Juan-Francisco (Paco) Reyes | Curriculum Vitae

NLP Engineer and Researcher with background in Human-Computer Interaction and Web Development.

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Personal Information

Professional Summary

Ph.D. Candidate. I create NLP models using LLMs to facilitate understanding between humans and machines. Worked in international multidisciplinary research and industry projects. Interested in the interpretation of NLP models (XAI) at the linguistic level, computational linguistics, and information extraction. Seasoned full-stack web developer. Previously, UX champion in projects across multiple industries such as education, finance, journalism, banking, startups, etc., with team building experience. Possessing strong innovative skills, and scientific, creative, and analytical thinking.

Skills

NLP Computational Linguistics Data Science Information Extraction Deep Learning ML LLMs Statistical Analysis Python PyTorch SciKit-Learn SHAP Transformer Interpret Hugging Face spaCy Explainable AI LangChain AWS Google Cloud Knowledge Graph Population Neo4j Docker Web Development OOP JavaScript Flask UX Interaction Design Usability SQL NoSQL API Development Qualitative Research Team Building Project Management

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Professional Experience

Akademischer Mitarbeiter, Brandenburgische Technische Universität, Cottbus (Brandenburg) — Germany

April 2020 — March 2024

Research assistant and lecturer at the Department of Internet Technology in the Institute for Computer Science. Faculty 1, MINT - Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, Electrical Engineering and Information Technology.

Teaching:

  • NLP for Information Extraction: Delivered lectures and practical sessions focusing on the use of NLP tools such as spaCy, Hugging Face (BERT, SetFit), and large language models (LLMs) for computational linguistics, algorithm implementation, model and dataset development, and knowledge graph population. Enhanced student understanding and application of NLP in information extraction projects, evidenced by an increase of 10x enrollment in the course along 4 years of lecturing the course. https://ie-seminar.web.app

  • Web Technologies Lab: guiding students to develop free projects combining NLP and web technologies to crawl web resources and extract information from massive amounts of data, leading to several students getting a new job after taking this elective course.

  • Specification Languages and Processing Techniques for Web Documents: Covered fundamentals and modern techniques in HTML, XML, CSS, including SEO, web accessibility, web performance, and others.

  • Designing and Implementing Web Applications: Educated students in object-oriented programming using JavaScript, Node.js, Python, and Google Firebase.

Publication:

Additional Achievements:

  • Supervised two Master's thesis in Natural Language Processing and Information Extraction.

  • The course NLP for Information Extraction increasingly attracted students from different programs, including the Master's programs in Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity.

Founder and Director, Talámica Øptimization (UX Design and Research Agency), Lima — Peru

November 2014 — February 2020

Spearheaded a user experience design consulting firm specializing in the development and implementation of UX design strategies for websites and mobile applications across diverse industries, including media, finance, banking, e-commerce, education, and startups.

  • Led and mentored a team of UX designers and researchers, fostering a collaborative environment focused on innovative design solutions.

  • Directed the entire UX design process, from user research (utilizing surveys, usability testing, interviews, web analytics, expert reviews, heuristics evaluation, and ethnographic studies) to the ideation and implementation stages.

  • Developed and validated prototypes to refine and finalize design concepts.

  • Implemented customer-centric design strategies to enhance user satisfaction and engagement, including conversion optimization and performance enhancement through analytics and online experiments.

  • Front-end web development, primarily utilizing JavaScript, HTML, and CSS to enhance user interfaces through interaction design techniques, ensuring engaging and intuitive user experiences with web technologies.

  • Presented research findings and project progress to clients, communicating strategic insights and design evolution to ensure alignment and satisfaction.

Achievements:

  • Built the first team of web developers for Utilex.pe, the e-commerce platform of one of Peru's largest office supplies distributors. This initiative led to a 22% increase in overall sales for the organization.

User Experience Director, Wunderman Thompson (Digital Agency), Lima — Peru

August 2013 — October 2014

Established and led the first UX team of four designers at the agency, championing user experience by advocating its principles and ensuring their integration into all organizational projects and strategies.

  • Played a pivotal role in client pitches, demonstrating a deep understanding of user needs, which significantly boosted client confidence and contributed to a 30% increase in annual sales in 2014 and a further 40% in 2015, totaling a revenue uplift of $500K.

  • Guided the UX team in adopting a scientific approach to design, where decisions were driven by cognitive psychology and user research, thus fostering an evidence-based design culture. Actively trained and mentored team members to enhance their skills and knowledge.

  • Guided a critical initiative to overhaul production processes, leading to a 7% reduction in time-to-market and an 11% increase in client satisfaction by embedding user-centered design principles (with a focus on prototyping) throughout all project stages, including development and account management.

  • Promoted and sometimes led user research across the organization to collect evidence that informs design decisions, ensuring user data drives design improvements.

Research Assistant and Developer, University of Baltimore, Baltimore (Maryland) — USA

September 2011 — July 2013

Graduate Assistant in the Department of Integrated Digital Services at Langsdale Library, University of Baltimore's library.

  • Developed Langsdale on the Go!, a serverless web application using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, integrating multiple APIs to locate books in the library, featuring a book locator that displayed a map with the exact shelf where a resource was located.

  • Designed the interaction experience using core web design principles and validated using research methods such as usability testing, interviews, and observation.

