Using Data to Excel in Production
Hi, I am Murali — Data Scientist at Porsche Digital.
When you think of automotive craftsmanship, you will most likely not think of India. But in fact, my home country is the 4th largest vehicle producer in the world. Surprisingly though, this didn’t spark my interest in cars. This is why I didn’t become an engineer at Porsche, but a Data Scientist at Porsche Digital.
You don’t need to be a petrol head to work at Porsche
I joined Porsche Digital in August last year — and if anyone thinks that you need to be a petrol head to work for Porsche, I am the proof to the contrary. For everything that I don’t know about cars, I know three times as much about data, physics and software engineering. Oh, and sports!
In November 2015, I had just moved from India to Germany to do my Ph.D. at the University of Hamburg as a computational and theoretical physicist. During my research, I was mainly working on the simulation of light-matter interaction and subsequent dynamics, focusing on quantum and classical physics.
I stumbled upon coding on the way. In order to successfully do my research during my Ph.D., I had to learn how to code and how to process huge amounts of data. While developing new physical and statistical models, I got into Machine Learning which brought me to the automotive industry. Why? This industry, I believe, is one of the few that includes both physics and AI, my two passion points. So here I am.
I do love the work we’re doing here. Automotive is more than just cars. Besides the combination of my fields of interest, I enjoy that there is so much happening right now in the world of mobility. As the world is moving towards autonomous in every field, Machine Learning is becoming even more important and I am excited to have a job that will actively influence and shape that change.
As a Data Scientist, my job is to dig into data to solve problems. In my team here at Porsche Digital in Berlin, our ultimate goal is to take the automotive industry to further levels. Simply put, we use machine learning to build better processes and to excel in production.
Shifting from academics into industry
Being a Data Scientist at Porsche Digital is my first job outside of academics. Of course, my shift from it into the private sector needed some adaption time. The pace in a company like this is much faster and I had no idea about the culture of Porsche Digital. Luckily, I was warmly welcomed right from the start. Here in the Berlin office of Porsche Digital, cross-functional, open collaboration is taken seriously. I can talk to everyone about challenges — whether there are job-related or not — and everyone is eager to help. Additionally, the location right next to the Spree River is super nice. See for yourself!
Besides the nice working environment, I love the agile work methods here, which means that we iterate continuously. Planning and prioritization works very well and it helps to keep up the speed. After nine months of working here, I still didn’t get my driving license and so my attitude towards cars is still the same, but my perception of Porsche definitely changed. I came here to seek a new challenge and now, I’m happy to contribute to the transformation of a whole industry. Well, if this isn’t a dream job!
Murali Krishna Ganesa Subramanian is Data Scientist at Porsche Digital.
About this publication: Where innovation meets tradition. There’s more to Porsche than sports cars — we’re tackling new challenges, develop digital products and think digital with a focus on the customer. On our Medium blog, we tell these stories. It’s about our #nextvisions, smart technologies and the people that drive our digital journey. Please follow us on Twitter (Porsche Digital, Next Visions), Instagram (Porsche Digital, Next Visions, Porsche Newsroom) and LinkedIn (Porsche AG, Porsche Digital) for more.
