Meet the team — Jakob

MedEngine GmbH
MedEngine Blog
Published in
2 min readFeb 18, 2021

In this episode of meet the team, we meet the professor, the neuroscientist, the self-taught data science genius, Jakob!

Where are you from?
I grew up in Frankfurt, studied in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Spain, obtained a neuroscience PhD in Oxford, completed a postdoc in Paris, worked as an assistant professor in Freiburg, and did a lot of physiology teaching in medical faculties of … forgot the names of these places.

How did you end up working at MedEngine?
In 2019 I decided to leave academia and emerged myself fully into python and machine learning. When in 2020 MedEngine was looking for a Data Scientist, I thought: this is the perfect match between medicine, neuroscience and data science.

Why did you become a Data Scientist?
I always liked coding but as a lab-based neuroscientist, there was little time for it. For an extended modelling project, I hired physics postdocs to do the coding. When I reorientated, I saw that a lot of data scientists do what I want to do and what I can do. I haven’t looked back since. It does not feel like work!

What would you say you are most proud of?
Having made this transition from academia to industry. This late. With a new profession.

Could you describe yourself in 3 words…

  1. Curious
  2. Concentrated
  3. Reliable

What’s the best part about working at MedEngine?
The friendly, yet focused atmosphere. The tasks ahead.

Name 3 things you couldn’t go without…

  1. My kids
  2. Computer with internet
  3. Cappuccino

Have you got a favourite book?
I like everything from T.C. Boyle

What skill would you like to learn or develop in the future?
Getting matplotlib figures to work easier (am I the only one that thinks, it is far more complicated than it needs to be?). And of course, I want to build the best machine learning pipelines for all sorts of problems in no time.

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Interested in learning more? Reach out to us at contact@medengine.co !

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MedEngine GmbH
MedEngine Blog

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