Dr. Iain Stitt
Data Scientist and Neuroscientist
How I got here:
Yantriks (2019-present)
I currently work as a Senior Data Scientist Yantriks, where I help lead the development of next generation machine learning products for use in the retail sector. We are a diverse team Data Scientists, Machine Learning Engineers, DevOps and Software Engineers that deploy cloud native solutions for enterprise retail clients. We strive to be on the cutting edge of technology, and therefore make use of state of the art open source libraries (eg, Tensorflow 2.x) and Kubernetes clusters to train and serve our models.
Macy's (2018-2019)
I worked for two years as a Data Scientist at Macy's HQ in New York City. During this time I worked on projects that impacted almost every aspect of the business, including demand forecasting, network flow optimization, smart product fulfillment, and price optimization. In addition to modeling, I also worked closely with Data Science and Business leaders to deploy solutions to production where they realized significant business impact. During my time at Macy's I also had the privilege of presenting my work at meetups and AI conferences.
Insight Data Science, NYC (Fall 2017)
During my time at Insight, I built a tool to help indie game developers understand the segmentation of the PC gaming market, and to predict which users are more likely to purchase the games they currently have under development. I wrote a more detailed blog post about this project here. Insight was one of the most intense, and intellectually stimulating times of my life. But above all else, what I enjoyed the most was the collaborative learning environment that Insight provides - I have never crammed so much information into my brain in such a short time period before!
Postdoc (2015-2017)
I performed my postdoc in the lab of Dr. Flavio Frohlich, at the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill. During my postdoc I investigated how the dynamic interaction of higher order cortical and thalamic structures changes according to brain state and behavior (ie, arousal, sustained attention, etc). In addition, I pioneered new experimental and analytic methods for studying how intracranial signatures of brain activity (spike's & LFP) are altered by applying transcranial alternating current stimulation.
PhD (2009-2014)
I performed my PhD (Dr. rer. nat in German) in the laboratory of Prof. Andreas Engel in Hamburg, Germany (final grade summa cum laude). Throughout my PhD work, I studied neural dynamics in the superior colliculus. In each successive study, I investigated the functional circuitry of the superior colliculus at progressively larger scales. Through this work I learnt the value of vertically integrating information across spatial scales in the brain (ie, single units <-> LFP <-> ECoG <-> EEG). Although I have a background in biology, I dedicated much of my time in Prof. Engel's lab to learning and mastering methods of advanced signal processing - I am very grateful to Dr. Edgar Galindo-Leon and Dr. Guido Nolte (both physicists) for supporting me on this journey.
In addition to my work in Australia, I also performed an internship in the lab of Prof. Ulrich Boehm during the (European) winter of 2007 at the Center for Molecular Neurobiology Hamburg, Germany. In my short stay in the lab, I established a preparation to obtain confocal time-lapse videos of gonadotrope releasing hormone cells in the pituitary gland.
Pre-doctoral (before 2009)
I started my scientific career in the lab of Dr. Rebecca Lim and Prof. Alan Brichta at the University of Newcastle, Australia. I first had a scholarship to work in the lab during the (Australian) summer of 2006. Later, I went on to do my undergraduate and honours thesis projects in the same lab. In these formative years I learnt how to perform whole-cell patch clamp recordings from defined cell populations. On top of this technical training, I also learnt a lot from Rebecca and 'pixel Al' about scientific rigour and attention to detail - this influence remains with me to this day.
