#55 - Piyushkumar Jain on My Journey from Engineering to Data Science
02/04/25 • 59 min
On Episode 55 of #LearningStories we chat with Piyush Jain on his journey from Engineering to Data science. He is an engineer by qualification who turned to data science by nature of curiosity. As a data scientist he enjoys playing with new technologies and identifying possible use cases in the real world. He has experience in finding insights in data using statistical, inferential and predictive analytics. He got a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Electronics and Telecommunication from University of Mumbai and a Masters of Science in Analytics and Data Science from Georgia Institute of Technology. He currently works as a senior AI specialist for a company based out of Singapore. You can find Piyush on Linkedin.
Show Chapters
(00:10) - Introduction and Background
(02:00) - Childhood Stories, Observations and Adventures
(02:30) - "I grew up in Mumbai and never travelled out much"02:40 - "I would segregate my life into three parts"
(02:50) - When and why did your family move to Mumbai?
(04:00) - What was your experience growing up in a city like Mumbai?
(05:00) - What did you learn from your family's struggles?
(06:50) - When did you first discover the world of computers?
(08:10) - What were your memories from your time at University for 5-6 years?
(09:20) - What was your daily life like during the University Years?
(10:10) - "My day would starts at 6 am and end at 10 pm"
(12:00) - "In my engineering I made a deal with my dad"
(13:30) - "I was not a A grade student but would just pass my engineering exams"
(14:20) - When and why did you start Homeforgeeks.com (side hustle 1)?
(14:50) - We created 'How To Guides' on all things technology on this website?
(15:35) - Why did your college professor reprimand you and call your parents in?
(17:50) - "My friends were the most important part of my journey at University"
(20:00) - "In 12th Grade, I wanted to become a doctor and not a engineer"
(21:00) - How did you learn about computers as a student at school and university?
(24:00) - What projects did you build in your first company?
(25:00) - "We started building websites for college festivals and events"
(26:15) - When and why did you start XORAVE (side hustle 2)?
(28:00) - "I did courses as and when I saw gaps in my skill set at college and work"
(28:10) - "I studied at NIIT, Udacity, Georgia Institute of Technology"
(28:40) - "My learning was focused on what I need"
(29:00) - How do you get a job after engineering college?
(29:50) - "Try to find an internship or job in your second year of college"
(30:00) - "I got a lot of job opportunities because of my first college business"
(31:40) - "I got a letter from Accenture and Infosys after college"
(33:35) - What did you learn from your first job after college in a Big 4 company?
(41:20) - What did you learn from your second job after college in a smaller startup?
(43:30) - Why did you opt for a Data Science nano degree from Udacity?
(43:50) - How did the Data Science nano degree from Udacity help you find jobs?
(46:00) - How did you find your third job from a Hackathon at IIT Bombay?
(47:00) - What is Data Science? How is it different from Engineering?
(51:00) - What was your experience pursuing an online Masters Degree in Data Science
(54:50) - "This was an online course and I did it at home while I had a baby"
(55:00) - What becoming a father taught you about life and work?
(57:00) - Closing Thoughts
On Episode 55 of #LearningStories we chat with Piyush Jain on his journey from Engineering to Data science. He is an engineer by qualification who turned to data science by nature of curiosity. As a data scientist he enjoys playing with new technologies and identifying possible use cases in the real world. He has experience in finding insights in data using statistical, inferential and predictive analytics. He got a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Electronics and Telecommunication from University of Mumbai and a Masters of Science in Analytics and Data Science from Georgia Institute of Technology. He currently works as a senior AI specialist for a company based out of Singapore. You can find Piyush on Linkedin.
Show Chapters
(00:10) - Introduction and Background
(02:00) - Childhood Stories, Observations and Adventures
(02:30) - "I grew up in Mumbai and never travelled out much"02:40 - "I would segregate my life into three parts"
(02:50) - When and why did your family move to Mumbai?
(04:00) - What was your experience growing up in a city like Mumbai?
(05:00) - What did you learn from your family's struggles?
(06:50) - When did you first discover the world of computers?
(08:10) - What were your memories from your time at University for 5-6 years?
(09:20) - What was your daily life like during the University Years?
(10:10) - "My day would starts at 6 am and end at 10 pm"
(12:00) - "In my engineering I made a deal with my dad"
(13:30) - "I was not a A grade student but would just pass my engineering exams"
(14:20) - When and why did you start Homeforgeeks.com (side hustle 1)?
(14:50) - We created 'How To Guides' on all things technology on this website?
(15:35) - Why did your college professor reprimand you and call your parents in?
(17:50) - "My friends were the most important part of my journey at University"
(20:00) - "In 12th Grade, I wanted to become a doctor and not a engineer"
(21:00) - How did you learn about computers as a student at school and university?
(24:00) - What projects did you build in your first company?
(25:00) - "We started building websites for college festivals and events"
(26:15) - When and why did you start XORAVE (side hustle 2)?
