Steven Kolawole

Email: skolawol[at]andrew[dot]cmu[dot]edu
Steven_Keolawole

Hi, welcome to my website! :)

Research

I am a PhD student at the Language Technologies Institute in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, advised by Professor Virginia Smith.

My research interests center around tackling efficiency problems in machine learning from systems, algorithms, and data perspectives. In my big head, the big goal is to drive accessibility and participation in the creation of the AI technologies we use so that resources cease to be a bottleneck or criteria for being part of the decision-making process.

News

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Extracurriculars

"Driving accessibility" extends to other aspects of my life. I usually spend my weekends at STEMforDevelopment, where I currently mentor over a score of URM graduate school aspirants in enhancing their research interests clarity and optimizing their applications for Western schools' graduate programs. I am also an organizer for Nigeria's local chapter of ML Collective, where we help our folks grow self-confidence in their independent research skills--outside of formal education--via P2P study/reading sessions and shared projects.

Non-work-wise, I routinely powerlift, do amateur boxing, watch Liverpool FC games, and add to my bank of "useless" knowledge by reading diversely. Moreover, I try to fine-tune my clowning game with every chance I get—through my conversations with friends, via my speaking engagements, and in my head. My clowning game has been on hold as I try to adjust to my PhD program, a new country, and a new culture.

The Four Six Years of BSc.

Shortly before I resumed my PhD, I completed my BSc in Computer Science at the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Nigeria, advised by Dr. Adebayo Abayomi-Alli. Academic union strike actions and COVID-19 lockdown led to an extension of my bachelor's degree timeline. Fortunately, this gave me more time than a typical undergraduate to refine my interests beyond what my immediate environment offered and also amass an eclectic mix of fulfilling experiences.

I had ample time to participate in several hackathons and internships, and I regularly spoke on tools and topics I liked at tech conferences across different parts of the globe. Since early 2021, I have been an independent researcher with ML Collective (and made cameo appearances at Masakhane and Cohere For AI), where I am fortunate to have Rosanne Liu and Jason Yosinski primarily mentor me. Toward the end, I (along with my friends) designed a real-time opinion mining system for digital assets and got a 115k USD grant to build the system. This enabled me to focus on exploring independent research without worrying much about my living expenses. :)

I am a "community-taught" ML person; hence, a big part of my BSc years were spent giving back to our tech communities, including Data Science Nigeria, Google Developer Student Club, She Code Africa, the National Association of Computing Students, and ML Collective.

I had stints as a choir director at my local churches in my earlier college years. I had several existential crises littered throughout my BSc years [1, 2]. My last year of BSc was spent transitioning from award-worthy social awkwardness to growing an unexpected reputation as a local clown, and dedicating an inordinate amount of time to fine-tuning my Afro-pop dance skills as I became a reveler.