Eduardo Brito has had an active interest in technology from an early age. Even before finishing his education, he has managed to create his own apps and software, and even put together a lab at home. It is this passion and dedication that led to him being awarded this year’s Cybernetica scholarship, which amounts to 5000 euros per year and comes with a 2-month paid internship at Cybernetica.
Eduardo explains what sparked his interest in technology, talks about his achievements and future plans, and explains why studying in Estonia was appealing to him. He also has a couple of words of wisdom for anybody considering a career in IT.
Where do you come from and what made you choose computer science as a career path?
My name is Eduardo and I come from Portugal. I feel like I was born into one of the first generations that started interacting with tech since childhood. I remember watching my father assembling desktop computers, fixing people's problems, trying new software.
That triggered my curiosity. I went from playing games to creating my own apps, to shaping my own software development flow. Now, here I am, almost finishing my academic journey, but with tons of new things yet to be discovered.
You have built a home lab and a self-hosted virtualisation environment. How did these things come to life and what kind of projects were they used for?
These were early visions of mine that I finally decided to anchor into reality. I restored some old computers, committed enough time to the hard Sisyphean process of trying and failing, and finally made my little dream come true.
Now, I manage my own cloud infrastructure, running my VPN and DNS servers, Network AdBlocker, Container orchestration tools, registries, and many more things. My main goal is to simulate an entire enterprise production system and deploy my software creations there. I am almost done, but there is still a hard and long path ahead.
What made you choose Estonia as a place to further your education?
I chose Estonia mainly to grow as an individual and to expose my soul to other realities, far away from my little bubble. I wanted to get the full international experience I wouldn't get otherwise. It has been, so far, a very pleasant surprise.
What are you most excited about working on during your internship at Cybernetica?
I want to try everything I can. It will be my first internship, so I want to enjoy it deeply. I wish to explore high-tech projects, contribute with my Distributed Systems knowledge, apply my creative skills, and, above all, have fun.
Where do you see your career path moving after completing your studies in computer science?
I don't have a dream job. I have had tons of eureka! moments of sudden and apparently brilliant ideas. My goal is to pursue a path full of different experiences and turn some of my ideas and projects into successful businesses. I am assembling, little by little, my inner tree of knowledge so that I can be prepared for the future that awaits me.
What in your opinion will be the next major breakthroughs in ways computer science affects people’s lives in general?
Not an opinion, but a wish: I wish that Computer Science would bring freedom to everyone in the world - political freedom, financial freedom, freedom of thought, freedom of speech. Decentralization, in my view, is the way to achieve it.
We should all embrace it as if we belonged to a globally connected village, where there are only neighbours and not chiefs, where gossip is a tech communication protocol and not a manipulation tool. We are seeing this little revolution gain momentum at an incredible pace. One of my goals, by specializing in Distributed Systems, is to contribute to that global shift to decentralization.
What life lessons would you share with those who are still considering pursuing an education or a career in IT?
The best advice I can give to people is to find a mentor. I don't mean a teacher, but someone who can help you choose, reason, and think very carefully about the path you want to take amongst all the infinite possibilities in Computer Science.
Then, the journey is all yours, the hours you should spend, the effort you should apply, the trials, the failures, this is common between all paths. The important thing is to start, embrace the challenge, and set the sails in the direction of the port of your own fulfillment.