news

travel

  • June 26–30 2016:
    HCIC 2016 Workshop, Watsonville, CA
  • March 27 2015:
    Job talk at FXPAL, Palo Alto, CA
  • Dec. 11–29 2014:
    Invited talk at National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
  • Nov. 10–13 2014:
    GROUP, Sanibel Island, FL
  • July 8–10 2014:
    CSST, Columbia, MO
  • May 13–18 2014:
    UC Irvine, Irvine, CA
  • Oct. 5–8 2013:
    IBM Research, Yorktown Heights, NY

Erik Trainer

Misc. Interests

Fantasy Baseball

I've been a baseball fan since I was young, but I only recently became interested in the statistics of baseball. The Internet has made it easier than ever to access and engage with sports statistics, as statistics can quickly be compiled online and news and information is readily available in real-time. But watch out–fantasy sports can be dangerously addictive :p Some of my favorite fantasy sports websites are:

Hiking

I enjoy hiking because it combines moderate exercise with the majesty of nature. Some of the places I've hiked include:

Cooking

Over the last few years I have developed an interest in cooking. Now, I'm always looking for ways to improve my skills in the kitchen. I've found video food blogs to be enormously helpful because they i) give me great ideas for new recipes to try and ii) they demonstrate effective cooking techniques. My favorite, by far, is Chef John's "Food Wishes" website. He posts a new video recipe every day, and maintains a searchable archive of many hundreds of recipes with videos that clearly show each step of the recipe, along with the amounts of each ingredient. What's more, he has a fun sense of humor, which I think is important in any profession.

Guitar

Throughout my life, I've been playing musical instruments in one form or another. In elementary school, piano; in junior high and high school, clarinet; also in high school, oboe. I was even principal oboist in the Orange County Youth Symphony Orchestra during my senior year of high school. In my first year of college, I learned electric guitar. Since then, I've been in three different bands: North Omegu Street, The Best Kind of Trouble, and Orange Solution. I am at this moment looking for fellow musicians in the Pittsburgh area who are interested in jamming.