[Nomination] Braulio Otavalo #254
Description
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
Braulio Otavalo
Nominee Email
Nominee's GitHub or GitLab Handle
beotavalo
(Optional) Organization / Affiliation
Awana, OA7GeoAI
City, State/Province, Country
Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador
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 the lead of the AI Skills Accelerator at Awana, I train software developers and engineers across Latin America in machine learning, focusing strongly on deep learning and computer vision using PyTorch. I regularly teach topics like transfer learning with foundation models, geospatial AI using TorchGeo, and the development of custom deep learning models for real-world challenges.
My goal as a PyTorch Ambassador is to make deep learning more accessible and impactful in Latin America, especially in underrepresented communities. To support inclusive AI education, I plan to host workshops, share open-source projects, and create learning paths that span from beginner to advanced levels in Spanish.
As one of the first Indigenous professionals in AI in Ecuador, I’m especially committed to mentoring Indigenous STEAM students and creating spaces for them to explore AI through PyTorch. I believe PyTorch is more than a tool—it’s a gateway to innovation and opportunity. I want to help others unlock that potential through community building, mentoring, and practical training.Any additional details you'd like to share?
I bring over a decade of hands-on experience in machine learning and a strong academic background in AI and computer vision. As AI Tech Lead at Awana, I mentor a team that delivers ML solutions for U.S.-based clients while also leading the AI Skills Accelerator, a program I designed to empower Latin American developers with practical, end-to-end ML training.
I have strong expertise in PyTorch for deep learning, computer vision, and geospatial AI. At Awana, I lead and teach modules on Deep Learning, Foundation Models, and Generative AI, all built using PyTorch as the core framework. I’ve worked on real-world projects that apply PyTorch to tasks such as satellite imagery analysis using TorchGeo, transfer learning, and model optimization for production.
My teaching efforts through the AI Skills Accelerator have helped Latin American developers gain practical experience with PyTorch. I’m deeply passionate about making advanced AI education accessible, especially for underrepresented groups, and PyTorch plays a central role in that mission.