Dominic Kafka, Ph. D.

Dominic Kafka, Ph.D., has a diverse work experience that spans academia, industry, and the military. Dominic currently works at teraflow.ai as a Machine Learning Engineer and Delivery Lead for People and Technology. Prior to that, they were a Machine Learning Researcher at the University of Pretoria, where they focused on artificial intelligence and optimization as a PhD candidate. Their thesis involved developing Gradient-only Line Search (GOLS) methods to automatically determine learning rates in neural network training, eliminating the need for hyperparameter tuning. Additionally, Kafka served in the Austrian Armed Forces as a Gefreiter (Corporal) for six months, where they learned valuable lessons in discipline and perseverance.

Dominic Kafka, Ph.D. obtained their Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pretoria/Universiteit van Pretoria in the period between 2017 and 2019. Prior to this, they earned a Master's degree in Computational Mechanics from the same institution, studying from 2015 to 2017. Dominic also attended the University of Pretoria/Universiteit van Pretoria from 2011 to 2014, although the specific degree and field of study are not provided. Before entering higher education, Dominic obtained their Abitur degree from Deutsche Schule Pretoria in 2009. Dominic completed their primary and secondary education at Deutsche Schule Pretoria from 1994 to 2008.