Nicolò, welcome! To start, describe yourself briefly.
Hello there, I’m Nicolò, I’m 22 and I come from Mattarello, a village nearby Trento. I have a bachelor’s degree in computer science, obtained at the University of Trento, and I’m currently doing my master degree, always in computer science, at the same university. I love (and need) being outdoor: I like running, cycling, walking and hiking, but I’m also into watching sports: I think that the sports that I don’t like can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

What brought you at U-Hopper?

I came here almost by chance, thanks to a professor ( Alberto Montresor ) who proposed me an interesting thesis to be performed at U-Hopper. After passing a selection, I did an internship in the company, working on the identification of life events from the analysis of a user timeline on social media. In short, I designed a system that is able to understand whether a person has shown interest in a certain life event (such as wedding) and therefore if it has probably lived it. The outcomes of the internship were included in my Bachelor’s thesis, which I successfully defended in July. At the end of the internship, I was asked to stay. I was very happy about this request, and I could not refuse.

How is the experience of studying and working at the same time?

So far so good, let’s say. For this semester, I have been able to attend almost all lectures, thanks to the great flexibility offered to me by the company. The “fun” will start during the exam session, but I’m optimistic about that. In general, the days are quite long and intense sometimes, but certainly full of satisfactions. Of course I have not much free time left, because both working and studying require dedication and constant commitment, but I really like what I’m doing and the period I’m living. Furthermore, studying things that I constantly face in everyday’s office life is an advantage that allows me to have a more comprehensive understanding of both industry problems and science-driven solutions.

The experience of studying and working at the same time is also giving me the chance to learn many soft skills, like time management, and it makes me realize how important time is in a person’s life. At the moment I still live with my parents, and therefore I don’t have to run a house, and in case of necessity I always have a solid backup: this is for sure a huge advantage!

What do you like about being at U-Hopper?

Everything. I like what we do, because in my opinion we face problems of different nature, which allow each of us to grow a lot and to expand our professional knowledge. I like very much also the environment in U-Hopper, because we are a very young and dynamic team, with different origins (international ones!) and backgrounds. I think that diversity is a great opportunity for everyone, in all aspects of life, and here at U-Hopper we are taking the best from it. Consequently, both a human and professional growth is created and absorbed by everyone, every day. Furthermore, many of us are sports addicted, and I really look forward for the warm seasons to go running or biking with my colleagues.

What are your expectations?

I expect to learn new things and to acquire experience, but also to bring something new to the company. I really like what I’m doing here, and having a job that you like is really a huge advantage to make things at best.

Thank you, and good luck!