[Nomination] Manith Marapperuma #55
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
Manith Marapperuma
Nominee Email
Nominee's GitHub or GitLab Handle
(Optional) Organization / Affiliation
No response
City, State/Province, Country
Colombo, Sri Lanka
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 Computer Engineering undergraduate passionate about deep learning frameworks, I would leverage my technical background and enthusiasm to make meaningful contributions as a PyTorch Ambassador. My academic foundation in computer architecture, algorithms, and systems programming provides me with a unique perspective on PyTorch's capabilities and implementation. I would engage with the community by organizing bi-weekly study groups on campus where fellow students could collaborate on PyTorch projects, troubleshoot implementation challenges, and explore the latest framework updates. These sessions would create a supportive environment for newcomers while allowing experienced users to deepen their knowledge through teaching others.
I plan to develop a series of hands-on workshops specifically designed for undergraduate engineering students, bridging the gap between theoretical classroom knowledge and practical PyTorch applications. These workshops would focus on applying PyTorch to engineering problems, such as computer vision for robotics applications and signal processing with neural networks. Additionally, I would create and maintain a repository of annotated implementations that demonstrate how to transition from engineering mathematics to PyTorch code, helping my peers overcome the initial learning curve.
To expand PyTorch's reach within the computer engineering community, I would collaborate with student chapters of professional organizations like IEEE to host joint events that showcase PyTorch's capabilities for embedded systems and edge computing applications. I would also establish a mentorship program connecting undergraduate students with graduate researchers and industry professionals using PyTorch, creating pathways for deeper involvement in the ecosystem. Through these initiatives, I would help cultivate a new generation of PyTorch developers who bring an engineering perspective to machine learning development, ultimately strengthening and diversifying the broader PyTorch community.Any additional details you'd like to share?
CV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15M6d9FsgUnga19DvuuFTSrW9UFd_5w2U/view?usp=sharing
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manithj/
Personal Web: https://manith.me/
As a Computer Engineering undergraduate at General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University in Sri Lanka, I would bring my unique perspective and technical background to the PyTorch Ambassador role. My academic foundation in computer engineering, combined with my experience as Volunteer Affairs Manager at IEEE, has equipped me with both the technical knowledge and community organizing skills needed to make meaningful contributions to the PyTorch ecosystem.
Drawing on my programming experience with Python and my repositories like ML-Notes-by-Manith, I would create localized educational content tailored specifically for Sri Lankan students and developers. I plan to organize bi-weekly PyTorch study groups on the KDU campus, creating an environment where fellow engineering students can collaborate on projects, troubleshoot implementation challenges, and explore the latest framework features together.
Leveraging my role at IEEE, I would establish connections between the PyTorch community and the broader engineering community in Sri Lanka, organizing joint workshops and hackathons that showcase PyTorch's applications in fields relevant to local industries and research priorities. These events would help bridge the gap between theoretical classroom knowledge and practical implementation, focusing particularly on how PyTorch can be applied to agricultural technology solutions – building on my experience with projects like the R-Agro-Harvest-Predictor.
I would also develop a series of Flask-based web applications that demonstrate how PyTorch models can be deployed in production environments, expanding on my Flask_A-Z tutorial repository to create accessible examples for other undergraduates. Through my personal website (manith.me) and GitHub presence, I would document these implementation journeys, creating a resource hub specifically designed for computer engineering students transitioning into machine learning development.
By focusing on these initiatives, I aim to foster a thriving PyTorch community within Sri Lanka's academic institutions, helping to diversify the global PyTorch ecosystem while creating pathways for underrepresented developers to contribute meaningfully to the framework's growth and evolution.