I have always loved the process of analysing data to uncover insights and solve problems, going back to those ‘Eureka’ moments during my Ph.D. in Chemistry where I made some key discoveries by challenging existing assumptions and performing the right experiments.
In a way then, it isn’t surprising that I associate a lot of the highlights of my career in industry with data analytics: Using data and chemistry insights to build the world’s strangest-looking electrochemical cell that fixed a critical process that wasn’t working, or leveraging my business analysis skills to design and implement an unorthodox impurity removal process that unlocked the value of a $100 M stockpile. More recent highlights include designing and prototyping an integrated monitoring platform that fused together the data and information needed for engineers from different disciplines to work together to resolve operational challenges, or the work we did to build and operationalize machine learning models to help predict and avoid equipment failures for the maintenance crews at the operating mines.
On the other hand, I wasn’t really aware of my love for coding until 2016 when I began to analyse baseball data for fun, scraping the MLB website to figure out why Marco Estrada wasn’t doing as well as the year before, or building a heatmap in R to prove the whole launch angle theory for hitting homeruns was real. But on reflection, I did spend an extraordinary amount of time back in grade school writing that Dungeons and Dragons-inspired game on a computer not far removed from the good ol’ Commodore 64.
Imagine my surprise and joy on discovering in 2018 that analytics and coding skills had a whole new life in modern business. Thanks to advances in technology and to the birth of Industry 4.0, there was something called Data Science that was allowing scientists like myself to have an impact in the world like never before. Since that time, I have diligently worked to steer my career trajectory towards Data Science and the building of digital tools that help business people make faster, better data-driven decisions. Completing BrainStations’ intense but transformative Data Science program was the final step in my journey and I am very excited to rejoin the workforce as a fully-trained and capable professional Data Scientist with over 20 years of industry experience to leverage as required.
Do what you love. Love what you do. Happy to chat with you about any opportunities where Data Science and I might be able to help.