Bachelor of Science with Honours in Mathematics
Founder and Principal Data Scientist, Modality New Zealand
Founder and Principal Machine Learning Engineer, Isogonal Ltd
Lecturer and Data Science Industry Coordinator, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury
You’ve accomplished so much since studying with UC, from doing a PhD with Yale to becoming a lecturer yourself! What was your motivation for founding your two data science companies?
Developing data driven software for companies around the world. Fundamentally I want to make the world a better place by reducing waste, improving efficiency, and making work environments and automated systems more user friendly.
What’s the best part about running your own business?
Being able to work on new problems each and every day and to find innovative solutions for challenging problems in a cost effective way.
So what lead you to study applied mathematics in the first place?
I was living in Christchurch at the time and the University has a strong pedigree in science and engineering. I took the MATH199 STAR course in 2008, and this was foundational in my choice of study. I found the course and the teaching staff to be excellent and I would wholeheartedly recommend this option to any students who are interested in broadening their horizons in their final year of high school.
I then started studying Physics and Mathematics because I couldn’t decide which Engineering discipline to study. I changed focus to Applied Mathematics and then Data Science because I was captivated by the wider possibly of applying mathematics, statistics, and computer science to other fields beyond engineering.
What did you enjoy about being a student at UC?
Pretty much everything. I was part of a number of student societies, and found the student engagement to be very rewarding. I took part in most science fairs as a representative of the School of Mathematics and Statistics and the outreach was very good.
Any advice you like to give to your students?
Try to develop your practical experience while studying, either by working on summer projects or internships or by coming up with personal projects. Being able to apply theory to a real world problem is a practiced skill and starting down this road early will change your perspective on what and how you are studying.
And what kind of things did you do?
I was awarded a number of scholarships directly based on my experience at the University of Canterbury, most notably the Fulbright Science and Innovation Graduate Student Award that facilitated my graduate school study in the US. I started consulting at graduate school, and a lot of my early work came directly from contacts that I made while studying.
What are you up to now besides all of your work roles?
My hobbies are varied, but many of them can be found in the garage. My recent projects include renovating our first house, getting a little bit carried away rebuilding my 1987 Pajero, and building a container office.
