Rachata Ausavarungnirun

I have been following MangoBoost's DPU research for a while as a part of my lab’s research direction that explores techniques to lower the overhead of GPU I/O access and efficient multi-GPU communication, both of which are important to modern AI and HPC workloads. At the time, it was very hard to make much of an impact as a researcher in academia due to the limited access to new hardware and accelerators, which led me to the decision to join the industry. MangoBoost positioning as a deep-tech startup on DPU technologies is a perfect platform for me to contribute to the industry and make more impact.

As a part of the Royal Thai Government Scholarship recipient, I had multiple opportunities to help elevate university-level research and bring changes to the country’s tech sector. In the past five years, I had an opportunity to be on a team for a major curriculum update at the top international CS program. I also actively worked with local tech startups to grow local engineers through both long-term projects (joint university-startup research programs) and short-term projects (workshop series, bootcamps, and hackathons). With the increasing importance of accelerators such as the DPUs and GPUs in modern computing systems, I have also been given a chance to provide strategic directions by working with policymakers from both industry and government research labs on trends in computer science and how computer systems and architecture can provide an impact to Thailand's tech and non-tech industries.

Transitioning from academia to startup has proven to be very eye-opening for me. Being involved in the process in which a research prototype transitions into products that improve performance against state-of-the-art industry solutions is a new and exciting experience for me. Observing how academic research can contribute to product design that leads to a good prototype and seeing how to make a prototype robust and interoperable for industry use are something not typically available in academic research.

MangoBoost has a nice blend of research and startup cultures that allows you to contribute across multiple teams or pitch new ideas. Teams always share their knowledge and resources, allowing other team members to learn and the opportunity to make more impact, leading to both personal growth and career development.