Personal
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I was born in Recife, capital of the state of Pernambuco in the Northeast of Brazil. Most of my life, though, I have lived in Olinda. Olinda is a very charming and unique city. In fact, it is such a nice city that in 1982 was designated a World Cultural and Natural Heritage by UNESCO. There, you can find not only the many baroque-style churches, gardens, convents, and passos (chapels) from the 16th century, but also a vivid popular culture, which is certainly better appreciated during its great carnival!
A sample of
Olinda's carnival: colorful "papangus"
play along Olinda's streets. Like many Brazilians, I do like to play
soccer! The team I support is Náutico, the only
six-time winner (in a row) in my state!!! If you haven't heard about this
team before, shame on you!!! It means that you know nothing about soccer
:-) In this case, you're excused...
I have a relatively big
family, which became much
bigger since the arrival of my beloved nieces
Carina,
Paula, and
Juliana, and my nephew
Heitor (sorry, we still owe him his own web page...). In addition to all
that, my parents still take care of my parrot, called "loro" (which is a
nickname for parrots in Brazil).
 "Loro" - the brave
parrot !!! (you better don't mess with him! Not because I'll do
something, but he, himself, will take care of you).
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A view of Recife (on top) from the Alto da Se', in Olinda
Olinda's street carnival is one of the most vibrant, culturally-rich
carnivals in Brazil. The variety of rhythms, food, dances, costumes, "crazyness"
(sort of Santa Cruz style...), and creativity is simply amazing! I feel very
lucky because I have not missed a single carnival while I was
there (except during that year when my mom was nursing me :-)). In
particular, the best carnivals I have ever had I've played with my wife and "carnavalesca", Mylčne. We
always had a great time playing carnival together
and with our brothers and friends, especially those from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), where
I got my B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering (you've got to do something in
the meantime you wait for each year's carnival...).
Mylčne and Marcelo in Olinda's Carnival.
After graduation, I went to Campinas
(Brazil) with the intention to extend my student life to the
fullest and get an M.S. degree in Electrical
Engineering at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). After that, still not
convinced with the amount of student life I have had, I came to
the United States,
where I got another M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering at the
University of California,
Santa Barbara. Finally, feeling that some extra student life
was necessary, I've ended up coming to the coolest town in
California—Santa Cruz—to
pursue a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering at the
University of California Santa Cruz.
I'm now enjoying the company of my great
labmates at the
Computer
Communication Resarch Group (CCRG) and the great guidance of
my advisor, Prof. J. J.
Garcia-Luna-Aceves !!! |
