At SVGC we’re proud to be a small business formed of experienced, highly qualified people operating on a national platform. Our team collectively has vast knowledge of strategic planning, public sector decisions, innovative technologies, data science and agile working methodologies.
Get to know our Applied Data Scientist, Mahin Ali.
What are your ‘must haves’ to start the working day?
Nothing gets me in the right mindset to start the day like a 10-minute meditation session followed by a bowl of oats with peanut butter, a kiwi and a cup of coffee! I also have a work/focus playlist on Spotify that I use to help me build momentum for productivity in the morning.
What’s your proudest work achievement to date?
A couple months after university I was hired by a large waste management company, as their first data scientist as somewhat of a “data science guinea pig”. I pitched a predictive modelling solution to my boss and the CTO which was approved and made into a top objective regarding digital transformation for the business. It took hours of research and I developed a war chest of proof-of-concept machine learning models. I like to think that whilst they have changed how I think about waste and sustainability, I have changed how they think about data.
What do you love most about what you do?
The thing that draws me to data science is the complexity behind developing predictive modelling solutions.
The technical side appeals to me primarily since I am an applied mathematics graduate and I enjoy translating real world problems into mathematics, statistics and machine learning problems. As for the non-technical side, I enjoy the challenge that comes with communicating with a less-technical audience to better understand business needs and letting it steer the direction of my predictive modelling, piecing together the final solution over time.
What does your typical working day look like?
What I like about being a data scientist is that my day can vary depending on where I am with a project. I’ve found that some days I will be very social and find myself talking with stakeholders to figure out how I should approach a problem, whereas other days I will need to block out my schedule to hyperfocus on getting that technical work done.
When you hit a wall workwise, what do you do to help overcome the hurdle?
When it feels like my progress has been hampered, I see it as a sign to reframe my way of thinking and approach the task from a different angle.
For me this usually means taking a short walk followed by a journaling session regarding the work at hand and a common outcome of this is that I tend to define the task slightly differently after a break which opens up a new avenue for me to investigate and ultimately overcome any obstacles that are acting as a barrier to my productivity.
