Welcome to Leo's Home Page!

I’m an Associate Professor of Computer and Data Science at the Data Science Institute, Faculty of Engineering, Universidad del Desarrollo (2016-) in Santiago, Chile, a Fellow of Telefónica Research & Development, also in Santiago, and a Research Fellow of the ISI Foundation (2019-), in Turin, Italy. I got my PhD from Carleton University, in Ottawa, Canada. I did a post-doc (2004-2005) at the Human-Oriented Technology Lab at Carleton, and became a senior researcher there (2006-2008). I was an invited professor at the University of Edinburgh (2006-2008) and moved to Chile as an Assistant professor of Computer Science at Universidad de Concepción (2008-2016) before moving to UDD in Santiago. I’ve published in high-performance computing (in a somewhat previous life) and in computational social science. Currently, my research focuses on using mobile and telephony data for social good, data-driven policy and non-traditional data sources. At UDD/TEF I’ve been involved in industry and government research and development projects.

News

• 2025: NetSci2025 (Maastricht) • Charting Complexity (London) •

Research

• Risk:
• Epidemics & mobility:
• Mobility & mobile phone data

Teaching

• IELE 754 [2025-1, 2025-2]: This is a project-driven data science course that transforms students into collaborative researchers by assigning each team a different South American country to analyze using real-world datasets.


• Statistical models of social phenomena [2025-2]: This is an experimental PhD course on using mobile phone data to answer scientfic questions about human behavior.

Old computers

• Commodore 16 : On 2025-05-31 11:15:30 +0200, I acquired a Commodore 16 micro-computer in Chivasso, Piemonte, Italy. The Commodore 16 was a low-cost 8-bit home computer released by Commodore in 1984 as part of the 264 series. Intended as a successor to the VIC-20, it featured a MOS 7501 or 8501 CPU running at 1.76 MHz, 16KB of RAM, and the TED (Text Editing Device) chip for video and sound. It included Commodore BASIC v3.5 in ROM and was aimed at entry-level users, but lacked compatibility with the popular C64. Despite limited commercial success, it was notable for its affordability and was especially popular in parts of Europe and Latin America. And it came with a Commodore Dataset!
  
• Talent MSX: On 12/28/2024, I acquired a Talent MSX computer in San Juan, Argentina. The Talent MSX was an 8-bit home computer manufactured by Talent Argentina (see a nice history here) in the mid-1980s, based on the MSX standard developed by Microsoft and ASCII Corporation. This machine featured a Zilog Z80A processor running at 3.58 MHz, 64KB of RAM, and the Texas Instruments TMS9918A video display processor capable of producing colorful graphics and sprites. Like other MSX computers, it included Microsoft MSX-BASIC in ROM and was designed to be compatible with a wide range of MSX software and peripherals. The Talent MSX was particularly notable in the South American market as one of the locally-manufactured computers that brought affordable computing to the region during the 1980s home computer boom. I haven't cleaned this one yet, though.
  

Posts

• 2025-05-24 19:34:13 -0400:

Code

DISCLAIMER: This page uses the simplest possible HTML: no CSS, no scripts, no popups. The goal is to focus entirely on the information, not on cookie prompts, animations, or design trends. Personally, I find this simplicity both practical and aesthetically pleasing. It was written in Emacs, with no tooling involved. I've tried many setups, even org-mode (which I love), but in the end, they just add friction, especially when switching machines. Long live raw text.