Freelance researcher, data scientist, passionate traveler
BIO AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES
WHO AM I?
Italian, scientist, freelance consultant
My name is Chiara Scaini, I am Italian and I have been living in Spain since 2006. I have just achieved my PhD Degree at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), where I have been developing a PhD research within the postgraduate program in Environmental Engineering organized by the Polytechnic University of Cataluña. I am still collaborating with the BSC in order to develop further application of my research. Moreover, since January, I am working as a freelance ('autónomo') scientist for a U.S. company, Vanguardistas, that provides web and cloud solutions to publishers (mainly journals and media companies).
WHAT CAN I DO?
Engineering, computer science, volcanology, GIS
After my Master degree in Civil and Environmental engineering, I've been dealing with different branches of knowledge (computer sciences, GIS, environmental hazards, fraud and financial risk), technologies (High Performance Computing (HPC), Big Data and mobile technologies) and data formats (SQL databases, environmental datasets, etc.). My PhD research is volcanic ash dispersal in the atmosphere and its impacts on civil aviation, and I use and develop GIS programs in order to perform spatial analysis and identify spatial and temporal patterns in air traffic and meteorological data. My research poses the basis for supporting air traffic management during volcanic eruptions, and can be applied to other areas (logistics, shipping, purchasing networks, etc) with similar characteristics. Also, the work I'm doing at Vanguardistas is giving me a very broad overview of the programs and technologies used for storing and managing data (from the management of a web server, to the migration and initialization of a SQL database). In particular, I'm programming with Python and SQLAlchemy. Finally, my experience at American Express gave me a limited but meaningful taste of how things work in such a big company, and how data can allow solving problems such as fraud detection.
HOW CAN I CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR PROJECT?
External consultant, Knowledge development and transfer, Multidisciplinarity
I am now considering new job opportunities and possible collaborations with private companies with the aim of expanding my knowledge and collaborating with partners in different branches of science and technology. Given that multidisciplinary is becoming more and more relevant for data science, I think that I could contribute filling the gap between these new technologies and the industry (and, eventually, the whole society) and contribute to the development of new methodologies and products for research centers and/or private companies. I'm particularly interested in collaborating as a consultant and/or external partner.
In this web page you can find all the relevant information about me and my work. My extended curriculum vitae is also available (see 'download' section). If you wish to receive any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.