From university mathematics to real industry data 🎓

Valentyna spent three months with us as an intern before her final year in BSc Mathematics at the University of Bristol. She wanted to apply her skills outside the academic setting, where rigor comes first, and learn how industry actually works with its data - from university to real data.

Her main project examined how to improve the linearization of plant data across different operating settings. Most of that was research, while it also gave her a hands-on go at data cleaning and model training on real datasets.

A visit to a slag grinding plant let her see the data in action, at the equipment it comes from.

While her coding improved along the way, her larger takeaway was understanding the infrastructure behind an industrial project, and how to respond flexibly when a client's request changes or things aren't going according to plan. "Plan ahead with an expectation that something could go wrong," Valentyna said.

At university the work lives in notebooks and a clearly defined environment. In reality, it runs on many more levels: how a client's raw data becomes a usable dataframe, how to choose what matters for an initial analysis, how to set a project goal, and how to build and run an interdisciplinary team around it.

She also had some feedback for the team:

"This is a great company that does not shy away from investing in students. I felt like I was really taken care of. My supervisors gave me very thoughtful tasks which reflected my educational background but at the same time required me to learn new skills. Also, they were extremely patient with me, answering all of my questions."

Valentyna finished her internship last Friday and will head back to Bristol for her final year. Thank you for these three months, Valentyna, and all the best for your professional and personal future.