A postcard from Lausanne - I just returned from the Applied Machine Learning Days (AMLD) at EPFL. Thanks to Thaleia Dimitra Doudali and Pamela Delgado for organizing the "AI in Data and Computer Systems" session - it was a pleasure.

Thanks to Sam, Nicole, Volker, and Fatma for the great panel discussion at TU Berlin & @bifold.berlin today.

The @sigmod2025.bsky.social Programming Contest goes into another round. We (Bo Tang, Tilmann Rabl, and myself) just published the timeline and task overview:
sigmod-contest-2025.github.io/index.html

Thanks to Carlo Curino and @microsoft.com for the continued support.

Proud advisor moment: Today, my first PhD student @arnabphani.bsky.social successfully defended his PhD thesis in front of a great committee of Ana Klimovic, Tilmann Rabl, me, and @mersault.bsky.social (w/ summa cum laude - very good with distinction). Arnab is on the job market, so don't miss out.

I'm happy to promote the K.I.E.Z. (Künstliche Intelligenz Entrepreneurship Zentrum, linkedin.com/company/kiez...), where I'm also part of the expert network. Startups can get support for Apr-Sep 2025.

Bridge-to-Market: lnkd.in/dSzDTY-n
Accelerator: lnkd.in/dE_WWTct

btw, last week I also completed my first "mental health first aid" 2-day course and hope to be able to help students when needed in the future.

Last Wednesday, we had a great Queens Lecture by Aldo Faisal at TU Berlin (I'm at the bottom right), followed by a lovely dinner at the residence of the British Ambassador.