Catching-up with Tony and Jason (Chuantao), ex-MVPs, over sizzling Korean BBQ 🔥🥩 in Chinatown! We talked tech, passion, life, and of course, their legendary MVPSummit moments at Microsoft Redmond campus.
Now, it's time for me to apply leave from family responsibilities. 🤣 MVP Summit (March 25th to 27th), hope I will be there this year for the first time.
Lucky! 🍀 My AzureAI and CosmosDB hackathon project was a winner (honorable mentions) and featured on the Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB Dev Blogs last October (just noticed it) ! A few weekends of hard work truly paid off! ✨
This AI hackathon had over 9,500 developers world-wide engaged with Azure Cosmos DB and Azure AI services, making it one of the most popular on Devpost, ranking in the top 0.2% of all Devpost hackathons. 🔥
📢 Checkout my "LEGO Robot AI" and other winner's projects in this blog: "Meet the Winners | Microsoft Developers Azure AI & Azure Cosmos DB Learning Hackathon": https://devblogs.microsoft.com/cosmosdb/meet-the-winners-microsoft-developers-azure-ai-azure-cosmos-db-learning-hackathon/#lego-robot-ai
💖 A huge shoutout to Ricky, Lanna, Jasmine, Reddy, Marko, Aveneel, João, Microsoft CosmosDB team and Devpost for hosting this incredible hackathon last year. Excited to keep building and innovating with Azure AI and Cosmos DB! 🚀
One last AIAppInOneDay workshop in 2024 at the Microsoft Canberra office to wrap up the year! On what turned out to be a record-hot day🔥, the energy in the room was even hotter (and no, it wasn't just because one of the A/C units went down in the morning 😅).
We dove into building AI apps using Azure AI Services, and the excitement was contagious! 🎉 We discussed questions on topics like evaluating LLM responses using AIFoundry and dove into experiments with GraphRAG from Microsoft Research.
The session was filled with insightful questions, innovative ideas, and collaborative problem-solving ✨, highlighting the transformative power of AI in reshaping how we think and develop.
A huge shoutout to all the participants for your curiosity and engagement that made this workshop a remarkable success! 🙌 We did it again, Ahmed Youssef! 💡 Special thanks to Tracey, Michelle, and Ross for organizing this fantastic workshop!
Fun day at the Microsoft AI Tour @ Sydney! Lucky I made it back from Auckland ✈️ just in time to be one of the 6000+ participants!
I absolutely loved the keynotes, workshops, breakouts, and interactive sessions! Each one packed with valuable insights and inspiration. And let's not forget the Microsoft photo booths, such a fun and creative way to capture the day with friends like Saadullah! 📸
Especially thrilled to see PetAI being showcased in multiple occasions. Such a proud moment for our Insight team!
From cutting-edge Azure AI tools to real-world success stories, the event showcased the power of AI to drive transformation and innovation. Plus, the chance to connect with industry peers and experts was the cherry on top. 🍒
Read more via LinkedIn PostInnovation overload in Auckland! 🚀 Just rounded off another unforgettable AIAppinOneDay workshop in Microsoft office with Ahmed, and it was all about getting our hands dirty with Azure AI services.
Yep, we built a RAG chatbot from scratch 💬 - embedding generations, vector searches, LangChain orchestration. It was like taking OpenAI models to the next level, with a vibe that screamed: "Let's build cool stuff!"
The best bit?💡Realizing we can make AI apps for literally anything. Work? Sorted. Fun? Oh yeah. What about an app to predict the next lottery numbers (an idea from crowd) ! Are we coding or dreaming? Who cares - it's genius.
Shoutout to everyone in the room who brought the energy, ideas, and what if moments. 🤝
No longer qualified as an 'engineer' after my first FTC , guess I'll have to stick with 'Software Engineer' from now on. 😅
Volunteering at the FTC Nationals today Macquarie University was both inspiring and humbling. I walked in feeling confident in my skills and walked out realizing the FTC teams operate on an entirely different level. 🧠💻
My job today? Keeping the two practice fields in order. 🏟️ And hey, looks like I did an okay job at that! ✅ Meanwhile, the FTC teams were out there pushing the boundaries of what I thought was possible. Watching them work was like seeing a masterclass in precision, creativity, and pure technical brilliance.
