects a free network of thousands of communities. Project website: gnusocial.rocks.
In February 2021 I received funding through the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under the NGI0 Discovery Fund grant agreement No 825322 (2021-02 to 2022-02), to lead the development of version 3, which features a high degree of accessibility, customisation and expansion via plugins. The fund is a European Commission initiative that aims to shape the Internet into an Internet of Humans.
In January 2021 I designed the new architecture for v3, guided the development of the new major release, introduced a new data representation and a new attachment mechanism, and ported much of v2 to v3.
Another highlight from 2021 was authoring FEP-2100, which allows ActivityPub actors of type "Group" or "Organization" to follow other such actors.
Centre for Telecommunications and Multimedia (CTM), INESC TEC
With the advent of machine-learning methods there has been extensive research in human detection, tracking and activity recognition. Inherent to this is the analysis of human pose using skeleton models that connect information extracted from the scene to the human body — information that parametric human models can also use to create virtual 3D representations.
During this internship I surveyed the state of the art in parametric human-body models, implemented the infrastructure required to test them, and produced a final analysis and comparison. The work was distinguished as the best of the MCT category by the jury of the Summer@CTM 2022 internship programme.
Underwater Systems and Technology Laboratory (LSTS), FEUP
Supported by a research grant (BII) from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. Our interdisciplinary student team further developed a low-cost autonomous surface vehicle, designed a docking station, and began work on a manoeuvre to enable autonomous docking in the LSTS toolchain. The manoeuvre uses a vector-field guidance algorithm to find the optimal trajectory and, when close to the station, tracks a target with the camera module. The vessel uses an IMU, a GPS, a camera and a Raspberry Pi 4.
Kult — the social network to discover, save and discuss content with friends (incubated at UPTEC)
Kult received support from the Grant for the Web flagship programme (2021-06 to 2021-12) and from IAPMEI's StartUP Voucher full grant (2020-06 to 2021-06). I was involved in the whole product conception, conducted numerous technical interviews and designed the base backend architecture.
Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto
Supervisor: Prof. João Tasso de Figueiredo Borges de Sousa.
Specialisation: Automation Engineering. Field of study: information engineering, computer science, intelligent systems, robotics, systems and control.
Coursework: real-time embedded systems, intelligent mobile robotics, network science, computer vision.
Activities and societies:
Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto
180 ECTS, of which 54 ECTS in Mathematics.
Activities and societies:
Key contents:
University of Coimbra and NASA
A comprehensive learning experience blending theoretical understanding through a lecture series with hands-on practical training in a capstone project, guided by subject-matter experts. The capstone solidifies the learned skills and fosters close collaboration with leading scientists in the GPM community.
IEFP — Portuguese Employment and Vocational Training Institute, and CRIAP Institute
Credential ID F751769/2024. Final grade: 5 — Excellent.
Acquired competencies: analysing the context of intervention for a training programme; designing the programme; developing didactic and multimedia resources; planning learning activities; applying techniques of pedagogical interaction and group facilitation; managing diversity in the training context; using and managing collaborative and learning platforms; developing evaluation tools for training and learning outcomes; and assigning and reporting results.
ESA Training on ECSS
Objectives: manage a software project for space and ground applications; understand the significance and procedures of the process; know what ESA expects; identify potential sources of project failure as early as possible; and bridge the system and software domains.
Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto
Held 2022-10-08 to 2022-12-05. Objectives: pedagogical preparation of a course; learning objectives and skills; teaching strategies for large classes; introduction to learning assessment; and higher-education pedagogy.
Cambridge Assessment English
Credential ID B6703928. Scores: Reading 200 (grade A, C2); Use of English 201 (grade A, C2); Writing 190 (C1); Listening 193 (C1); Speaking 195 (C1).
INESC TEC
My internship on parametric human-body models was distinguished as the best of the MCT category by the jury of the Summer@CTM 2022 internship programme.
15th U.Porto Young Researchers Meeting (IJUP 2022)
“GNU social v3 and Unbound Actors” was distinguished as the best oral communication in the Engineering area.
European Union Horizon 2020 — grant agreement No 825322
Funding awarded through the EU's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (2021-02 to 2022-02) to lead the development of GNU social v3.
Lund University School of Economics and Management (EUGLOH)
Our team ranked best among six in the two-day hackathon closing the Entrepreneurial Skills module.