Nate Foster
Professor Of Computer And Communication Sciences
City of Ithaca, New York, Switzerland
Summary
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Rockstar🎓
Top SchoolNate Foster is a professor of computer and communication sciences with 17 years of experience bridging academia and industry, currently at EPFL after a long tenure at Cornell and visiting roles at Stanford and Princeton. His work sits at the intersection of programming languages, networking, and compiler internals—evident from sustained contributions to the P4 compiler (p4c) where he focuses on optimization, constant folding, and improving documentation. He has held research and engineering roles at Intel and Barefoot Networks, translating deep research into production-facing platform and networking architectures. Nate pairs a PhD in Computer and Information Science with a background in history and philosophy of science, a mix that informs his careful, systems-level thinking and clear technical communication. Based in Ithaca with international ties to Switzerland, he combines rigorous scholarship with hands-on engineering to push programmable networks and compilers forward.
18 years of coding experience
16 years of employment as a software developer
Bachelor’s Degree, Computer Science, Bachelor’s Degree, Computer Science at Williams CollegeMaster’s Degree, History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine, Master’s Degree, History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine at University of CambridgeDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Computer and Information Science, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Computer and Information Science at University of Pennsylvania
Github Skills (9)
compiler-optimization10
p4v10
constant-folding10
p4a10
p4api10
p4lang9
computer-engineering8
cprogramming-language7
c-language7
Programming languages (15)
Github contributions (5)
p4lang/p4c
Aug 2016 - Nov 2022
P4_16 reference compiler
Role in this project:
Back-end Developer
Back-end DeveloperContributions:100 reviews, 21 commits, 49 PRs in 6 years 5 months
Contributions summary:Nate primarily contributes to the P4 compiler, focusing on code optimization and bug fixes within the compiler's frontends. Their work includes handling lists in constant folding, refactoring strength reduction, and addressing issues related to constant folding and action references in table entries. Additionally, they add Doxygen comments to various frontend components, improving code documentation. This suggests a focus on compiler internals and optimization techniques.
compilerp4p4cp4languagep4lang
frenetic-lang/netkat
Jul 2013 - Nov 2016
Contributions:6 commits, 2 pushes, 14 comments in 3 years 4 months
coq
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