An Interview on Unconventionality
Pascal Tyrrell is a data scientist who he defines as someone who is a combination of a research methodologist, computer/database solutions architect and an innovator. Pascal is an associate professor at UofT in the Departments of Medical Imaging and Statistical Sciences, as well as the director of Data Science. He is currently the Chief Science Officer at AceAge Inc — a company that creates products to ease the aging process. He’s currently focusing on clinical validation of KARIE — a healthcare companion that organizes and delivers medication. He’s also the founding director of MiDATA which aims to provide education and services to empower data in medical imaging research.
Pascal's journey
Pascal has a very interesting and long career path to get to where he is today. He has changed career paths at least seven times. It's probably best summed up like this:
He started off as an undergrad at Concordia University in Montreal asking his professor about the kind of work he does, and after not understanding a word he said he signed up to be his first independent studies student. He followed his professor to UofT and started his first graduate work there. After receiving a Masters degree and a measly four years of a PhD he decided leave his supervisor (who he's still friends with, despite bailing him) and dive into industry work as a software developer as there was a lot of opportunities to prepare for “Y2K” (if you were born after 2000 and had to google that, its an abbreviation for the year 2000 when people thought computers would crash after the year 1999 and prepared for the “Millennium Bug”).
He had that gig for a while until he got recruited to be an IT recruiter, he was there for a while but felt like he needed to “use his brain more” and quit to become a Data Manager at SickKids in the world of research. After five years in that position, he did a PhD in clinical epidemiology and biostatistics to keep him busy, which it did for seven years (I don't think I have met anyone who spent seven years doing a PhD because they got bored).
When looking and waiting for a professorship, he took a sharp U-Turn into financial advisory. He came across a job ad for Edward Jones, with an incentive of running your own office. After getting certified and training, he successfully worked as a financial advisor, but you guessed it: he decided to switch again.
That job didn't let him see his kids as he saw clients on evenings and weekends. Luckily UofT was looking for a data researcher (the term data scientist was not used back then) and the opportunity of professorship and director of Data Science in Medical Imaging arose.
However, his career did not stop there. While his time at Edward Jones, he became friends with the founder of AceAge. After receiving numerous calls about clinical validation for a device prototype he became the Chief Science Officer. He switched to full time with them to help scale for expansion in the EU and USA and is now focused on clinical validation for KARIE.
Pascal on fundamentals of a data scientist
Pascal says that a data scientist needs to have three areas of proficiency:
- math/stats
- computer programming
- content knowledge aka what the data is about
However, data scientists are rarely experts in all three areas. Pascal's advice? Try to learn as much as possible but realize that data science is more of a team effort. He mentions how valuable formal experiences are such as an internship where you are working for someone who can account for the type of work you have done and validate it.
Are degrees useful?
Pascal says that pursuing higher education taught him how to learn efficiently and correctly.
“You learn how to organize your thoughts and build a personal framework for learning in order to be successful (good grades). That is what I look for when hiring. I love it when people tell me they could get a university degree easy but they just haven’t bothered. Right. Come back when you have and we’ll continue the conversation.”
He said the same goes for postgraduate studies such as a Masters or PhD. Pursuing higher education allows you to exercise your brain and continue to build a learning framework.
“If eating ice cream is what is needed for you to be successful, does it really matter what the flavor is?”
Taking advantage of luck
Pascal says he got lucky to get to where he is, but he sure damn worked his butt off to get as lucky as possible. His position at AceAge was due to his past position at Edward Jones, along with his professorship at UofT. He got lucky with the two companies he co-founded: Softx innovations with a student volunteer in his program and DPwaves who he co-founded when he was invited to be a speaker at the Alberta Children's Hospital. He says that these opportunities were considered lucky but it took him his entire life to prepare himself to recognize and take advantage of these lucky situations.
Pascal on being “unconventional”
Pascal says he didn’t choose to become unconventional. He just is. He always wanted to fit in as a child growing up. Eventually, he gave up trying and realized what a waste of time and energy it was to try and be someone else.
“Life is a bit like being on a roller coaster for the first time: you know there will be highs and lows, twists and turns, but you don’t know when. Wishing you were on another ride won’t change a thing and will just ruin your fun.”
Wanting what you have is so much healthier than trying to have what you want.
He also mentions how success started to come when he doubled his failure rate, along with actually learning something from failing. Or else it just sucks. His short career as a financial advisor is a perfect example of that. He met the founder of AceAge thanks to it but he considers it a failure because he didn’t stick with it and built a profitable office.
His advice to his past 20-year-old self? Hang in there, and be that tortoise with grit.
I think Pascal's journey is not the exception, but what to expect in the field of STEM or any other field. His sharp twists and turns are common and a good example of how things never work out the way you planned it to. It's crucial for those who tend to worry/plan 15 years ahead about their future (me) to understand, not only for their career but life in general. As Pascal said, it's better off perfecting skills that can benefit you down the line such as mastering how to learn efficiently and getting things done fast.
Key takeaways:
- Realize that data science is a team effort, but try to learn as much as you can in computer science, math/stats, and content you're passionate about
- Treat degrees like ice cream flavors, does it really matter what flavor you have if it all leads you to success?
- Be grateful for what you have and whatever life throws at you, trying to be someone/something else is ruins the ride
A big thank you to Pascal for taking the time to give years of valuable advice and insights!