A huge congratulations to the winning teams! 🏆 And a big shoutout to all the volunteers who made the day run smoothly - it's not just a competition; it's a community effort. Special kudos to Will & Daniela for their amazing work! 👏
4am wakeup and 7am flight - totally worth it for an wonderful day at DDD Brisbane last Saturday! I'm so flattered and grateful that so many people joined me for my talk about LEGO AI and FLL.
Thank you for agreeing that I earned the cape in the end! 🦸♂️ Appreciate the interest and great chats afterward, Andrei and Gerald.
The only downside? Wishing I could clone myself to attend every talk! Huge shoutout to Joel (I did not tag you on social), Michelle (it is not luck but hard work from the girls!), Jason (C# & .Net will always be my favorite), Bryden & Luke (cool hats & photos!), Julian (I wrote RSA at uni as assignments) for your insightful talks - I walked away with new ideas and inspiration!
And of course, it was so lovely to catch up with new & old friends like Fabrizio, and Insight teammates. DDD events are as much about the community as they are about the content. To top it all off, look what I found at the airport on my way back to Sydney: a life-sized LEGO Captain! (last photo)
Thanks again, DDD Brisbane (especially Chris & Bronwen), for such a rewarding and enriching experience.
Will DDD Sydney come back one day? I will definitely sign up for volunteering!
🎉 I've been accepted into the Microsoft MVP Program (Azure AI Services)! Yes, I'm as surprised as you are! 😊
Here's what happened: when I joined Insight, Saadullah said to me, "You've got to keep an eye on Simon, he's doing amazing work in the community." So, I did! Like many MVPs, he's basically a walking RSS feed for user groups, conferences, and tech meetups. One day, on a whim, I submitted a talk and told him, "Hey, I did it, now that?" 🙃 He replied: "well, the chance to get in is pretty slim but don't give up, keep trying."
That small nudge set everything in motion.💥 After a few goes, I got my first public tech talk, things just started flowing – more events, more opportunities, and deeper involvement with tech and school community. The past six months have been incredibly intense. Just last week, I attended five events in ten days - early bird and red-eye flights to get there (a personal record for me 😅!). It's been a whirlwind of incredible experiences and unforgettable moments.
To anyone thinking about starting your community journey – take that first step. You never know where it might lead.
Read more via LinkedIn Post'Motivate Award' 🏆 & 'Robot Performance Award' 🏆 for Team Cleverbots from FLL National East! The girls have made history for the school by getting not one, but two prestigious awards on the national stage (out of 48 top teams from NSW and QLD)! 🎉
"A team of all girls always endeavor, to charm and inspire, and to be also clever! Congratulation goes to the CLEVERBOTS!!" 👏 - the judges said about the team in the award ceremony. The innovative project & core value presentation with customized t-shirt, headband, name tags, text badges, and AI badges, clearly made an impression, earning high praise from the judges. 🙌
After three months of relentless hard work, the team scored outstanding 395 points in their first Robot Game run 🤖. Cleverbots not only had an incredible day but also secured the 3rd highest score on the East Coast 🥳 (Nationals North, East, South) - Perth's event is next week.
As their volunteer coach for the past two years, I couldn't be prouder of these amazing future engineers and innovators. Watching them grow, collaborate, and achieve greatness has been nothing short of inspiring. 💖
Can't wait to see all the incredible things they will accomplish in the years to come. 🚀
On a scorching Sydney day, we turned up the excitement even more with our GitHub Copilot Excitement Day! 🎉 The room at Perpetual Limited was packed with energy as developers, data engineers, and DevOps teams came together to explore how GitHub Copilot is shaking up the way we work.
We led a hands-on session demonstrating how Copilot can streamline coding and enhance efficiency. The day sparked vibrant discussions on fostering creativity and collaboration across teams. We also shared real-life examples of how Copilot is already helping us tackle challenges and achieve impactful results. 🚀
A massive shoutout to everyone who made the day unforgettable, especially Jan and Ross for organizing the session! Great to see Insight teammate Alpesh and Praveen in the room too!
