“The rest to some faint meaning make pretence but Baba never deviates to sense”.
This was the Cambridge High and Latin School doggerel for the legendary Indian polymath D. D. Kosambi, who was fondly called ‘Baba’, which was his family nickname. Despite his painstaking efforts and invaluable contributions in diverse spheres including mathematics, statistics, philology, history, and genetics, D D Kosambi is long forgotten in his native land. Thankfully, we have several non-conformists of his clan across the globe who follow their heart and speak their mind, just like Kosmabi did all his life, without mincing words or sugar coating truths and stark realities.
One such maverick is Jose Crespo, a software and hardware engineering maestro in a class of his own. He is purpose and poise personified, unapologetically allergic to any kind of hype and noise. No wonder, he doesn’t stop at calling spade a spade, he digs deep into a rather contaminated soil of software and hardware to unearth truths that lie buried in the debris of a lopsided and often counterproductive software development, which is aggressively promoted by the pseudo visionaries and vested interests of different types, makes, and takes. In short, he probes deep into the orchestrated marine life of messy and murky cesspools, where most build their thriving careers dancing to the tunes of the establishment.
Excerpts from our freewheeling conversation:
Before we delve into your present endeavours, I would like a snapshot of your early years…
I've spent most of my time moving around Europe, where I have relatives in various countries. As a result, my education transcends borders and has always embraced diverse perspectives critically. My academic focus has been primarily on engineering and mathematics, but I've also delved into the humanities. This includes studying ancient languages like Latin, Greek, Middle Egyptian, and even Akkadian, as well as history and classical music. Some of my favourite composers are J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, and Richard Wagner. These interests, concerns, and goals are ones that I've shared with my relatives.
How and when did you gravitate towards technology? Was it a conscious choice or one influenced by circumstances or role models?
Like many in my generation, my first exposure to technology came through early microcomputers like the Sinclair and Amstrad. We all started by programming our first video games in BASIC and then moved on to Assembly language. I still remember using PEEKs and POKEs to read and write directly to memory positions on the Z-80A microprocessor in those Sinclair machines. This was mind-blowing at the time and served as my initial introduction to what we would later call pointers and assembly language. I'm afraid that was the landscape of our childhood.
After your Bachelor's and Master's in Hardware and Software Engineering, what motivated you to go for a PhD in Neurocomputation?
I became interested in Neurocomputation at a time when we were emerging from the second AI winter. Despite the advancements made decades earlier by Rumelhart and Hinton in overcoming Minsky's objections through the error backpropagation technique, I chose to venture into a more scientifically-backed field that combined Neurobiology and Computation. This led me to join the labs of Niebur and Wolfram Schultz at the John Hopkins Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, where I worked on computational models in both software and hardware. I was involved in building electronic circuitry and software to predict various electrophysiological patterns in intra- and extracellular recordings. At the time, these patterns appeared to be noise, but upon closer examination, we found there was much to unravel. The entire experience was incredibly engaging and rewarding.
Where, in your reckoning, is the world of tech headed? How will disruptive innovation affect the way we work and play in the coming decade and beyond?
This is a subject that elicits two completely different emotional and rational reactions from me. On one hand, I have little hope for what I humorously refer to as the "PIT," or Private IT companies. Despite their big names, I find a lack of true science and engineering in these spaces. Much of what is presented is overhyped and often just repackaged old ideas sold as new discoveries. While there are some interesting developments, they are generally applications of long-known concepts. Moreover, I find that much of what comes from the PIT is harmful to the intellectual development of new generations of software engineers who are not grounded in the fundamentals of their profession.
On the other hand, the world of systems and computer engineering and science is quite promising. Take, for example, the Haskell programming language, which is more than just a tool for coding. It's a platform for advanced research that brings abstract algebra, set theory, category theory, and group theory into programming. This approach addresses many of the problems created by the PIT's harmful technologies and methodologies, many of which fall into the category of pseudoscience—like the Agile Scrum movement, DevOps, and various architectural frameworks that offer little value to serious engineers in the field.
In your articles as well as in your communication, you invariably focus on the interplay of mathematical theory and technological applications. Do you feel that math skills are not emphasized as much in tech as they should be?
I gained a solid foundation in advanced mathematics during my university years and postdoctoral research. However, my in-depth understanding of abstract algebra, advanced category theory, and group theory came primarily from extensive reading, research, and practical application in both programming and electronics. For example, I'm currently working on programming FPGAs with a higher level of abstraction than traditional combinatory logic and LUT tables allow. I believe that as programmers, we need to understand that mathematics for us extends beyond mere arithmetic and number theory. It's about how code components relate to each other through explicit transformations and relationships, which can be better understood through the right mathematical abstractions. In essence, mathematics is much more than just numbers; its core is logic, much like programming, but with a more rigorous foundation.
