Praelexis interviews Shriyan Singh
At Praelexis we offer six-week internships over the June-July holidays. This year Shriyan joined us as an intern. He is passionate about sports and data science and works on a project utilising the Boosting Algorithm. Praelexis interviewed him about his data science journey.
If you’re interested in joining us for an internship, please email vacancies@praelexis.com with the subject line “Internship.” Be sure to include your CV, transcript, and a motivational letter. For more information, you can read about it here or get in touch with us directly.
Data Science Journey
Question: How did you first become interested in data science? Was there a specific moment or experience that sparked your curiosity?
Answer: In high school, I never thought of doing data science. I was always good at accounting and that was going to be my career path. And then I came to Stellenbosch University and I applied for Computer Science. One day I came across a talk about Data Science. This was the first year the university was offering data science and this set off a spark in me. I immediately went to the admin office and within a week I was in the data science industry. Working with stats and predictions — that’s where I want to be.
Favorite Algorithm
Questions: Do you have a favourite machine-learning algorithm? What draws you to it?
Answer: I am fascinated by the Boosting Algorithm. The algorithm is a bunch of weak algorithms coming together to train one big algorithm. It symbolises how people can work in a team as well. Small ideas are put together to help form big decisions. The algorithm is used to help with decision-making. Especially when many small things impact the decision. The algorithm splits big decisions into smaller decisions and in doing so also splits up the work. Examples of where it’s been used include predicting how much of a product needs to be transported to a certain store on a specific day. In that example you have to take into account the day of the week, the time of the month, how much was transported last week, etc. These are the smaller variables that influence the bigger decision.
Data Science Superpower
Question: If you could have one superpower related to data science, what would it be?
Answer: I would definitely choose the ability to ensure that the data sets I’m working with are always clean. At university you are given the data sets you need to work with. Once you start working with companies, you realise that in reality, the data sets aren’t as usable as the data sets you were provided at university. There is often a lot of work to be done before you start doing the interesting parts of data science.
Data Science Playlist
Question: Imagine creating a playlist for your data science journey. Which songs or music genres would you include?
Answer: I would start the playlist off with some sort of heartbreak song. Because sometimes you could get overwhelmed with what you need to do. Then an “I'm happy I broke up with you song” since once you have the path you need to follow, things start getting easier. Finally, a celebratory song to commemorate the successful project.
Data Science in Everyday Life
Question: Share an example of how data science impacts our daily lives, even beyond the tech world.
Answer: Data science entails finding that underlying pattern you didn’t even know was there. I would say that is impactful because data science indicates a possible decision that you did not consider. Most of the time you wouldn’t even have thought to do something, but after modelling you might become aware of new possibilities.
Outside the Office
Question: When you’re not immersed in data science, what hobbies or activities do you enjoy?
Answer: I love sport. Everything to do with sport. Playing sport. Watching sport. If I’m not at the office I am at the gym or the golf course. I love watching soccer or playing it. Name a sport and I’ll watch it. People don’t often know this, but I love playing chess and I’m pretty good at it. I also enjoy playing video games from time to time.
Experience at Praelexis
Question: How is your experience at Praelexis this far?
Answer: Praelexis has been amazing. I got here scared and nervous and I thought everyone would exclude me because I’m new or people felt I didn’t know enough. But that was not the case. Everyone included me from the get-go and that is super comforting. It gives me a platform to talk to others and learn. When people listen to my thoughts it makes me feel very comfortable. I feel like I belonged here. I am learning how the business world and the client sector work. I’ve never been exposed to this before. It’s interesting to see how you can move from just a proposal, a client saying “How can you help me?”, to a fully working solution.
If you’re interested in joining us for an internship, please email vacancies@praelexis.com with the subject line “Internship.” Be sure to include your CV, transcript, and a motivational letter. For more information, you can read about it here or get in touch with us directly.
