Meet our new Data Scientist, Roisin
Welcome Roisin Brogan who joins the team as a Data Scientist! Find out more about her below.
Where did you study and what is your degree?
I did my Bachelor’s in Maths and Physics at the Open University, before studying a Master’s in Astrophysics at Uppsala University in Sweden. For my master’s thesis, I had the opportunity to go to the Leibniz Institute in Germany and work on stellar population statistics in a nearby galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Tell us about your role?
As a Data Scientist, it’s my job to extract useful information from the data we collect via our data platform, Brella. There’s a lot you can learn from raw sensor data, but by applying maths and statistics, you can go even further. By using statistical techniques, as well as machine learning and AI, a data scientist can, for example, forecast measurements into the future, predict how long machinery will last, or identify likely causes of mechanical failures.
What does a typical day look like?
I head into the office, grab a cup of coffee and catch up on emails and messages. Then, I’ll pick up on whatever project I’m working on at the time. Typical tasks include researching methods, inspecting data, testing theories, debugging and lots of coding. If I need to give my brain a rest, I’ll read an article about an interesting method or new tool that could be useful.
What is your favourite thing about working in this field?
Most people don’t think of maths and coding as particularly creative, but in my experience they really are. There is never just one way to do something and as you become more familiar with the field, you develop an intuition about whether an approach suits. I also love the fact that I learn something new every day, whether it’s about industrial flow sensors, a new modelling technique or just a more efficient way to code.
What advice would you give to someone looking to enter this field?
In my experience I have always learnt better by doing. There is so much theory out there that you could study for years, but it’s difficult to understand until it’s applied. Test things, try things and work out how you learn best. There are plenty of datasets and tutorials available online from beginner to advanced level.
It’s also important to get comfortable with frustration, as things not working is part of the process. Something else I found helpful is attending tech events. The tech community in Glasgow is very welcoming and there are loads of events on Meetup where you can network and learn about different tools and projects (there's usually free food too!).
Anything you’d like to add?
I have really enjoyed my first month and a half at JWF. I feel like I am doing something worthwhile and immediately felt like part of the team. With a physics background, the work is familiar enough that I feel confident self-motivating but, having never worked in instrumentation before, I am still constantly learning and being challenged. It was also great to be included in both an awards ceremony and a trip to Germany for the WIKA conference in my first month!