Your decision to call it quits in the private IT world as a software/hardware engineer speaks volumes about the state of what you rightly call a 'broken industry.' How do you see this space evolving in the time to come?
I found the private IT industry to be simply boring and broken, with no real challenges. The excessive bureaucracy and ritualistic meetings consumed too much time, leading to life wasted on pointless projects—many of which were dead ends. And I'm talking about projects from companies that are household names. I hate to sound so pessimistic, but it's my conclusion that the PIT is currently the worst place for a self-respecting, ambitiously healthy engineer who simply wants to do engineering and find joy in their work. The recent bubble burst, accompanied by massive layoffs and hiring freezes, didn't surprise me at all; it only confirmed my views.
Among your programming stints, which were the ones you found most fulfilling and why?
Currently, I'm involved in projects that integrate high-level abstractions with low-level programming, hardware, and electronics. There's a wealth of work to be done here that could benefit entire industries. The aim is to create more powerful and user-friendly electronics with real emergent properties grounded in hardware details. Unlike the broken abstractions commonly marketed by new programming languages and platforms in the Private IT sector, these are genuine engineering tools designed to make it easier to build and understand new emergent properties of our technology beyond current constraints. Surprisingly, there are very few people working in this field.
How would you describe Haskell? Do you agree with the general perception that the level of its abstractions, patterns, and libraries can prove mind-boggling?
Haskell is not just a programming language in the conventional sense, where we use tools to solve specific types of problems in certain application domains. Instead, it's a mathematical tool for conducting research while programming. Although Haskell may not be suitable for commercial programming, its impact lies in how it influences your approach to programming in other languages. Once you've programmed in Haskell, you'll never code the same way again. You'll start seeing connections where there was once chaos, and you'll pay greater attention to details that make your code in other languages more powerful and easier to extend. For example, you'll become more conscious of the distinction between mutable and non-mutable code and data, among other things.
What are your thoughts on Rust? Were you drawn to it primarily because of your work in cryptography and blockchain? What do you think of Python and how does Mojo compare?
Rust is a language heavily influenced by Haskell and serves as a counterpoint to the Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) paradigm, which has led to a lot of broken software and flawed engineering practices. Rust has largely abandoned many of the tenets that were evangelized by the Gang of Four (GoF) and has instead embraced the path of Haskell and functional programming, with only minor traces of OOP that are diminishing with each new version. As for Python, it's a useful tool for low-level framework interfaces and rapid scripting, making it valuable for prototyping. Regarding Mojo, I don't have an opinion.
You have worked extensively in the domain of healthcare and medical diagnostics. What were the challenges in the course of your diverse projects?
One of the major challenges was the integration of hardware from different vendors, many of whom used proprietary protocols, firmware, and provided scant documentation. Even when dealing with well-known protocols like I2C, SPI, and UART, we had to modify electronic circuitry, adding pull-down and pull-up resistors to adjust signals from peripherals supplied by different vendors. Another significant challenge was the security of the firmware. Most vendors provided little to no documentation and closed code, posing risks of firmware implants during scheduled updates—critical issues when dealing with medical devices and patient information. Beyond these, there were challenges related to the business layer of programming, including handling synchronous and asynchronous communication across different timeframes, from milliseconds to hours, ensuring responsiveness under heavy traffic loads, and dealing with networking protocols and security. Despite these challenges, the end result is incredibly rewarding as it genuinely helps people in need.
Any plans to go deep into tech development focused on the research and clinical side of healthcare?
Though I believe my skills could be applied to emerging fields like predictive genomics, I have a few reservations about working in that direction, given my scepticism and concerns about how private companies handle health and genetics. Therefore, I have no plans to delve into tech development focused on the research and clinical side of healthcare in that specific area.
Looking back, which of your initiatives have shaped up exactly as you envisioned them; conversely, which are yet to meet the benchmark you have defined for them?
I don't tend to look backward because I find it unproductive. Instead, I focus on taking one step at a time, learning new things, and enjoying the process. The goal is to discover or learn something new that changes my perspective on my profession, society, and even the way I view the world. While this may seem like a lot, it's what makes life interesting—being continually surprised and driven by the mysteries around us.
Please elaborate on your inspiration (Jules Verne's "The Mysterious Island") and your ‘closer to nature’ lifestyle.
After experiencing the turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic and the oppressive atmosphere in crowded cities, I made the decision to permanently reside in smaller towns. All I need is an internet connection and the surrounding natural environment. This lifestyle has not only been my focus and inspiration but has also significantly strengthened my physical and psychological well-being. Living closer to nature provides a more authentic experience of the world, free from the irrational behaviour often incited by misguided political and opinion leaders.
Any message for the aspirants of your field?
Just a thought: as engineers, we should strive to be creators, intellectually critical leaders, and above all, we should not sacrifice our freedom for the deceptive allure of the Private IT sector. Instead, carve out your own personal path in life and focus on being productive in the areas that you are most passionate about.