(28:00) - "I did courses as and when I saw gaps in my skill set at college and work"
(28:10) - "I studied at NIIT, Udacity, Georgia Institute of Technology"
(28:40) - "My learning was focused on what I need"
(29:00) - How do you get a job after engineering college?
(29:50) - "Try to find an internship or job in your second year of college"
(30:00) - "I got a lot of job opportunities because of my first college business"
(31:40) - "I got a letter from Accenture and Infosys after college"
(33:35) - What did you learn from your first job after college in a Big 4 company?
(41:20) - What did you learn from your second job after college in a smaller startup?
(43:30) - Why did you opt for a Data Science nano degree from Udacity?
(43:50) - How did the Data Science nano degree from Udacity help you find jobs?
(46:00) - How did you find your third job from a Hackathon at IIT Bombay?
(47:00) - What is Data Science? How is it different from Engineering?
(51:00) - What was your experience pursuing an online Masters Degree in Data Science
(54:50) - "This was an online course and I did it at home while I had a baby"
(55:00) - What becoming a father taught you about life and work?
(57:00) - Closing Thoughts
Previous Episode
#54 - Shaunak De on Why Study Engineering?
On Episode 54 of #LearningStories we chat with Shaunak De on Why Study Engineering? Shaunak De received the B.E. Degree in electronics engineering from the University of Mumbai, in 2012, graduating as a gold medalist. He got his Ph.D. degree at the Centre of Studies in Resources Engineering (CSRE), Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India. His research interests include polarimetric SAR, machine learning, and information theory. He is currently a senior radar engineer at Capella Space, where he leverages his PhD in machine learning for radar remote sensing. His work aims to provide high-resolution radar imagery from space for various applications, such as urban planning, disaster management, and environmental monitoring. We chat about stories from school, his undergraduate years, his doctoral studies, the world of academia and the role of radar remote sensing in the world today. You can find Shaunak on Linkedin.
Show Chapters
(00:10) - Introduction and Background
(01:55) - Childhood Stories, Observations and Adventures
(02:03) - "I am very stereotypically an engineer"
(02:18) - "I liked science as much as engineering"
(03:35) - "I loved science but did not have the patience for science"
(03:50) - What kind of learning you enjoyed the most?
(04:50) - Why I hated exams and cram schools?
(05:10) - "I got a tutor who was a working scientist"
(05:45) - How did your parents guide you as a student?
(06:00) - "My uncle got his PhD around the same time"
(06:45) - "I would have had a worst outcome if I got better grades"
(07:00) - "I was terrible at Maths at school"
(09:00) - Why did you chose a vocational education path in high school?
(09:45) - What science projects did you work on at school and university?
(11:10) - What did you learn from the inventor of the IGBT transistor?
(11:40) - "Education System should not be a sorting algorithm"
(12:00) - What was your experience teaching students?
(15:00) - Why should you understand the connection between education, history and colonization?
(17:50) - "Scientists are trying to make the world a better place"
(18:50) - What is the art of learning?
(19:00) - Why is it important to be open to ideas from parallel disciplines?
(20:05) - "There is so much overlap in human knowledge"
(20:30) - "In the western system you can switch areas of study at university"
(21:00) - Why I had to learn geography in my engineering doctoral studies?
(23:00) - "My greatest source of learning is Wikipedia, Open Books and Youtube"
(23:05) - How I learned Advanced Remote Sensing on Youtube
(24:20) - What can we learn from the life of Leonardo Da Vinci
(28:10) - How I used hacking to learn new skills and knowledge
(29:00) - "Putting things together in creative ways can reap you lots of rewards"
(30:00) - What was my experience studying at an engineering school?
(30:30) - "I started an electronics business in university"
(32:00) - "Everything I needed to learn was in the textbooks"
(32:20) - What was your experience job hunting after your undergraduate degree?
(33:40) - "I started working on a research project with a professor at IIT Bombay"
(34:00) - How did a mentor shape my career decision to pursue a PhD Program?
(35:20) - "It took me 7-8 years to complete my PhD"
(36:00) - What was your experience job hunting after your doctoral degree?
(37:00) - "My niche academic research got me a niche industry job"
(39:40) - Why doing random things is important early on in your career?
(43:40) - Why is radar remote sensing important for humanity?
(50:00) - Why creating a digital twin of Earth can help with research?
(54:00) - Recommendations and Closing Thoughts
Next Episode
#56 - Tanmayee Thakur on Days at the Book Garden Bookshop
On Episode 56 of #LearningStories we chat with Tanmayee Thakur on Days at the Book Garden Bookshop. Tanmayee is the owner of Book Garden, a bookshop and reading room in Vile Parle, Mumbai. She is a screenwriter by training and worked as a writer before opening this haven for books. Her grandfather instilled the love for reading deep within her. She grew up in Vile Parle and wanted to give back to the community by creating this reading room and curated bookstore. She named the store Book Garden because she wanted her customers to feel like they were coming to a garden to pick books that were like flowers. In this episode, she talks about the early days of the bookshop, managing daily finances, creating content, curating books, speaking to customers and finding space for herself in this world. You can find Tanu and Book Garden on Instagram @book_garden_
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