Launching a Data Science Career 🚀

Bethesda Data Science invites you to an exciting event. In this panel discussion, you will hear from three experts on how best to navigate a data science career at the entry-, senior- and director-level. For anyone looking to break into or is currently looking for a data science job, this event will bring you hope and positivity. ✨

Speaker 1: Zyriek Neal
Bio: Zyriek Neal is a senior at University of Baltimore. He's a data analytics student who is about to graduate with a B.S. degree in December, 2024. He has two summers of data science internship experience at Allegis Group, a leading staffing and recruiting industry. Zyriek has extensive experience on how best to navigate breaking into data science at the entry-level from the perspective of a college student!

Speaker 2: George Gomes
Bio: George Gomes has been in the corporate world for over a decade, working in areas such as data science, business intelligence, and data engineering. He currently serves as a Data Engineering Manager at AARP, where he manages and optimizes the entire data science pipeline. His responsibilities include implementing and automating ETL data pipelines, ensuring data quality and integrity, creating production-grade data products, and visualizing trends on dashboards. To accomplish these tasks, George utilizes various technologies and tools to maintain AARP's enterprise data infrastructure and provide data solutions across the organization. Outside of work, George is a fitness enthusiast who enjoys going to the gym, running and biking outdoors, and playing golf on the weekends.

Speaker 3: Alan Feder
Bio: Alan Feder has been a data scientist for over a decade, working with machine learning, AI, and statistics. He works as a Staff LLM Data Scientist for Magnifi by TIFIN, where he uses large language models to build an AI Copilot for investments. Alan also works as a freelance AI & educational consultant where he bridges the gap between state-of-the-art research and practical applications. Outside of work, Alan enjoys family time with his wife and two children in Potomac, MD.

Panel Discussion Moderator: Yingquan Li
Bio: Yingquan Li is currently a data engineer at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, MD. Previously he worked for U. of Pennsylvania, Deloitte, PwC, and Gartner doing data engineering, data science/analytics. He has worked in both the private sector, public sector, as well as in an innovative academic research lab. He has a M.S. degree from Virginia Tech and a B.S. degree from University of Maryland, College Park. He looks forward to moderating this event such that it helps the Bethesda Data Science community!

This is an IN-PERSON event:
Greencourt Innovation Center
12358 Parklawn Dr. Rockville, MD 20852
(ground floor classroom, Wilkins Ave. side)
Agenda

• 6:30 Presentation
• 7:00 Q+A
• 7:30 Pizza & Networking

Parking

• There is free parking on-site.

Public transit

• We are conveniently located near the Twinbrook Metro station.

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