One of our data scientists, Shaun tells us what it’s like to work at City Science.
What attracted you to City Science?
The idea of working in a start-up environment and being involved in how the company evolves was a key selling point. My previous job was in a more corporate environment where I was a small part of a very large operation. I enjoy having visibility of the whole project and understanding the overall vision. I am also passionate about trying to improve the sustainability of transport networks, especially for cyclists so the job seemed a perfect fit!
What is the best thing about working at City Science?
The people and the relaxed but hardworking atmosphere. Everyone is really friendly and passionate about what we are trying to achieve. I enjoy working with talented people to solve problems that challenge us to be innovative.
What is the most exciting part of your job?
The most exciting thing for me is that the work we are doing could make a real impact on cities around the world including the city I live in.
What new skills have you learnt since joining City Science
We are using innovative techniques to solve problems so we are constantly learning new skills. I have learnt Python and QGIS from scratch since starting at City Science. We have a weekly ‘Foundation Friday’ where we learn key skills as a team.
I’ve also really enjoyed learning to work as part of an agile team. We use a Kanban board to define and plan the overall goal and break it down into manageable tasks. Since we introduced the methodology team moral and productivity have improved massively because we all feel like we achieve something every day.
Describe a typical day at City Science
I arrive at work, have breakfast from the (free!) canteen and then work on personal side projects such as learning Python until the morning meeting. The daily stand-up is a meeting involving everyone at City Science. We take it in turns to explain what we have achieved and what our goals are for the day. It is a great opportunity to understand what everyone is doing and identify any potential issues.
I then start working on the task assigned to me off the board. We are currently working to produce a dashboard which illustrates the performance of transport routing models so all the work I do relates to small elements of this overall goal. The way we work often involves a lot of pairing where we work in groups to solve a problem together. By combining our individual expertise we identify more of the critical points and potential flaws that may arise by working alone – and we are learning from each other all of the time. Overall, this helps us achieve more accurate solutions. At around 11 we usually have soup before continuing to work until lunch time.
For lunch our whole team goes to the canteen (you’re probably beginning to notice that we place a high priority on food here). After lunch we play table football – another very important skill I’ve been developing since joining City Science!
Every Friday afternoon we have ‘Foundation Fridays’ where we develop key skills, for example, last week we had an extensive lesson on how we can use version control software effectively as a team. On other afternoons I continue working on parts of the project. Before I add any changes to the overall project I go through what I’ve done with other team members to ensure that it meets requirements and that they understand it. This helps us all to have a good understanding of the direction the project is moving. There is almost always cake involved too!
At the end of the day I go to the on-site gym or fitness classes before heading home.
What’s Exeter like as a place to live?
Exeter is a great city with loads of restaurants, bars and sports events. For me, it’s the surrounding area that appeals the most though. I’m a keen cyclist so love having Dartmoor, Haldon Forest and the beach nearby.
Where do you think you and the company will be in 2 years?
City Science has ambitious goals for the future! In 2 years time I want the work we are doing to have had a visible impact on Exeter’s transport network and made a measurable change to the way people move and work in the City. I’m also excited to see the team continue to grow, the development and change already is far greater than I could have ever imagined.