Achievements:

  • Enhanced library patrons' satisfaction by 550%, with an increase in adoption rates by over 376%.

  • Recognized by university authorities for pioneering innovation in digital library services.

  • Featured at the Internet Librarian 2012 Conference (Monterey, California — U.S.A.), showcasing the application's impact and advanced functionality (Details available: https://www.infotoday.com/il2012/Tuesday.asp).

Grupo RPP (Media Conglomerate), Lima — Peru

  • User Experience Design Head

    May 2010 — August 2011

    Leading the UX team by fostering the design and development to create user-centric digital products at the Digital Media Department, creating user-centric digital products.

    • Directed the redesign of RPP Noticias (https://rpp.pe), the website of the second most important news outlet in Perú, with a focus on user experience and SEO to increase traffic and engagement.

    • Directed the redesign of Studio 92 (https://www.studio92.com), the website of one of the most important music radio in Perú, focusing on user experience and SEO to increase traffic and engagement.

    • Developed the information architecture and user experience design of the websites and mobile applications of five radios of the media conglomerate.

    • Achieved a 7x increase in visitors for RPP Noticias website, Peru's 2nd leading news, through strategic SEO and UX.

  • Interaction Design and Information Architecture Consultant

    November 2008 — April 2010

    Consultancy on Information Design (particularly on News Design), Information Architecture, Interaction Design, User Experience Design and SEO for journalism.

    • Executed efforts in user research and prototyping to understand user needs and test design hypotheses for validation in usability testing sessions.

    • Supervised the front-end web development and markup (HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript) to ensure best practices for web optimization, following up page speed, mobile optimization (responsive web design), First Contentful Paint (FCP), Time to First Byte (TTFB), Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), etc.

    • Delivered in-person presentations of research results and improvements in the performance of websites to the highest-ranking officers in the company.

Web Technologies Consultant and Developer (Independent)

August 2001 — October 2008

Independent consulting in multiple cities between Peru and the United States, including Lima, Miami, Fort Lauderdale Area, and New York

  • Multiple projects for SUR LLC (Broadcasting Distribution Company) located in the U.S.A.

  • Web Development for Software as a Service (SaaS) applications.

  • Web development stack: MySQL, Apache, PHP, and Ruby on Rails.

  • Web development for digital marketing.

Chief Operating Officer, Canalsur.com, Lima (Peru) — Miami (USA)

February 1999 — April 2001

Main technical role in this dot-com startup that distributed news content using video streaming and web technologies.

  • Led team of web developers and web designers.

  • Designed an international network of news content generation and distribution from 15 countries to the hub stream.

  • Trained journalists in the use of streaming technologies to encode video news content.

  • Design of the information architecture of Canalsur.com, a website that published news content, and its Content Manager System (CMS) to publish content from 15 countries.

Education

Ph.D. Candidate in Computer Science applied to NLP and Computational Linguistics

Brandenburgische Technische Universität (BTU), Cottbus — Deutschland.

2024

M.Sc. Interaction Design and Information Architecture (IDIA), with focus on User Research

University of Baltimore (UB), Maryland — U.S.A.

2016

  • Thesis: Effect of Emotion on Marketing Landing Page Conversion (DOI: 10.13016/M2X25M), supervised by Professor Kathryn Summers, in which I ran experiments to measure the effect of emotion on landing page conversion, using physiological instruments to measure emotional arousal (eye tracking, Empatica E4 wristband EDA sensor) and a self-reported tool to measure emotional valence. This research establishes a multidisciplinary method in interaction design to measure user experience in the context of UI design and marketing. Download PDF.

B.Sc. Social Communications, Major in Audiovisual Communication

Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM), Lima — Peru

2006

Publications

AI Explainability in Classifying Political Speeches and Interviews

Journal of Language Technology and Computational Linguistics (JLCL), submitted for publication.

2024

Preprint: (DOI) 10.13140/RG.2.2.31065.12648. Download PDF.

Explainable Subjective Stance Classification with SetFit in Political Discourse

Conference on Empirical Methods for Natural Language Processing 2024 (EMNLP 2024), submitted for publication.

2024

Preprint: (DOI) 10.13140/RG.2.2.20998.79688. Download PDF.

Explainable Topic Continuity in Political Discourse: A Sentence Pair BERT Model Analysis

International Journal of Computational Linguistics (IJCL), submitted for publication.

2024

Preprint: (DOI) 10.13140/RG.2.2.34420.56967. Download PDF.

Awards and Honors

  • First in class of 23 students graduating, undergraduate studies at UNMSM, Valedictorian, (2006).

  • EducationUSA Opportunity Grants (Fulbright Peru), awarded financial aid for application process to graduate studies, (2007).

  • Graduate Assistant at Langsdale Library at University of Baltimore, full scholarship for Master’s studies, (2011).

  • Turner Research and Travel Award from University of Baltimore (2012).

Languages

  • English: Full professional proficiency.

  • Spanish: Native.

  • German: Elementary proficiency; currently studying.

Certifications

Certified Usability Analyst - HFI CUA™

Human Factors International

Credential ID: #2010-2559

2010

Certified User Experience Analyst - HFI CXA™

Human Factors International

Credential ID: #2015-327

2015

References

Available upon request