CV

Playful, sharp, creative mind fond of mathematical modelling, A.I., software development, languages and music. 

Two things I enjoy:
i) addressing any problem that orbits around sustainability/circularity, and
ii) solving data puzzles/programming.

The latter I mostly do in python or R but you will find me quite a versatile person who comfortably treks across uncharted territories.

Quintessentially T-shaped, my problem-solving style is that of a generalist and it often involves first coming up with the solution's high-level architecture, then, fine-tuning it down to the specifics of the original problem. I truly believe I carry a solid weight of practical experience under my belt most of which I have gained working on projects in a wide variety of environments: from academia, over the IT- and the financial sector to government.

When not in front of the screen, you will likely find me somewhere in Greece improving my Greek, drinking Raki and wracking my brains for meaningful steps I can take to leave a cleaner, greener, more sustainable world behind me.

The department I am in: Youth, Health and Diversity

The team I belong to: I currently work as a senior data scientist in a team of 6. Our mission is to perform ad-hoc data analysis based on specific projects, to support policy advisors by providing them with data, dahsboards and/or reports, and to offer training to our back-office employees in order to stimulate a data-driven approach. Currently, I am also leading the transition from an on-prem to a cloud-based environment. Specifically, we are migrating to Databricks Notebooks. Finally, I also lead research within our team.

The tools I use:
Python
R
(Azure) Databricks
(Oracle-)SQL
PowerBI
Excel

The department I was in: Digital Facilities

The team I belonged to: I worked in a SCRUM-team whose mission was to maintain and further develop a number of web applications inherited from other development teams no longer working on them.
Among our projects were the following: a mobile application to record notes taken by street coaches roaming across the city to maintain people, particularly the youth, safe, an application designed to build up a digital dossier from citizens seeking to get help with their debts, and an application distributing spots for sellers in the city markets according to the rules of the City of Amsterdam.

The tools I used:
PHP/Symfony
Python
Javascript
Typescript
React
Docker
Jenkins
Git/GitLab/GitHub
Linux (bash)

The department I was in: City Development

The team I belonged to: I worked in a team whose mission was to deliver advice on the lease price (so-called Erfpacht) citizens of Amsterdam have to pay to the City of Amsterdam for the ground they live on. My challenges included, first, coming up with and proposing a data management strategy, managing existing data pipelines, coaching junior members of my team and/or interns, interviewing and writing software to help standardise the workflow of our colleagues. Also, under my supervision, David Chen successfully graduated from the data science track of the University of Amsterdam. Read his work here. I also sat in countless meetings presenting our work and our goals to other colleagues and even (partly) played the role of Product Owner.

The tools I used:
R/Shiny
Python
Excel/VBA
Knime

The branch I was in: Credit Risk Advisory Services and Valorisations

The projects I worked on: During my time as a consultant during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic I mainly worked on internal projects that were key to deliver better or new services to Finalyse's clients. Here a short selection:
i) I helped develop Finalyse's SFTR reporting solution. Concretely, I implemented the ECB's rules for transactions in Python in order to perform automated quality checks before submitting the report to a central trade repository. This drastically reduced reporting delays for our clients.
ii) I helped develop a toolkit that automates reporting of Credit Risk parameters (e.g. Probability of Default) as required by the ECB. The toolkit consists of one Python script, one R script and one SAS script (up to the client to choose the one they need) that all do the same thing: they compute the Credit Risk parameters based on the client's input and dump the results to a csv file. And in a second step, a VBA script that takes the results as input and automatically inserts them into an official spreadsheet issued by the ECB to validate the results.
iii) I developed a tool written in R to compute financial product prices based on volatility curves.

Although Finalyse has its HQ in Brussels, I was based in Amsterdam.

The tools I used:
R
Python
SAS
Excel/VBA
Alteryx

The branch I was in: Life insurance

The company I worked for: Once part of Credit Suisse, Lifeware originated as a spin-off that focused on covering all existing IT-operations and further developing the software users face every day. We worked following the XP-agile methodology, with a strict, indeed almost religious, test-first approach. And, something I deeply miss: a zero-meeting policy. Although Lifeware has its HQ in Switzerland, I was based in Luxembourg, where I worked out software solutions for one of the biggest French insurers.

