Only A Model

Hi, I’m Ben Deaton. Thanks for stopping by! 👋

This site is a cross between a professional portfolio and personal blog. I use this space to explore anything and everything that interests me, hopefully with a discernible throughline. My views of the world are only a model; I’m trying to iterate toward the best ones. I view this site as a living/working document, written by me, for me.

Here’s my profile across several axes:

• Currently: I lead high-performing software teams that build distributed machine learning systems.
• Professional focus/services: Software engineering, AI, machine learning systems, data science, leadership, engineering systems, people management, advising, consulting
• Work history: Startups, tech, consulting, national labs, academia. More here
• Georgia Tech Engineering PhD, MS, and BS
• Values: Empathy, rigor, ownership, openness, flexibility, aesthetics, vulnerability
• Places lived: Atlanta (current), Boston
• Married 23 years with three beautiful dependent life forms age 8 to 17
• I’m an amateur classical violinist. My one serious hobby that temporarily shuts off the outside world.
• My youngest child has an extremely rare de novo genetic disorder that has dramatically impacted our life. This instantly made me a rare disease advocate and my goal is to help other parents navigate similar journeys.
• Personality type: INFJ (Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging)

Evergreen / Working Documents

• Now - What I’m doing right now, current focus, etc.
• Things I Recommend - I care a lot about the design of everything things
• Useful Questions - To ask myself or others

Recent posts

• My experience preventing and managing RSI (n=1) (27 Apr 2020)
• MLSys 2020 Conference Recap (23 Apr 2020)
• Case-sensitive multiselect in VS Code (14 Apr 2020)
• The Gene: Reflections on the PBS documentary (13 Apr 2020)
• My current remote work setup (22 Mar 2020)
• Notes on Spaced Repetition Memory Systems (21 Feb 2020)
• Review of the Coursera Machine Learning course by Andrew Ng (16 Feb 2020)
• On Deleting Facebook and Rare Disease (09 Jun 2019)
• Recap: Southern Data Science Conference 2019 (24 Apr 2019)
• Five-year update: BOS to ATL, Engineering to Data Science, PPP2R5D (19 Apr 2019)
• ... and more in the archives

Etymology

The great masters do not take any Model quite so seriously as the rest of us. They know that it is, after all, only a model, possibly replaceable.

–C.S. Lewis

But you know where the name actually came from.

Contact me

If you are interested in connecting with me, please get in touch using this contact form, which goes straight to my email. I’ll respond as soon as I can. Thanks!