Alumni

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Science, Integrated Science: Biochemistry and Neuroscience, University of British Columbia
Program: MDS Vancouver, Class of 2019

Even though at first I was skeptical about whether the MDS program would be worth the investment, and also extremely nervous about the intensity of the program, given my limited coding skills, I could not be happier with the knowledge, experience and job opportunities I have gained through the program, and would recommend it to anyone looking to challenge themselves and help shape their career towards utilizing these exciting, powerful and innovative data science tools. I have learned so much in such a short amount of time and am inspired to continue adding diversity to the field as a woman in data science.

About Heather Van Tassel

As Heather was completing her biochemistry and neuroscience degree at the University of British Columbia, she took a biostatistics course which became her doorway into data science. A MDS alumna and UBC professor encouraged her to apply to the MDS program. What appealed to Heather the most about the MDS program was how inclusive it was in accepting students from all backgrounds who don’t necessarily have a strong background in computer science. Heather feels that the MDS program gave her the hands-on skills and knowledge to actually be able to help businesses find value and insights from their data for real-world impacts.
Read Heather's story.

Previous Degree: Integrated MTech, Geophysical Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
Program: MDS Vancouver, Class of 2019

I was already curious and reading articles about the developments in machine learning and doing Kaggle competitions and some online courses. If I was only doing online courses, I would have missed a lot. MDS taught me what skills were important and how to connect the dots while providing guidance that is missing from online courses.

About Birinder Singh

Originally from Amritsar, India, Birinder worked for Schlumberger for almost 5 years as a Petro Technical Engineer. It was falling oil prices that prompted Birinder to find a way to better utilize available data to create value for its clients. Birinder holds an Integrated MTech, Geophysical Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee. Since completing the program, Birinder is now a data scientist for Integra Data and Analytics Solutions, a Calgary-based company that provides data science solutions to the oil and gas industry.
Read Birinder's story.

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Science, Chemistry – University of Victoria
Prior Experience: Resource Clerk, Province of British Columbia
Program: MDS Vancouver, Class of 2019

I've been looking for data science master's programs for months. Nothing really clicked and as soon as I read the MDS program description, it was exactly what I wanted to do and that is being able to use already collected data to answer decisions to create solutions and to try and get new information out of it which was everything that I was trying to do in my work already but didn't really have the skills to do it or the confidence.

About Ayla Pearson

Hailing from Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Ayla initially wanted to pursue a master’s in biology but couldn’t find the right program. Ayla realized that she preferred to do the data analysis side of biology versus going out in the field and collecting the data but she didn’t think that she could. A conversation with her mother made Ayla realize that she could separate those careers. Ayla enjoyed the fast-paced environment of the MDS program and the small classes allowed her to engage with other students and faculty on a one-to-one basis. Ayla will be returning to her role as a resource clerk with the Ministry of Forests Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development but hopes to transition into a data science role within the organization in the near-future. Ayla holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemistry from the University of Victoria. Read Ayla's story.

Previous Degree:  Bachelor of Arts, Double Major in Computer Science and Psychology, University of British Columbia
Program:  MDS Vancouver, Class of 2019

When I looked at the [MDS] curriculum, it was a really good range of relevant topics that I could tell was carefully designed and curated to fit within a ten-month window and also included a capstone project. That timeline really appealed to me as someone who was coming in as a working professional wanting to take that plunge but not wanting to do it for two or four year.

About Carrie Cheung

Prior to the MDS program, Carrie worked for Boeing Vancouver in various roles including one as a data scientist. While at Boeing, Carrie analyzed flight sensor data, which opened her eyes to a world where programming and math can be applied to data to solve business problems. Carrie holds a Bachelor of Arts, Double Major in Computer Science and Psychology from the University of British Columbia. Since graduating, Carrie is now a data scientist for NuData Security – A MasterCard company.
Read Carrie's story.

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Engineering – Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore
Prior Experience: Data Scientist and Data Engineer at HSBC
Program: MDS Okanagan, Class of 2019

I’ve always been intrigued by the power of computers and what you can program them to do. After some time as a developer and analyst, I realized, that I don’t want to be a traditional or a standard software engineer. I want to get into my own niche area, and I really like the field of data science, especially these days with the amount of data that’s out there. When I was looking for a program to take my career to the next level, I found the program at UBC and it ticked all of my boxes – it’s accelerated, it’s in a field that I really like, and gives me the skills that I need for the current trend in the market; it satisfied everything I was looking for.

About Vaghul Balaji

Vaghul spent four years in the financial services industry where he began as a software developer before transitioning to the role of a data engineer. Since his childhood, he has been fascinated by technology, the power of computers, and what you can do with them. That is even more true today than it was then, with the amount of data in today’s world. During his time as an undergraduate student at the National University of Singapore, he did an exchange program that led to a term spent at the University of Ottawa, where he fell in love with Canada. When he decided it was time for a career change, Canada and data science were the two key requirements. Vaghul was part of the first cohort of MDS students on the Okanagan campus and graduated in the summer of 2019. He is now a senior data engineer at Meta.
Meet Vaghul.

