Data Journeys

Kirk Borne is the Principal Data Scientist at Booz Allen Hamilton, PhD Astrophysicist, and world-renowned Big Data Influencer. In 2007 he launched the first-ever data science bachelors degree program as a Professor of Computational Science at George Mason University and in 2009 co-created the field of Astroinformatics to support his research.

Since Kirk has been around long-before the field was even called Data Science, we start this conversation by taking a 50-foot helicopter view of the field: where we've been over the past decade, where we are now, and how aspiring Data Scientists can prepare for what's coming next.

Other topics covered include…

• what it means to be "data literate"
• how organizations can promote a "culture of experimentation"
• the data science skills, talents, & aptitudes that have stood the test of time
• Kirk's thought process behind creating the first data science bachelors degree program at GMU
• changes he would make to the program if he re-created it today
• …. and perhaps most notably: how Kirk was asked to brief the President of the United States on Data Mining after the terrorist attacks of 9/11

Enjoy!

Show Notes: https://ajgoldstein.com/podcast/ep4/

Kirk's Twitter: https://twitter.com/KirkDBorne

AJ's Twitter: www.twitter.com/ajgoldstein393/

Kale Temple is a Data Scientist, Startup Advisor, & Guest Speaker at the University of Sydney, down-under in Australia. Most recently, he became the Founder & CEO of Intellify — an Artificial Intelligence consulting company based in Australia, where he and his team help companies grow exponentially, operate efficiently, and all-in-all become more data-driven in their decision making.

In this conversation we spend a lot of time focusing on Data Science through the lens of consulting, covering topics like:

• how Kale has been able to master Machine Learning without a degree in Computer Science or Statistics
• the pros/cons of different data science career paths
• Kale's strategies for landing consulting clients and building relationships that last
• his thought process behind starting companies
• how he packages up his technical skills into consulting projects
• tactics for identifying business pain-points where data science can have the biggest impact
• how to build a personal brand for yourself as a Data Scientist and maximize the business value you're able to bring
• … and so so much more.

Enjoy!

Show Notes: www.ajgoldstein.com/podcast/ep3/

Kale's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaletemple/

AJ's Twitter: www.twitter.com/ajgoldstein393/

In this episode of the Data Journeys podcast, I'm joined by Kate Strachnyi. Kate is a data visualization specialist at Deloitte consulting, author the book "Journey to Data Scientist", and creator of the Story by Data blog and YouTube channel.

This conversation with Kate was a really special treat because her book, "Journey to Data Scientist" is a essentially compilation of interviews that Kate herself conducted with 20 amazing Data Scientists. When she wanted to learn more about Data Science, as she says, she went "straight to the source". So what we really have here is a meta-interview with Kate serving as the umbrella over 20 other people & stories — with backgrounds ranging from LinkedIn and Pinterest to Bloomberg and IBM.

The focus of the conversation lies on the overarching themes and patterns she found throughout her own 20 interviews. In terms of topics — we covered so much — but some my personal favorites included advice for building a project portfolio, use-cases for Data Science across industries & organization-size, the most overrated and underrated aspects of doing Data Science, how to properly evaluate job opportunities, and strategies for finding an environment where you can thrive. We also spend some time speaking about her extensive experience with the art of data storytelling, which she breaks down for beginners very nicely.

Enjoy!

Show Notes: www.ajgoldstein.com/podcast/ep2

Kate's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-strachnyi-data/

AJ's Twitter: https://twitter.com/ajgoldstein393

In this pilot episode of the Data Journeys podcast, I'm joined by Andrew Cassidy. Andrew is a freelance Data Scientist, Software Engineer, & Online Educator. We originally met this past September, when he was my virtual mentor for Springboard's Data Science Intensive bootcamp.

In 2011 Andrew graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelors degree in Systems Engineering, and afterwards, went to work as a Data Scientist for a company called Commonwealth Computer Research in Charlottesville, VA. While there, he was heavily involved in contracting work with the US military, and for one project used logistic regression to predict the likelihood of bombs in Afghanistan (which he talks about in detail in the interview here). After 4 years at Commonwealth, he decided to go back to school for a Masters degree in Computer Science at Georgia Tech (which he interestingly enough completed almost entirely online while rock climbing and camping as a "digital nomad" throughout the United States). Finally, just this past summer after graduating from Georgia Tech, he decided to shift his attention to the freelance world, while also serving as an educator for online learning platforms like Springboard.

It's amazing all that Andrew has done at just 28 years old, and we cover so much of it in this conversation… from explosive battlegrounds in Afghanistan to the sunny mountains of Boulder Colorado, we touch on topics like Andrew's childhood, his principles for effectively learning Data Science, how he lands clients, the best/worst advice out there for up-and-comers, and even his strategies for dealing with overwhelm, lost focus, & the all-too-common imposter syndrome. We took a little while to get warmed up, so please be patient, but if you want to go straight to his stories about Afghanistan, feel free to skip to the 50:00 mark.

Enjoy!

Show Notes: www.ajgoldstein.com/podcast/ep1

Andrew's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-cassidy-62b726b4/

AJ's Twitter: https://twitter.com/ajgoldstein393

Some background about the host, why he started this podcast, and what you can expect from the show.