Dr. João Cardoso

Dr. João Cardoso

Founder of Jaliborc's Workshop
Invited Professor at University of Coimbra


Coimbra, Portugal
English, Portuguese, Spanish, French


About

About

I am the creator of some of the most popular software for World of Warcraft, which includes various player apps and developer libraries/tools, and is installed 3-5 million times monthly. This is a business I accidentally started at 12 years old, leading to two decades of software development.

I also hold a PhD and a decade of experience in visual computing and machine learning, with a focus on developing real-time and/or learning-based solutions to computer graphics and vision problems, such as optimizing perceptual rendering performance, improving skin simulation or even assising in hand-drawn animation. I am currently working as an Invited Professor at the University of Coimbra.

Work Experience

Work Experience

  • Invited ProfessorCoimbra Department of Informatics Engineering, Portugal

    Sep, 2024 - Present

  • Visiting ResearcherVisual Computing Lab, Italy

    Feb, 2023 - Jun, 20234 months

  • Marie Skłodowska-Curie FellowInstitute of Visual Computing & Human-Centered Technology, Austria

    May, 2019 - Oct, 20234 years 5 months

    Researched at the Technology University of Vienna as part of the european-wide EVOCATION consortium, combining responsibilities at the institute and consortium.

    • Pioneered a novel research topic and supervised three undergraduate and two graduate student theses on it.

    • Successfully built and led collaborations with other research institutions, industry and artists as appropriate to each publication.

  • AI Software EngineerCritical Software, Portugal

    Sep, 2018 - Nov, 20182 months

    Responsible for initial R&D of a big-data analytics project using automated machine learning. Left due to a fantastic PhD opportunity.

  • Computer Vision ResearcherInstitute of Systems and Robotics, Portugal

    Feb, 2017 - Sep, 20181 year 7 months

    Researched facial reconstruction using light-field cameras. Implemented system and UI to generate 3D models from single light field photographs.

  • Research and Teaching AssistantThe University of British Columbia, Canada

    Sep, 2014 - Nov, 20162 years 2 months

    Researched at Sensorimotor System Lab, supervised by professor Dinesh Pai, where I continued the work on skin simulation I had started at McGill. Redesigned the CPSC 314 Computer Graphics course to its current form and taught it each year.

  • Research AssistantMcGill University, Canada

    May, 2013 - Sep, 20134 months

    Worked at the Computer Animation and Interaction Capture Lab during my second year of undergrad, supervised by professors Paul Kry and Derek Nowrouzezahrai, where I researched the use of machine learning for real-time skin simulation.

  • Junior 3D Engine DeveloperDeltaEngine, Germany

    Aug, 2012 - Nov, 20123 months

    DeltaEngine was an in-house C# engine developed by the german videogame studio MobileBits. As an intern, I was responsible for the development of the first C++ build of the engine.

  • Technical ColumnistCurse Entertainment, California

    Apr, 2012 - Apr, 20131 year

    Successfully leveraged my established reputation in the industry to contribute weekly developer opinion pieces to the front page of a major gaming news website. Responsibilities included staying on current trends, conducting developer interviews, and crafting engaging content to inform a large audience.

  • FounderJaliborc's Workshop

    Aug, 2006 - Present

    Created third party software for World of Warcraft in middle school, which quickly blew up in popularity, accidentally starting my career. Currently distributed by Overwolf and incubated at IPN.

    • Single-handedly designed and developed user-apps, entire frameworks, a search engine, a system emulator and other libraries and tools.

    • Led hired and volunteer developers, artists and translators to achieve project vision. Ocasionally collaborated with other developers.

    • Over 300 million total installs. Responsible for more than 38 projects, such as Bagnon, Scrap, OmniCC and PetTracker.

Publications

Publications

Education

Education

  • Computer Graphics, PhD, Vienna University of Technology, Austria

    May, 2019 - Dec, 2024

  • Computer Science, Masters, The University of British Columbia, Canada

    Sep, 2014 - Nov, 2016

  • Honours Computer Science, Exchange, McGill University, Canada

    Jan, 2013 - May, 2013

  • Computer Science, Bachelor, University of Coimbra, Portugal

    Sep, 2011 - Jun, 2014

  • Classical Guitar, Certification, Music Conservatory of Coimbra, Portugal

    Sep, 2002 - Jun, 2011

Awards

Awards

  • Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship, European Commission

    Awarded on: Mar 01, 2019

  • Computer Science Merit Award, The University of British Columbia, Canada

    Awarded on: Sep 01, 2014

  • 3% Best Student Award, University of Coimbra, Portugal

    Awarded on: Dec 01, 2012

  • EU - Canada Transatlantic Exchange Program Partnerships Scholarship, European Commission

    Awarded on: Jun 01, 2012

Reviews

Reviewed For

  • SIGGRAPH Asia 2024 (Conference Proceedings and ACM Transactions on Graphics)

  • IJCAI 2024 (33rd International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence)

  • Other previous conferences (Eurographics, EGSR, etc...)