[Nomination] David vonThenen

[davidvonthenen]

Select one:

• I am nominating myself for the PyTorch Ambassador Program.
• I am nominating someone else to become a PyTorch Ambassador.

Please confirm that the nominee meets the following requirements:

• The nominee is 18 years of age or older.
• The nominee agrees to abide by the PyTorch Code of Conduct.
• The nominee agrees to comply with the Linux Foundation Antitrust Policy.
• The nominee meets at least one of the qualifications listed in the PyTorch Ambassador Program Requirements.

Nominee Name

David vonThenen

Nominee Email

davidvonthenen@gmail.com

Nominee's GitHub or GitLab Handle

https://github.com/davidvonthenen/

(Optional) Organization / Affiliation

Netapp

City, State/Province, Country

Los Angeles, CA, United States

Your Name

No response

Your Email (Optional)

No response

How has the nominee contributed to PyTorch?

• An active contributor to PyTorch repositories (e.g., commits, PRs, discussions).
• A speaker at PyTorch events or workshops.
• A PyTorch user group organizer or meetup host.
• A researcher or educator using PyTorch in academic work or training.
• An active leader in the PyTorch community with at least one year of experience in:
• Organizing events (virtual/in-person).
• Speaking at AI/ML conferences.
• Mentoring others in PyTorch.
• Creating technical content (e.g., blogs, videos, tutorials).

🏆 How Would the Nominee Contribute as an Ambassador?

As a PyTorch Ambassador, I would actively engage the community by organizing both virtual and in-person events, focusing on practical applications and project-driven learning. I've already led numerous open-source projects built with PyTorch, notably models detecting Parkinson's disease through gait analysis and voice recognition (among many many others). Sharing these projects at conferences like Open Data Science Conference, AI_Dev, etc showcases PyTorch's versatility and inspires others to tackle real-world challenges.

Mentoring plays a key role too... I regularly guide developers in mastering PyTorch by breaking down complex topics into clear, hands-on tutorials and blog posts. My goal is to continue creating content that simplifies machine learning, making PyTorch accessible for everyone, from beginners to advanced practitioners.

Any additional details you'd like to share?

All prior presentations can be found here:
https://davidvonthenen.com/talks/

20+ Sessions that were recorded can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYFYqXh1UGg&list=PLbt-vfK614XogHSmJ0CNmUXtaUKYM247t

Notable sessions:
Real Time Communications Conference & Expo 2024
KEYNOTE: Training Machine Learning Classification Models for Creating Real-Time Data Points of Medical Conditions
Video: https://youtu.be/YgeinCCUBCk
October 2024

NVIDIA GTC 2025
Crack the AI Black Box: Practical Techniques for Explainable AI
Video: https://youtu.be/umurTAD4x2Y
March 2025 San Jose, California, United States

Souther California Linux Expo x22 (2025)
Demystifying Building NLP ML Models and How to Leverage Them By Example
Video: https://youtu.be/hAvCtpKnkLI
March 2025, Pasadena, California, United States

Developer Week 2025
KEYNOTE: The Sound of Innovation: Why Voice Cloning Will Redefine Human-Computer Interaction
Video: https://youtu.be/WkQnqkHrzEQ
February 2025 Santa Clara, California, United States

[github-actions]

👋 Thank you for submitting a nomination for the PyTorch Ambassador Program! 🎉

Your nomination is currently under review. A team member will evaluate the submission and update the status accordingly.

🔹 Review Process & Next Steps:

1️⃣ Initial Review – The nomination will be reviewed by the team.

2️⃣ Scoring & Selection – Reviewers will assign scores based on eligibility and impact.

3️⃣ One-on-One Review – If shortlisted, the nominee will have a session with the Executive Director.

4️⃣ Final Decision – Selected ambassadors will receive an official invitation. ✅

📖 Program Details: View Documentation

💬 Have questions? Please submit a Feedback or Inquiry and reference this nomination issue number.

Thank you for helping grow the PyTorch community! 🚀

[github-actions]

Please note: This conversation is now locked and limited to PyTorch Foundation team members only to maintain the integrity of the submission process.

[github-actions]

Hello David Vonthenen,

Thank you for applying to the 2025 PyTorch Ambassador Program and for the valuable contributions you make in the PyTorch community. After careful consideration, we regret to inform you that your application was not selected in this cycle.

We encourage you to apply again in the future — the next application cycle will open in early 2026. Please keep an eye on our website for updates on the timeline: https://pytorch.org/programs/ambassadors/

We truly appreciate the time, effort, and passion you bring to the PyTorch community, and we hope to see your application again in the future.

If you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to reach out to us at ambassadors@pytorch.org.

Best regards,
The PyTorch PMO