About Me
João Ricardo Lourenço
João Ricardo Lourenço
I'm a 31-year-old software engineer from Coimbra, currently based in Porto, Portugal. My career spans academia, industry, and open source contributions. In my spare time, I write lots of poetry and dabble in photography.
As CTO of CRON STUDIO, a venture studio I profoundly believe in, I lead the development of innovative products across AI, IoT, health, wellness, and more. I'm particularly proud of our work on Bloq.it, the leading smart locker solution, whose hardware and firmware was built by CRON.
I'm also passionate about teaching the next generation of software engineers, and am currently lecturing at my alma mater, the University of Coimbra. My academic research on NoSQL databases and a novel exception handling technique based on AI has garnered over 280 citations.
In love with science, philosophy, and the arts, I have a deep appreciation for elegant code, efficient algorithms, and, above all, the transformative potential of the right people, in the right place.
Professional Journey
A timeline of my professional experiences, academic achievements, and (a tiny subset of) my creative pursuits.
Projects
A collection of noteworthy projects I've contributed to throughout my career, showcasing my expertise in various technologies and problem domains.
Bloq.it
The fastest-growing smart locker provider in the world.
CRON was responsible for the hardware and firmware development, and I was the lead firmware developer of Bloq.it OS from its inception in 2019 all the way until 2023, after which I transitioned all technical know-how from CRON to Bloq.it's internal team.
Links:
Open Elevation API
Open-source Google Elevation API alternative
Processing 500k requests per day and serving 200k+ unique IPs, this project provides free access to global elevation data. Hard to believe it's been almost 10 years!
Links:
jar2app
JAR-to-macOS app converter
A tool that converts Java JAR applications to native macOS applications, improving user experience for Java desktop applications on Mac. One of my first open-source projects.
Links:
Chess-playing Robot
High school robotics project
I have been in love with programming for as long as I can remember. This was an early foray into programming and robotics: a mechanical system capable of playing chess against human opponents using computer vision, AI, and robotic control.
Publications
I would love to get back into research! Here are some of my publications, with a focus on database systems and AI-enabled exception handling systems.
For a complete list of publications, please visit myGoogle Scholarprofile.
Teaching
I love teaching and firmly believe that students need a balance of academic and industry experience. These are some of the courses I have taught — and I hope to add more soon!
Algorithms & Data Structures
2024–PresentUniversity of Coimbra
Core computer science course covering fundamental algorithms and data structures, their implementation, analysis, and applications.
Advanced Programming
2024–PresentUniversity of Coimbra
Advanced programming course focused on Java and react.js, for the "Acertar o Rumo" course.
Introduction to Programming
2014–2016University of Coimbra
Introductory programming course focused on teaching basic programming concepts to the "Acertar o Rumo" students.
My Hobbies
A (very small subset) of things I'm passionate about beyond my professional life.
When I'm not immersed in code or academic research (or playing some video/board game), you'll find me exploring various creative and relaxing pursuits. Here are some of those passions:
Poetry
Maybe one day I'll publish a couple of books.
Photography
I wish I'd known earlier how much I love photography!
AI & LLMs
I am excited about the future of humanity!
Philosophy
I love ethics and epistemology.
FC Porto
I'm a diehard fan of the Dragons, but I'm not a hooligan!
Cats
Spending quality time with my feline companions.
Above all, I'm grateful for my wonderful friends and family, with whom I spend so much time.
Meet one of my cats!
Coming Soon
I'm currently working on adding more content to this section, including a blog, a photography portfolio, and perhaps some of my poems. Check back soon for updates!