Hi there! My name is Inês Magessi and I’m a Data Science student and Machine Learning enthusiast. In recent years I discovered a passion for explaining stuff to people because, honestly, it’s also the best wat to learn.
In this blog, I’ll be sharing theoretical notes on a broad variety of topics, from statistics to deep learning and genetic algorithms. You can also count on tutorials and projects that you can try yourself, some cool paper reviews and updates on the hottest AI use cases from companies.
I hope you can learn as much as I did from writing on this blog, and maybe even find a passion for machine learning yourself!
Besides machine learning, I’m also interested in biology, cooking, travelling and playing the guitar!
You can find more about myself and my academic and professional backgrounds below.
Bachelor’s in Computer Science and Engineering
2019-2022
In 2019 I started studying at Instituto Superior Técnico (Lisbon, Portugal) as a Computer Science and Engineering BSc student.
I definitely learned a lot during my time at IST, both in terms of technical knowledge and life skills.
Two skills I can highlight that still remain relevant today include: good programming habits and a solid foundational knowledge about everything that has to do due with how computers work, how they communicate and how they can be used to optimize processes. Besides that, and most importantly, my time there helped me develop a strong sense of preserverance and autonomy, which will definitely always be useful in my life.
Despite having enjoyed learning about Computer Science, I eventualy found some topics I liked the most. It was when I learned more about Machine Learning during the 3rd year of my bachelor’s that I understood it was the field I wanted to focus my studies on, and that’s what led me to the next stage of my academic path…
Master’s in Data Science and Advanced Analytics
2022-2024
When I was searching for Master’s degrees in Machine Learning I foud this very well rated course at NOVA IMS, in Lisbon, near my old university. The name ‘Data Science and Advanced Analytics’ was a bit misleading at first. It was only when I read the course’s brochure that I found that nearly half of the master’s courses were about machine/deep learning, and the other half was more focused on statistics, big data and optimization. That plan looked good and interesting for me, so I decided to apply!
I really enjoyed my first year there. I was finally studying something that fullfiled me and I was excited about every single project I was working on.
There, I’ve learned everything about data, how to extract knowledge from data, and how to build machine learning models that can make use of that data to give us even further hidden knowledge.
It was in 2022 that I found my passion and I’m so glad I took the step and changed universities to study something that I really enjoy.
Teaching Assistant for the Machine Learning Course
2022 & 2023
During the summer of 2022, I was invited to be a Teaching Assistant for the Machine Learning course at IST. By that time I was already super into Machine Learning and I’d always had this curiosity for giving classes, so I decided to take the challenge!
Honestly, it was one of the most demanding but also most fulffiling experiences I’ve ever had. Being a teacher is not an easy task. Every student is relying on you, the class depends 100% on your planning, you can never skip or neglect a class, and you need to know that you’ll have a crucial role in their future interest in the topic. So I knew I’d have to give my best when I accepted the challenge.
Teaching taught me a ton about machine learning, way more than my student year. I found so much joy in truly understanding concepts and being able to clearly explain them to students in a way that made sense and got them interested in learning more. I’ve also learned a lot about time management, adjusting to students’ speed, and just being there for them round the clock throughout the course.
I enjoyed it so much that I did again next year, and I hope I can continue doing it for as long as possible because each year brings a different experience, and every student can surprise you in different ways. Being a teacher, even just a simple assistant, is a constant learning journey.
Internship as a Machine Learning Engineer
Summer 2023
After completing my first year studying Data Science, I felt it was time to gain some real-world experience in the field. I applied for a ton of internships and I had the luck of interning at a startup called Jungle, as an R&D (Research & Development) team member.
Jungle is a company that uses machine learning to help detect machine failures ahead of time, reduce their downtime and increase prerformance. They work with companies in the renewable energy and heavy industry sectors. They’ve also recently introduced a new product aimed at accurately forecasting the energy output of an energy farm for every moment of the day. Super cool right?
Joining the R&D team felt just right - it matched both my skills and interests. Prior to this, my experience was mostly focused on theoretical projects at university. However, I was super curious to transition from hypothetical scenarios to working on real-world problems. Working alongside the team, I got the chance to see what it’s like to work on research for a machine learning company, dealing with actual challenges, using real-world resources, and figuring out how to work under practical constraints.
During that summer I had the plresure of working with amazing people from whom I’ve learned a lot. Plus, I finally got to put into practice what I’ve learned by helping out with the team’s issues and trying to make their models better.
I think that experience was crucial for me at that point because it gave me a taste of working in a startup, being part of a research team, and dealing with the constraints and requirements of real-world problems. These are really valuable things to understand before diving fully into the job market.
Thank You for reading!