The Wonder Foundation is a charity of Wonderflow. As part of its mission to help disadvantaged students and families gain easier access to tech-related jobs and education, its board members have partnered with Epicode, a rigorous coding school that preps passionate professionals for a career in IT.
Together, we’ve scouted talented young individuals, particularly those interested in AI, computer science, and web development, to provide them with scholarships, training resources, internships, and more.
In our latest WonderStudent interview series, we’re happy to sit down with an Epicode graduate and a selected scholarship recipient of the Wonder Foundation, Alberto de Marino, to see how far he has come in his career. Marino is 28 years old and currently resides in Salerno, Italy. His main career interest is in back-end development and sound design.
Read on to learn more about him and how he can empower young professionals in tech!
1. Can you briefly tell us a bit about yourself?
Alberto: I am Alberto De Marino, and I am 28 years old. I live in Salerno in a small suburban neighborhood. Since I was a child, I have always been attracted to science and technology. Above all, thanks to my great-grandfather, I was also well educated in music.
After finishing high school, I felt I needed to deepen what I learned more as a child. In fact, shortly after high school, I began learning what the “science that governed music is.” That is acoustics.
From there, it became a passion that I still love today. I studied deeply about technologies related to the “musical” world. Plus, astronomy and how ontological function sounds could have on humans.
2. How did you start in programming and even at Epicode?
Alberto: Before starting the program, I attended a private course where I learned the fundamentals of programming (PURE DATA and MAX / MSP), recreating in real-time multimedia graphic elements that react to the sound synthesis written in “code.”
During the program, I discovered that the software I had previously used was included in the course but only as a sound approach. For economic reasons, I abandoned it. After my work experience last year, I started teaching myself again the “C” language to really deepen my understanding of the programmer’s role. Then, after 4 months, I enrolled in Epicode coding school, also thanks to Wonderflow’s scholarship.
3. As our society grows more and more digital, especially with data science, machine learning, and AI being some of the biggest trends, what is your take on all of this? How do you see it in 10 years?
Alberto: I often hear about a future linked to “complete automation,” a sci-fi scenario that makes us reflect on the ultimate goal of technology and a tool that should support, rather than replace, people. In particular, the aid of technology could be useful in teaching, but at the same time in the cognitive development of the imagination.
4. What has the opportunity of receiving the Wonder Foundation scholarship mean for you?
Alberto: This opportunity mainly helped me understand a critical part of my weaknesses and how to improve them. Most importantly, it has helped to strengthen the skills and knowledge that I will need in the future to connect my world of “ideas” with reality.
5. Did you have some expectations that you’d be selected for the scholarship?
Alberto: I did not expect the charity and school to be interested in me! I have always been someone who never feels up to par and questions himself. However, perhaps, this is what any organization needs: someone who is always asking questions to develop critical results and consciousness.
6. Lastly, what’s going on with you, and what’s next for you? What are your professional goals?
Alberto: Right now, I am teaching myself all the notions I learned during the Epicode course and developing them into my passion because this was the main engine that drove me into the world of programming. But I do not preclude the fact that I can work in something that gives a concrete hand to people, especially young people, but more so that makes me grow professionally.
