Datacast Episode 9: Diving into Data Engineering with Mark Sellors
I’m creating a new podcast about Data Science called Datacast! The 9th episode is my conversation with Mark Sellors, the Head of Data Engineering at Mango Solutions. Give it a listen to learn about his decade’s experience working with analytical computing environments, his thoughts on Dev Ops and Data Science, his recommendation for resources on data engineering, plus many more.
Mark Sellors is the Head of Data Engineering at Mango Solutions, a UK based Data Science consultancy. He has more than a decade’s experience working with analytical computing environments, DevOps and Unix/Linux. He uses his experience to help Mango’s customers transform their analytic capabilities to ensure they can make the most of their data.
Show Notes:
- (2:05) Mark revisited his brief stint during college back in the 90s.
- (3:38) Mark’s first job as a Business Consultant at Dixon Stores Group was a humbling experience.
- (5:41) Mark stressed the importance of customer empathy that lasts with him throughout his career.
- (6:45) Mark talked about his next long-term job as a Configuration & Support Engineer at Orange PCS, where he built solid technical skills in IT and data work.
- (12:51) Mark discussed his next gig working as a Principal Specialist at T-Systems and then doing freelance work in IT and data analytics.
- (16:23) Mark reflected on the sabbatical years he took a break from working.
- (19:10) Mark shared an overview of his current employer, Mango Solutions.
- (20:34) Mark discussed his first big project working at Mango as a senior IT consultant.
- (25:57) Mark then transitioned into a technical architect role, where he became the bridge between the data science and the IT worlds.
- (28:33) In reference to his talk “An operating model for R”, Mark stressed the importance of policy, procedure, people and policing to build an effective operating model that connects data scientists and IT specialists.
- (34:32) Mark gave a client use case that his Data Engineering team has been involved with at Mango.
- (36:48) Mark talked about the cultural challenges of deploying code into production within an organization.
- (39:35) Mark talked about his key accomplishments in his leadership role as Head of Data Engineering.
- (43:27) In reference to his talk “R is production safe”, Mark discussed the existing challenges in the R-community to write production code.
- (50:39) In reference to his book “Field Guide to the R Ecosystem”, Mark shared the key developments in the R ecosystem in 2019 that he’s most excited about.
- (53:27) Mark gave thoughts on the rise of cloud-based processing technologies for data engineering’s best practices.
- (56:42) Mark mentioned the Google Cloud Certified Data Engineer Exam that people can take to learn about data engineering.
- (59:35) Mark emphasized the importance of communication skills to become an organizational leader.
- (01:01:13) Mark shared his view on the data science ecosystem in the UK.
- (01:02:18) Closing segments.
His Contact Info:
His Recommended Resources:
- rayshader R package
- TensorFlow for R
- sparklyr R interface for Apache Spark
- Amazon S3 for Data Storage
- Google Cloud Platform Podcast
- Hudl
- RStudio
- R for Data Science by Hadley Wickham and Garrett Grolemund
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