Javier Pastorino: Developing Expertise in Data Management

Javier Pastorino began an appointment as an assistant professor of the practice in Duke University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering beginning on January 1, 2024. With more than two decades of working in both industry and academia, Pastorino will share his passion for data management and experience in software development and product management with Duke’s faculty and students.

Pastorino’s love of computers goes all the way back to his early teens growing up in Uruguay, when he was gifted an old computer from his sister. Because any “new” technology available in the country was already five years behind the United States, it still ran on MS-DOS and featured a monochrome display. While it may pale in comparison to today’s computer’s abilities, it was enough for Pastorino to begin teaching himself programming by spending hours developing applications.

“Every time I was able to build something that connected to data, that’s when I felt most fulfilled,” Pastorino said. “And that is what has really guided my career.”

While data applications are what is in Pastorino’s heart, teaching is in his blood. Both of his parents were high school teachers, which showed him how teaching inspires new minds and the value of sharing knowledge and experience with others.

After graduating with his bachelor’s degree in engineering in information systems, he became a product and project manager and database administrator for an IT technologies and services company called Ipcom Technologies. Over the years, he also worked extensively as a database administrator at DGI, the Uruguayan tax administration agency.

But he never left behind his love of teaching.

During those same years, he was an associate professor for database management courses at his alma mater while working toward his master’s degree in computer science. It was then, in 2016, that he made his way to the United States to begin his doctoral work in computer science at the University of Colorado – Denver.

“I started in data management research, but then began shifting into AI and crossing borders between privacy and security,” Pastorino said. “When I finished my PhD, I was offered a position to stay on as an assistant professor teaching cybersecurity for a new program that was developed while I was there. It was a great opportunity, but I kept being called back to AI and data management.”

While exploring potential positions elsewhere, Pastorino came across an email about a position opening at Duke Engineering. The more he dug into it, the more he was intrigued by the job’s potential. He was especially attracted to the ability to develop new courses that will impact what students can do later in their careers, the abundance of nature found in and around the campus, and the high level of interaction between faculty members.

“That was the top thing that attracted me,” Pastorino said. “I’m always looking for a place where you can share ideas and collaborate with colleagues. Not just on research—people always collaborate on research—but on the education and teaching side, too.”

This past spring, Pastorino began his work at Duke by teaching two master’s level classes, one on programming and another on software engineering, both of which are part of Duke Engineering’s Master of Science and Master of Engineering degrees. His classes focus on AI and machine learning approaches to handle big data. Over the coming years, he plans to integrate more software engineering courses into his machine learning curriculum with a focus on aspects of AI that might be getting overlooked.

“Everyone is absorbed by AI. You can do a lot of things with large language models, but people aren’t talking much about the engineering aspects of AI and how to develop systems we can use efficiently with models that are fair to everybody,” Pastorino said. “There are still a lot of big issues in AI, especially related to bias and privacy, and I see myself developing these kinds of courses in the coming years.”