Ismael Balafrej

Ismael Balafrej has diverse work experience in various roles and industries. Ismael is currently working as a Data Scientist at ISAAC Instruments, starting in June 2023. Prior to this, they worked as a Graduate Student Researcher and Teaching Assistant at Université de Sherbrooke from January 2019 to May 2023. In these roles, they conducted research and development of local learning rules for neuromorphic processors, researched neural architecture search algorithms, and worked on surrogate gradient descent for spiking neural networks.

Ismael also gained experience as a Computer Vision Intern at CRIM from May 2022 to September 2022. Before that, they worked as a Software Engineer - Game Engine at WB Games Montreal Inc. in 2018 and 2017, and as an Innovation Developer at Wolters Kluwer CCH Canada in 2016 and 2015. Additionally, they worked as a Frontend Developer at Outbox Technology from May 2015 to August 2015.

Through these roles, Ismael has developed a strong background in data science, research, software engineering, and innovation development.

Ismael Balafrej completed their Bachelor of Engineering (BE) in Computer Software Engineering at the Université de Sherbrooke from 2014 to 2018. Ismael then pursued further education and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Neuromorphic Engineering / Machine Learning at the same university, which they are expected to complete by 2023.