DataCamp-Ishango.ai Scholarship: Albert Dellor’s Data Science Journey
Please share a bit about yourself and your background.
I am Albert Dellor, a former engineer who has transitioned into the field of data engineering and data science. My focus is extracting data-driven insights to support decision-making and enhance operational efficiency. I was raised in Madina, a lively municipal town located in the heart of Accra, the capital city. Outside of work, I love cooking to clear my mind, and my hobbies include swimming and staying updated on advancements in data engineering.
What did you study, and how did you first become interested in data science?
I have a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Ghana. During my second year of engineering school, I undertook a nine-month project under a professor’s guidance. The project aimed to analyse audio recordings of asthma patients and explore the possibility of using voice recognition as a cost-effective alternative for diagnosing diseases. I discovered that a significant portion of the work involved manual digitisation of audio files, data entry into spreadsheets, and data cleaning before any analysis could take place. Despite my attempts to automate the process using VBA macros, I found no success. However, when I came across Python, I was thrilled by its data processing libraries like Numpy, Pandas, and Scikit-Learn, which facilitated tasks such as data wrangling, ETL processes, and regression analysis. This experience ignited my passion for Python and data science, leading me on a lifelong journey of learning.
What has been your experience with the DataCamp-Ishango.ai scholarship so far?
Through the Ishango.ai -DataCamp scholarship, I have significantly enhanced my skills by having access to top-notch data education. I have developed proficiency in data analysis using Python, SQL, data science, and data engineering. As a result, I am actively working towards obtaining a DataCamp professional certification in data engineering and data analysis with SQL.
What are your learning goals, and what do you hope to achieve through the DataCamp-Ishango scholarship?
In today’s business landscape, data holds immense value, akin to gold. However, to tap into this goldmine, companies require a robust data infrastructure. Organisations of all sizes are striving to leverage their existing data systems to gain valuable insights, stay ahead of competitors, optimise their product offerings, and expand their market share. Unfortunately, not all companies possess the necessary infrastructure. This is where data engineering and the cloud come into play, assisting in the construction of accurate data models and automated data pipelines. These pipelines ingest data from various operational aspects, such as transactions, sales, and marketing campaigns, and store it in cloud data warehouses. Additionally, they perform ETL operations to create reliable databases that support both day-to-day decision-making processes (OLTP) and broader business decisions (OLAP), including big data analytics. Building upon this foundation, data analysts and data scientists can develop intelligent solutions to tackle problems. With the scalability, reliability, security, and pay-as-you-go nature of the cloud, along with data processing frameworks like Apache Spark (Apache Airflow, Apache Kafka), and visualisation frameworks like Tableau and Looker, it is now possible to process large datasets and extract meaningful insights. Consequently, the demand for data engineers, scientists, and analysts is ever-increasing.
Through the DataCamp-Ishango.ai scholarship, my goal is to further enhance my expertise in data and provide tailored end-to-end solutions to meet the evolving data needs of companies as a data engineer or scientist.