Nerd Nite Miami - Feb 6, 2025

Nerd Nite Miami is back Thurs, Feb 6th at the legendary Gramps. Trivia starts at 6:30pm. Talks start at 7pm.

Nerd Nite is an evening of entertaining and educational presentations. Speakers present for 15 minutes, followed by a brief Q&A with the audience.

Hosted by Ricardo Williams

Get your tickets: http://bit.ly/nnmfeb6

Guest speakers:
Ethan Tieu
Victor Rodriguez
Kyra “Dreddnought” Pulliam & Alexandra "Je Ne Sais Quads" Muñoz of Miami Roller Derby

PRESENTATION #1: “Breaking Bio” by Ethan Tieu

Biological research is essential to the development of therapies for pressing diseases, but progress can be painstakingly slow. Common tasks like determining protein structures, evaluating how well our neurons communicate, and analyzing animal behaviors often require significant time and effort when performed by human researchers alone. In recent years, however, computational techniques have been developed that not only provide solutions to biological problems with unprecedented efficiency, but also provide insights beyond human intuition. We will explore how computational techniques like machine learning are accelerating biological research and helping us determine how diseases tick.

Ethan is currently a junior at the University of Miami pursuing a Dual Degree in Neuroscience and Computer Science with minors in Chemistry and Mathematics. Having spent the last 4 years researching conditions like Alzheimer's Disease and developing software to process biological data, he is very interested in integrating biological approaches with creative computational techniques to advance our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases. Outside of his work, he is an avid enthusiast of Lego, Minecraft, and all things related to fruit.

PRESENTATION #2:
"Roller Derby: Empowering Women Through Sport”
By Kyra “Dreddnought” Pulliam & Alexandra "Je Ne Sais Quads" Muñoz of Miami Roller Derby

Founded in 2011, Miami Roller Derby, Inc., is our city's exclusive women’s flat-track roller derby league run for the skaters, by the skaters. As a 501c3 non-profit organization, we are committed to fostering competition and developing athletes in a safe environment, raising awareness about the sport, fostering a sense of community, and promoting the physical and mental strength and independent spirit of amateur female athletes.

Kyra Pulliam aka “Dreddnought” (or “Dredd”) is the current president of Miami Roller Derby, Inc. Originally from Chicago, she moved around as an adult until landing in Miami where she sought a way to make new friends. She eventually found MRD, which she has been a member of since fall 2019 when she joined with literally 0 roller skating experience. Today she is known as the Team Tank, and is leveling up on the track as a blocker and occasional pivot with future jammer aspirations. When Dredd isn’t hustling for the league, she works as a mild-mannered licensing and regulatory specialist for a sports betting media group. She loves cooking, movies, video games, anything horror, and her cat Grimmjow.

Alexandra Muñoz is known as Je Ne Sais Quads and is currently the Vice President for Miami Roller Derby and has been skating with MRD for 3 years. She usually plays as a blocker and is learning how to jam. She’s a South Floridian, born and raised in Miami, currently residing in Broward. She joined Miami Roller Derby because she loves to skate and wanted to be more involved in the community with other fellow skaters. She is a pet parent of two cats (Caesar and Loki) and in her spare time she loves to read, watch the latest horror movies/anime and shop for new records for her collection! Fun fact: a few years ago, she won trivia night at Gramps for Halloween - if you’re not into skating, chat with her on anything horror related!

PRESENTATION #3: “Historical European Martial Arts” by Victor Rodriguez

Historical European Martial Arts is a niche sport where aspiring fencers of all shapes and sizes test their mettle against each other in Steel combat! using a variety of modern protective Fencing equipment and more importantly Swords! This is done through the study of Various Fencing Masters Manuals such as "Ridolfo Capo Ferro" and "Camillo Agrippa"

For the last 7 years, Victor has dedicated himself to studying and recreating the art of combat as described through the lens of Joachim Meyer; a prolific Fencing Master of the 16th century. His study is done through Meyer's final published work in 1570 entitled Gründtliche Beschreibung der ...Kunst des Fechtens ("A Thorough Description of the... Art of Fencing").