About Me

Hello! My name is Alex Bailey, and I am a computer engineering major at Georgia Tech. I enjoy learning anything and everything that I can, particularly topics that relate in some way to ECE. Ever since I was a young child, I always wanted to know more, and I wouldn't be satisfied with a simple answer or "that's just the way that it works".

I remember specifically buying a book titled The Way Things Work from one of the book fairs early on in elementary school. It did not matter what the book was explaining, I was always interested in the diagrams and mechanisms explaining each device's behavior. Once I finished the book, I wanted more. Luckily, my studies had picked up a bit in middle school and I was able to learn all the basic mathematics and English skills that I needed to move on to high school. This of course was not satisfactory for me, I still was curious. So much so, that for a project in English class in sixth grade I decided to read Stephen Hawking's book A Brief History of Time. Now, there were of course topics in the book that I did not understand, but that did not stop me from trying my hardest. This led me to read the book again in eighth grade and then a third time in tenth grade, where I was finally able to say that I understood most of the book. I use this story to convey just how curious of a person that I am. I can definitively say that I will never stop learning.

Fast forwarding to the current day, I am a energetic college student eager to get into the weeds with all of these topics that I briefed as a kid. I always keep the memories of my early learning in mind to ensure that even when work gets tough, and I have many exams coming up, that I never lose the goal that ten-year-old me set for myself:

To learn all there is to know in the entire world

Of course, this goal is unrealistic, as there is only so much time in the day and days in one's life. But, this will not stop me from giving it my best shot.

Moving past my innate curiosity, I also enjoy spending my free time doing other things aside from learning. Notably, I have been playing soccer ever since I was five years old, and it has become something largely ingrained in my life. I started my soccer career playing right wing, using my speed and creativity to bypass opponents' defense. Since then, I have transitioned to being a stronghold in the center back position, serving as the mastermind for the defense of my team. Regardless of the position being played, I have always enjoyed the fast-paced action of the sport. The requirement to think on your feet and react even before something has happened sometimes, is what drives my passion for soccer. No matter the opponent, there is always something new to consider and act upon, mirroring my love for learning just in the form of good old recreation.

I come from a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where I have been raised ever since I was born. Before coming to Atlanta and Georgia Tech, I attended Wissahickon High School, where I cultivated my interest in engineering, and more specifically electrical and computer engineering. You can find out more of my educational background here.

Moving past my educational background, my family comes from a variety of European countries. While on my father's side, my relatives have lived in the United States for generations, my mother's generation was the first in her family to be born here in the U.S. Both of her parents had come from Greece, and more specifically the island of Κεφαλονιά (Kefalonia).

This Greek heritage shows up in various aspects of my life, and is generally what I identify myself with. I bring it along in everything that I do, paying homage to my maternal grandparents, who have been some of the most inspirational people in my life. While I was not blessed with extensive time with them, it was clear that my παππού (grandfather) especially was extremely bright. Being able to immigrate to the United States, open a successful diner with your siblings, and raise 4 children to be individually successful all while possessing only a sixth grade formal education and only being able to speak Greek is one of the most impressive stories I have ever heard. All of this to say, that I take my heritage in stride, and am driven to become the best version of myself that I can.

Any engineering discipline requires a desire to learn, but I felt that I would find the most opportunities to do so with computer engineering. Ever since I built my computer in eighth grade, I had always been fascinated by the inner workings of computational devices. I always wanted to know how they worked and how they were designed and manufactured. Because electrical and computer engineering topics deal with mechanics on the scale of an electron, it is of course difficult to gleam any real knowledge of said topics without formal education. So, naturally I decided to major in computer engineering, which will give me the tools and knowledge to understand and utilize these complicated mechanisms in my future work.