Previous Degree: Master’s Degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Washington, Seattle
Program: MDS Okanagan, Class of 2020

I have always had an interest in multidisciplinary fields which allow for collaborative work, and have applications in variety of areas. Data science is one such field and being able to see its wide impacts in almost all walks of life really got me hooked. Now through the program, I feel confident and prepared to enter the job market knowing the program has provided me with tools and knowledge I will need to succeed.

About Swapil Paliwal

Originally from (Firozabad, India), Swapil obtained a Master’s Degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Washington. It was during his time working as a Data Scientist where he fostered an interest in sharpening his technical skills.  Situated in the beautiful Okanagan Valley, the MDS-O program, with its accelerated learning program and intimate cohort, caught Swapil’s eye. Having now completed the 10-month program, Swapil hopes to utilize the knowledge and technical expertise taught in the MDS program on the Okanagan campus as he prepares to continue working as a data scientist or data engineer in cross-disciplinary teams.
Read Swapil's story.

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Science in Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University
Previous Experience: Analyst, Consulting Team, Risk Management Solutions (RMS)
Program: MDS Vancouver, Class of 2020

I decided to pursue data science because it combines everything I like about research -- uncovering insights, the thrill of discovery, working with new and interesting data -- but is extensible across all fields. I love the idea that I can apply this skill-set effectively in completely different topics from day to day. It makes the future very exciting, because rather than looking for a specific type of job, I can instead look for a specific type of company whose mission and values I really believe in.

About Cari Gostic

New York-native Cari came to the MDS program after previously working as an analyst on the consulting team with Risk Management Solutions, a catastrophe modeling company. While working with RMS, Cari worked to streamline the integration of RMS software into clients’ workflows and complete custom projects like in-depth analyses of exposure or custom app development. Cari holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Atmospheric Science from Cornell University. Read Cari's story.

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, Queen's University in Kingston, ON
Prior Experience: Lead Product Developer and Head of Product, I Will Teach/GrowthLab and Management Consultant at Accenture Strategy
Program: MDS Vancouver, Class of 2020

At the startup I worked for prior to MDS, I was facing big questions around our product and market strategy. We had plenty of data from our 40,000 customers and 500,000 email list subscribers, but we were only performing superficial analysis. I knew there were insights we were missing, but no one had the skills or experience to use and interpret the data effectively. I discovered the field of data science while looking for new tools and techniques to analyze our data.

About Alistair Clark

Prior to the MDS program, Alistair was the Lead Product Developer and Head of Product for I Will Teach/Growth Labs, an online e-learning startup. He also worked for 4 years as a management consultant with Accenture Strategy focused on financial modelling and business cases. Alistair came to the world of data science while looking for a better way to analyze customer data and make decisions about product and market strategy. Alistair holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Queen's University at Kingston.

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Science in Physics, McGill University
Previous Experience: Data Science Intern, BMO Financial Group
Program: MDS Vancouver, Class of 2020

It was around my third year of undergrad that I started hearing and learning more about data science. My first real encounter with data science came through my passion for soccer, as I discovered articles and blog posts explaining how data science is used to inform decisions across various departments in professional clubs. I was particularly interested in learning about these models and algorithms that were capable of uncovering meaningful insights about soccer games from data which did not seem to contain obvious patterns

About Rob Blumberg

Prior to MDS, Rob obtained a Bachelor of Science in Physics from McGill University. Right before starting the MDS program, Rob interned as a data scientist at BMO, where he worked on the People Analytics team. His team analyzed employee data, and his job was to analyze employee exit surveys to find out what was driving voluntary turnover. Read Rob's story.

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, University of British Columbia
Prior Experience: Executive Vice President, Senior Translator and Programmer, Simulingual Inc.
Program: MDS Computational Linguistics, Class of 2020

“If you are like me and enjoy devising solutions to real world problems, have a desire to transfer knowledge and skills from a previous job to the digitized world, or are passionate about language, this program is worth the money and time.”

As a professional translator, I have always been interested in machine translation. In particular, I wanted to know how linguistic data were processed in deep learning models. I wanted to be able to test out my hypotheses about how to improve the current machine translation models.

About Toshiko Shibano

Prior to the MDS Computational Linguistics program, Toshiko ran a translation business in Japan, which specialized in financial accounting and her clientele included major international audit firms, listed companies, and multinational corporations. Toshiko picked up programming to automate routine processes so that she could spend more time on translation. After handing over her business, Toshiko moved to Canada and pursued a Bachelor of Art degree in Psychology from the University of British Columbia. Read Toshiko's story.