Uthayanan SR is a mechanical engineer with more than 18 years of experience in diverse projects and project management. Harboring his keen interest in data science and mechanical engineering over a few years, he has been wanting to explore more about the field and pursue a career in it. So, as soon as he got the time to take up a formal course, he enrolled for the Global Certificate in Data Science & AI (GCDAI) program at Accredian.
In this interview, let’s see what interests him the most about data science and how his experience has been at Accredian.
Question 1: Which program & batch are you part of at Accredian & tell us more about your current work profile?
Uthayanan: I am part of the Global Certificate in Data Science & AI (GCDAI) program, April 2020 batch. I have over 18 years of experience in mechanical engineering. I am an MSC certified project management professional. Currently, I am looking for an opportunity to explore data science both as a field of study and career.
Question 2: Walk us through your career journey & what got you interested in Data Science & Machine Learning?
Uthayanan: Over the past 18 years, I have worked in multiple organizations as consulting engineering design and have gained a considerable amount of experience in project management, engineering design, and operation and maintenance of power plants.
My interest in data science grew over the last couple of years. I have been looking up information about it for a long time now and want to build a career in the data science field. However, I could not enroll for a formal course before as I was invested in a project. But now that it’s over, I think it’s the right time for me to dedicate my time to upskill in data science and so I enrolled in Accredian.
Question 3: What all tools and packages in Data Science & Machine Learning have you mastered in your Data Science & AI program at Accredian so far?
Uthayanan: I have learned Python and its packages like NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib, Seaborn, and machine learning algorithms like linear regression, logistic regression, decision tree, and random forest. I have also tried my hands in support vector machines by Astera principle, principal component analysis, k-means clustering, time series analysis, recommendation systems, etc. In the coming days, I’m going to learn more about these techniques.
Question 4: What were some of the initial challenges when you got started on your Data Science journey and how did you overcome it?
Uthayanan: Learning Python coding was a major challenge for me initially as I come from a non-coding background. But after rigorous practice and study, I am finally improving in it.
Question 5: Who is your favorite faculty at Accredian and what did you learn from him the Most?
Uthayanan: My favorite faculties are Suchit and Deepesh. Suchit has excellent command over mentoring. He knows how to engage students in class and can clearly see if anyone is having doubts. The teaching material of Deepesh is different from others. He has extensive knowledge on Machine Learning. And, I think both are outstanding in their own fields.
Question 6: What is the goal of Data Science?
Uthayanan: The goal of data science is to construct the means of extracting business focused insights from raw data. This requires an understanding of how value and information flows in a business and the ability to use that understanding to identify business opportunities.
Question 7: In your view, how has Data Science evolved in the last few years?
Uthayanan: Data Science started with statistics, and has evolved to include concepts and practices such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the Internet of Things, to name a few.
The exponential growth of IoT and data volumes available to enterprises has paved the way for Big Data. And after organizations started using Big Data to optimize profits and better decision making, other unique sectors like medicine, engineering and healthcare also started applying Big Data in their capacities.
Question 8: What are the current trends in Data Science that you are most excited about?
Uthayanan: Technology is evolving continuously. In the upcoming years, there will be massive growth in the AI and machine learning field. I am most excited about the application of deep learning in healthcare and would love to know more about it.
Deep learning models have the capacity to augment their own accuracy as they process more data, essentially learning from previous results to refine their ability to make correlations and connections.
Currently it is assisting medical professionals and researchers to discover the hidden opportunities in data and serve the healthcare industry better. It is providing doctors with accurate analysis of any disease helping them create better treatments.
Analyzing a patient’s medical history, the technology not only predicts the best treatment but extracts insights from their symptoms and tests. It is also used to analyze medical insurance fraud claims.
Question 9: Which are some of the blogs that you follow?
Uthayanan: I follow Kaggle and have subscribed to some YouTube channels to get a better understanding on data science and machine learning.
Question 10: What is your advice to anyone wanting to start a career in Data Science?
Uthayanan: I would like to advise all data science enthusiasts to take up a formal course in data science like the GCDAI program at Accredian. And the best way to build your machine learning profile is to participate in data science competitions and get a feel of data science projects. Work on your communication skills and network with professionals online. Choose the role you want to be in the data science field and work on it.
This was a conversation with one of our GCDAI students – Uthayanan SR.
To discover more such interesting student interviews, go to Accredian Spotlight.
