My name is Reza Ferrydiansyah, and I am a computer scientist (or Informatics Engineer). I am currently a PhD student at the Computer Science Department, Michigan State University. I have been employed as a lecturer at the Department of Informatics, Institut Teknologi Bandung, one of the finest technological institution in Indonesia. I still haven't made clear my status there. Details of my jobs and such can be seen here. Anyway, this is my story ...
I was born on the 16 th of August 1978, there was great rejoicing in my country, flags were being hoisted, parades were ran everywhere, the nation was at joy. Unfortunately it had nothing to do with my birth, the reason the people were enjoying themselves was that it was D minus 1 to the Indonesian Independence Day celebration.
The first four years of my life was a blur, and it seems that I couldn't remember any of it, even though those were probably the best years of my life. I remember being in school, kindergarten, where I was lousy at drawing, singing, cutting, dancing, and playing tag. Good thing I knew how to read.
I spent part of my primary school year in Australia, because my father was doing his PhD. I learnt English for one, and a whole lot of other things. I see that people in different places do things differently. It also put into my head the need for going places, especially outside my home country. In Australia, I was also taught about computers, and badly wanted to study programming, at first so that I can make my own games.
Junior high came and went. We tried to learn to be adults in our blue shorts and white uniform, which wasn't convincing. Senior high, where I had a lot of fun, hanging around, exchanging jokes, playing basketball, to my first girlfriend ;-). Oh yeah we studied too.
Then suddenly it was the UMPTN, it was a test in which thousands of students fought over seats in the state run university. I must have done something right for me to be accepted at the ITB's informatics department. One of the toughest places to get accepted to.
Between the studies, the tests, and the assignments, I did pretty well. I like computer science and do have a pretty good grasp of it. I was also heavily involved in the informatics student organization. I took an interest in artificial intelligence, and decided to aim my studies towards it.All good things had to end, and so was the case with my college days. They told me to do my final project and continue with my life. Hard work, week after week of writing, staying up until late, programming, and I finally did it. In February 2001 I graduated. On one fine saturday morning, a bunch of us graduates were herded into the sabuga building where we had to wait hours and hours to get a chance to shake hands with the deans and rectors of the fine institution (this is true, I had to wait 5 hours, for a 3 second handshake...). Hey I'm not complaining, I felt more sorry for the institute's senate as they have to sit there for hours three times a year
It's off to work and the real life. I had began working at the TIM-IF, an information technology consultant before I graduated so all I had to do was to continue on that. It only lasted about a few months after graduation. On october 2001 I was accepted to be a lecturer at the department of Informatics.
After teaching a few courses, a professor in Pittsburgh asked me to come to Pittsburgh to get my Master's degree. There's a catch though, I would have to work as a Research Assistant. How bad can it be? Luckily, it was actually quite exciting.
The two years in Pittsburgh was a pretty good two years. I got fat (and yes, I did exercise, I actually exercised more than any time in my life). I did a lot of research, but I travelled and explored a lot too. I studied photography (it was the dawn of the sub-$1000 digital Single Lens Reflex camera, that I just had to buy). Photography was my yang to the yin of programming, it was totally opposite but totally necessary.
The best part was it was in Pittsburgh that I met, my future wife, the love of my life, the beautiful Andriana Sulistyowati. Well, we knew each other before, we just got closer. Of course being a computer geek and all, we actually met/dated/got close online. She was in Japan at the time. We got married in July 2006, in Indonesia, right after I started my PhD
Yep, after graduating in 2005, I was accepted to a PhD program at Michigan State University. I didn't just continue in Pittsburgh, because I wanted to go back to my roots, computer science (the department I was in in pittsburgh was the Health Information Management department).
You're still here? Wow, congratulations on making it this far. As I am writing this, I have been a PhD student for almost 5 years. I now have a cute little baby boy. Also, I plan on graduating within the next year or so. I know what I want to do next, and I'm still looking for opportunities to get there. So this is my life at this minute, waiting and looking. Always moving forward..