Hi, I'm
Gustavo H. Santos
Urban Researcher & Engineer
I'm passionate about building explainable AI systems that make complex technology accessible and trustworthy. My work focuses on social network analysis, recommendation systems, and creating AI that people can understand and trust.
About Me
I'm a Computer Engineering student at UTFPR (currently in my 3rd year) and a researcher in data science. My academic work focuses on modeling public interest in urban areas, with projects spanning explainable AI, social network analysis, and recommendation systems. I’ve co-authored award-winning papers published in venues like KDD, ASONAM, and WebMedia, and I’m passionate about building tools that help people better understand and explore cities.
I believe that AI should be transparent and human-centered. Through my research, I strive to create systems that are not only accurate, but also explainable—making data science more accessible and actionable for both users and policymakers.
My Journey
Key milestones in my academic and professional career
Freelance Automation Developer – Indoor Growing Canada
Built spreadsheet automations and web scrapers to streamline admin workflows, reduce manual data entry, and improve reporting accuracy for a small indoor agriculture business. All of this when I was 14-15 years old.
Open Source Contributor (7+ Communities)
Contributed code, documentation, and issue triage across multiple open-source projects—learning collaborative development practices, engaging with maintainers, and giving back to the developer community.
Full-Stack Developer – Used Clothing E-commerce Prototype
Designed and implemented an end-to-end web store for secondhand apparel, gaining hands-on experience with product listings, inventory flows, checkout, shipping, and payment integration.
Bachelor in Computer Engineering
Started undergraduate studies in Computer Engineering at Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR).
Scientific Initiation at UTFPR
Working as a scientific initiation student under Prof. Thiago H. Silva on data-driven modeling of user interest in urban areas.
CoUrb 2024 Publication
Co-authored "Redes de Interesse: comparando o Google Places e Foursquare na captura da escolha de usuários por áreas urbanas" for the VIII Workshop de Computação Urbana (CoUrb), SBRC 2024.
Third Place Award at CoUrb 2024
Received the third place award for the paper "Criação de Assinatura Cultural de Áreas Urbanas com Estabelecimentos Geolocalizados na Web" at the VIII Workshop de Computação Urbana (CoUrb), SBRC 2024. (Co-Author)
ASONAM 2024 Publication
Co-authored "Culture Fingerprint: Identification of Culturally Similar Urban Areas Using Google Places Data" for the International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining (ASONAM 2024).
First Place Award at WebMedia 2024
Received the first place award for the paper "Modelagem do Interesse por Áreas Urbanas Usando Redes Sociais Baseadas em Localização" at the XXX Brazilian Symposium on Multimedia and Web Systems (WebMedia 2024).
JISA Publication – Urban Interest Network Modeling
Authored "Modeling Interest Networks in Urban Areas: A Comparative Study of Google Places and Foursquare Across Countries," published in the Journal of Internet Services and Applications (JISA). The article was accepted on first submission, without major revisions.
ACM KDD 2025 UMC Acceptance
Authored "Interest Networks (iNETs) for Cities: Cross-Platform Insights and Urban Behavior Explanations" accepted at the ACM KDD 2025 Undergraduate and Masters Consortium.
ASONAM 2025 Demo Track Acceptance
Authored "CityHood: An Explainable Travel Recommender System for Cities and Neighborhoods" accepted at the International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining (ASONAM 2025 - Demo Track).
Publication in JISA
Co-authored "Urban Cultural Signature with Web Data: A Case Study with Google Places Venues" published in the Journal of Internet Services and Applications (JISA).
In the News
Recent media mentions and coverage
Estudante de Engenharia da Computação é premiado em Simpósio nacional
Gustavo dos Santos recebeu o prêmio de melhor trabalho de iniciação científica.
Estudante Gustavo Santos é premiado no Webmedia 2024
O trabalho "Modelagem do Interesse por Áreas Urbanas Usando Redes Sociais Baseadas em Localização", de autoria de Gustavo H. Santos, Myriam Delgado e Thiago H. Silva, foi premiado com o 1º lugar no Concurso de Trabalhos de Iniciação Científica do 30º Simpósio Brasileiro de Sistemas Multimídia e Web (WebMedia 2024) ocorrido no mês de outubro em Juiz De Fora.
WebMedia premia melhores trabalhos em várias categorias
A entrega da premiação para os melhores trabalhos apresentados no 30º Simpósio Brasileiro de Sistemas Multimídia e Web (WebMedia) foi realizada na noite do dia 17 de outubro. A solenidade aconteceu no Trade Hotel em Juiz de Fora.
Let's Connect!
I'm always interested in discussing research collaborations, new opportunities, or just chatting about the latest developments in AI and technology.