📈 Digging Through The Data

Elia González tells us about the data science team at Stuart

“I am Elia: mathematician, musician, sports and nature lover (and cats above all 😸). If I had a superpower, it would be instant physical regeneration.”

That was exactly my introduction when I started working at Stuart 5 months ago.

Some years ago I discovered that being a data scientist is a lot of fun — years later, I’m still very much devoted to it.

What’s daily life like on the data science team?

Actually, there isn’t a single “daily life” on the Data Science team as our profiles and roles are very different!

The “Elia’s Daily Life” as a Research Data Scientist is:

• I arrive early in the morning and check if models that I left executing the day before have finished and if expected results have been found;
• Many times, the answer is “no” because experiments are like that: they consist of refuting or accepting a hypothesis we formulated based on some evidence gathered earlier. But sometimes real data doesn’t fit with the theoretical approach we conceived, or the algorithm we chose couldn’t find the optimal solution;
• Thus, we start thinking — usually with a marker in hand and in front of the blackboard — how can we improve the way we address the problem? This process is usually the most enjoyable! After some discussions, formulas and graphics then a new strategy is settled;
• Now, the programming stage starts: extracting data, transforming it into useful information, analysing that information to extract knowledge which can guide us through the process of refining our algorithm;
• Then, we iterate again…

What interesting challenges has the team been solving recently?

We are a really small and young department in the company. Right now, some problems are in the theoretical stage of resolution while others are being implemented and some of them are already solved.

They are generally related to optimization or prediction, but they are varied:

• Which drivers would do this delivery in the most efficient way due to its location and transport?
• How would we coordinate pickups and drop-offs to perform deliveries with the minimum time and resources?
• How would we minimize driver waiting times between deliveries?
• What will be the demand and drivers number next week?
• When will the driver arrive at the pickup and at the drop-off according to every variable that delivery involves?

What’s it like working at Stuart?

When friends ask me how is my new job I always reply something like “It’s frea-king awe-some!”... and that’s true. Stuart is an amazing place to work because I think is the perfect balance between many important things:

• I am important: If the image was frozen for a moment, one could find people coding, having breakfast or debating. They would be sitting on chairs, giant balls or standing up. They could be working in the table space, in the lounge, in the terrace or connected remotely . Perhaps some bikes would be being hooked on the wall while other people would have already parked their scooters sometime ago. In summary: you can do it your way;
• We are important: at the same time, there is a strong team awareness that you can feel from the beginning. Both the engagement team and the working style help to maintain the team spirit — everything is organised transparently and collaboratively, from working tasks to leisure activities;
• They are important: for me, Stuart is like a “Little Earth”. There is a multicultural atmosphere composed of people with very different passions and every day you can find an interesting and different conversation. This same situation is replicated in a professional level, where you can find great professionals in a variety of subject areas. The result: you’re always learning.

All these things make Stuart a company to be proud of, and to give the best of yourself every day!

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