The tools I used:
SmallTalk

The department I was in: Physics and Astronomy, VU Amsterdam

My activities as a researcher: You can read more about my research interests and the outcomes of my research here. As a PhD candidate, I also had a commitment to teaching. Courses I taught (in Dutch) included: 'Mathematical modelling', where students had to use Mathematica and 'Applied informatics', where students had to use R and VBA. I attended national and international conferences to present my research. I paid a visit to collaborators in their labs at the CEA or at the UvA to design and carry out experiments together. And I wrote scientific papers which were later published in peer-reviewed journals.

The tools I used:
Mathematica
Python
R
LabView
LaTex

The department I was in: Photobiophysics, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

My duty: As a scientific researcher at the HU Berlin I was in charge of the lab for transient absorption spectroscopy. I performed all necessary maintenance measures to keep the dye laser and the optical set-up in top-notch quality and ready to use. Also, whenever junior researchers needed to carry out a measurement, I'd typically be there to give them a hand.

The department I was in: Photobiophysics, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

My duty: My research team offered support to industrial partners manufacturing photovoltaic cells. I used our home-made 2D-fluorescence scanner to detect manufactoring errors in their prototypes and help determine whether they were production-ready.

My duty: I offered private after-school lessons to youngsters struggling at school. Subjects included Maths, Physics, English and French

My duty: I supervised first-year Physics students during laboratory work. Typically, laboratory work lasts for about 4 hours. Students carry out measurements according to scientific protocols thet get handed in, then go home, analyse their results and write a report. During those four hours, I'd usually spend some 20 minutes in front of the blackboard discussing the theoretical background of what they were doing and testing their knowledge. I'd also assist them in case they got stuck.

My duty: I operated KUKA-robots in the metallography production area. Just so you know: KUKA robots carry a laser head and are able to move with astonishing precision. You can cut, weld or harden metals with laser light!

The area I was in: Visa issuing post of the General Consulate in Mexico City

My duty: I carried out interviews to visa applicants, processed their applications, wrote reports on particular sensitive cases.

PhD thesis at the Biophysics, Photosynthesis & Energy group led by Prof. Dr. Rienk van
Grondelle at the VU Amsterdam. Successful defence on Nov. 24th, 2017 led to obtention of the degree ‘Doctor of Philosophy’.

You can read more about the reserach I carried out here.

Master’s thesis (Diplomarbeit) written at the Photobiophysics group led by Prof. Dr. Beate Röder. Successful defence on Feb. 27th, 2012 led to obtention of the degree ‘Dipl.-Physiker’.

You can read more about the reserach I carried out here.

Undergraduate studies in Physics. It is worth noting that I studied under the 'old regime' of Diplom studies, before German universities standardised their programmes according to the Bologna process, thereby adopting the Bachelor-Master format.
In order to graduate, a student would undergo three major examinations: i) a mid-term oral examination (Vordiplomsprüfung) around the second year, ii) a final oral examination (Diplomsprüfung) around the fourth year, and, after a months-long internship in a research group that culminates in a short, written thesis (Diplomarbeit), iii) a public defence of his/her work before a committee. All but the latter I did in Würzburg.

I attended the French school in Mexico City. Its final examination, the Baccalauréat, equals the A-levels.
In my particular case, I obtained a Baccalauréat "S" (for "scientifique") which lays a greater emphasis on Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

Grammar school

I am currently involved in a project where sound landscapes are being analysed in order to demonstrate the detrimental impact of human activity on the island of Kalamos. You can check this and many other projects here.

The tools I use:
R

Development of data solutions with nature conservation purposes. You can check them all out here. Most of my time, I spent coaching a junior data scientist. Our task was to (cleverly) hook one of the products to the Sentinel Hub API serving satellite images. 

The tools I used:
R
Python

When I first started seriously learning Greek, I enrolled in a summer course at the Ikarian Centre. Once that course came to an end, the next batch of students came. They were a special group. They all came from Turkey and, unlike me, they paid no fee. In exchange for the language course, they engaged in voluntary work. This was a special deal offered by the owner of the Ikarian Centre in an effort to improve Greece-Turkey relationships.
Although I was technically done, they graciously allowed me to stick around and I had the wonderful chance to paint some local roads or clean up beaches with the rest od the group.