5 ms·

It's been said more than a few times in the past, but I cannot get over just how smart and motivated Alyssa Rosenzweig is - she's currently an undergraduate uni

by 542458 4y ago

It's been said more than a few times in the past, but I cannot get over just how smart and motivated Alyssa Rosenzweig is - she's currently an undergraduate university student, and was leading the Panfrost project when she was still in high school! Every time I read something she wrote I'm astounded at how competent and eloquent she is.

azinman2 4y ago
Does anyone know if she has a proper interview somewhere? I'd love to know how she got so technical in high school to be able to reverse engineer a GPU -- something I would have no idea how to start even with many more years experience (although admittedly I know very little about GPUs and don't do graphics work).
frostwarrior 4y ago
While I was reading I was already thinking that. I can't believe how smart and an awesome developer she is.
pciexpgpu 4y ago
Undergrad? I thought she was some Staff SWE in an OSS company. Seriously impressive, and ought to give anyone imposter syndrome.
- gjsman-1000 4y ago
  Well, Alyssa is, and works for Collabora while also being undergrad.
- coverband 4y ago
  I was about to post "very impressive", but that seems a huge understatement after finding out she's still in school...
aero-glide2 4y ago
Have to admit, wherever i see people much younger than me do great things I get very depressed.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- kif 4y ago
  I used to feel this way, too. However, every single one of us has their own unique circumstances. I can't give too many details unfortunately. But, there's a specific step I took in my career, which was completely random at the time. I was still a student, and I decided not to work somewhere. I resigned two weeks in. Had I not done that, I wouldn't be where I am today. My situation would be totally different. Yes, some people are very talented. But it does take quite a lot of work and dedication. And yes, sometimes you cannot afford to dedicate your time to learning something because life happens.
- ip26 4y ago
  I get that. But then I remember at that age, I was only just cobbling together my very first computer from the scrap bin. An honest comparison is nearly impossible.
- ohgodplsno 4y ago
  Be excited! This means amazing things are coming, from incredibly talented people. And even better when they put out their knowledge in public, in an easy to digest form, letting you learn from them.
- pimeys 4y ago
  And for me, her existence is enough to keep me of getting depressed about my industry. Whatever she's doing, is keeping my hopes up for computer engineering.
- cowvin 4y ago
  No need to be depressed. It's not a competition between you. You can find inspiration in what others achieve and try to achieve more yourself.
- Shorel 4y ago
  When I see young people do these things, I get happy and confident. Hopeful for a better future. When I see talent wasted in things like scientology, then I get depressed.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
nyanpasu64 4y ago
It's surprising to me the deep contrast between this awe-inspiring deep technical wizardry, and the sometimes-incompetence of driver developers (at least the impression I get from a month spent reverse-engineering Windows drivers) and poor pay of embedded programmers (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31364360 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31364360). I don't know if striving to develop this kind of deep knowledge myself (though I don't know if I'll ever learn all the skills she has today) is a useful work skill; I get the impression that deep knowledge of how to optimize compilers/compute/apps/servers at the assembly/cache level pays very well (despite being much more similar to embedded compared to web/mobile or backend development).
lynguist 4y ago
She finished high school in 2019 and I assume she was 18 at that time. She would be 21 now. I am in awe with her. Here’s her CV: https://rosenzweig.io/resume.pdf https://rosenzweig.io/resume.pdf

by 542458 4y ago

azinman2 4y ago

Does anyone know if she has a proper interview somewhere? I'd love to know how she got so technical in high school to be able to reverse engineer a GPU -- something I would have no idea how to start even with many more years experience (although admittedly I know very little about GPUs and don't do graphics work).

frostwarrior 4y ago

While I was reading I was already thinking that. I can't believe how smart and an awesome developer she is.

pciexpgpu 4y ago

Undergrad? I thought she was some Staff SWE in an OSS company. Seriously impressive, and ought to give anyone imposter syndrome.

gjsman-1000 4y ago
Well, Alyssa is, and works for Collabora while also being undergrad.
coverband 4y ago
I was about to post "very impressive", but that seems a huge understatement after finding out she's still in school...

aero-glide2 4y ago

Have to admit, wherever i see people much younger than me do great things I get very depressed.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
kif 4y ago
I used to feel this way, too. However, every single one of us has their own unique circumstances. I can't give too many details unfortunately. But, there's a specific step I took in my career, which was completely random at the time. I was still a student, and I decided not to work somewhere. I resigned two weeks in. Had I not done that, I wouldn't be where I am today. My situation would be totally different. Yes, some people are very talented. But it does take quite a lot of work and dedication. And yes, sometimes you cannot afford to dedicate your time to learning something because life happens.
ip26 4y ago
I get that. But then I remember at that age, I was only just cobbling together my very first computer from the scrap bin. An honest comparison is nearly impossible.
ohgodplsno 4y ago
Be excited! This means amazing things are coming, from incredibly talented people. And even better when they put out their knowledge in public, in an easy to digest form, letting you learn from them.
pimeys 4y ago
And for me, her existence is enough to keep me of getting depressed about my industry. Whatever she's doing, is keeping my hopes up for computer engineering.
cowvin 4y ago
No need to be depressed. It's not a competition between you. You can find inspiration in what others achieve and try to achieve more yourself.
Shorel 4y ago
When I see young people do these things, I get happy and confident. Hopeful for a better future. When I see talent wasted in things like scientology, then I get depressed.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

nyanpasu64 4y ago

It's surprising to me the deep contrast between this awe-inspiring deep technical wizardry, and the sometimes-incompetence of driver developers (at least the impression I get from a month spent reverse-engineering Windows drivers) and poor pay of embedded programmers (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31364360 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31364360). I don't know if striving to develop this kind of deep knowledge myself (though I don't know if I'll ever learn all the skills she has today) is a useful work skill; I get the impression that deep knowledge of how to optimize compilers/compute/apps/servers at the assembly/cache level pays very well (despite being much more similar to embedded compared to web/mobile or backend development).

lynguist 4y ago

She finished high school in 2019 and I assume she was 18 at that time. She would be 21 now. I am in awe with her. Here’s her CV: https://rosenzweig.io/resume.pdf https://rosenzweig.io/resume.pdf