Hi. I'm Dylan.
Thanks for stopping by!
If you're interested in what I am thinking about, check out my thoughts and you can see a contact form from the side menu! Just about everything I have ever worked on, to date, is listed below. Take a look if that catches your interest!
Currently
Studying Statistics at the University of Waterloo, working on my PhD. I do research in Causal Inference and Measurement Error (check out a non-technical overview).
Past Endeavours
Fall 2018 - Fall 2019: I completed my Masters in Statistics, in a course-work/research project based program, where my research project will be focused on personalized medicine, and the impacts of measurement error in this domain. In particular, I looked at methods which may be able to overcome the issues of measurement error, which arise in the context of Dynamic Treatment Regimes (DTRs), when estimating treatment decisions using dWOLS.
Summer of 2017: I was working as a Data Analyst for the Smith School of Business, with a keen focus on Cognitive Computing and Machine Learning, and how it could be applied to academic research, classroom environments, and other university projects. In particular, I worked to integrate IBM Watson into courses offered in the Bachelor of Commerce, and Masters of Management Analytics programs, worked on internal projects to showcase the potential of Cognitive Computing (projects ranging from analysis of visual art, through to marketing analytics), and assisted researchers in finding novel ways to leverage these capacities for their research.
Concurrently, I worked on a research team investigating the manner in which executives and high-ranking officers made decisions within organizations. In particular, we investigated how factors such as experience, position, industry, and nationality impacted a worker's reliance on intuition versus analysis in the decision making process. This research is still being finalized, written-up, etc. and more information will be posted when any deliverables come from that.
Fall of 2016: I, for the second time, worked as a TA for CISC 490: Cognitive Computing Using Watson, a fourth year computing course at Queen's University. I was responsible for the technical instruction (i.e. how to actually create the machine learning/NLP applications), ran tutorials, and assisted in the grading of the course work.
2011 through 2016: Freelance Development. I have worked as a freelance developer, consultant, and digital analyst over the past 5 years. Beginning in High School, where I taught myself PHP, MySQL and HTML and started to build out websites for individuals, I have constructed websites ranging from eCommerce platforms that handle >$100,000 annually in sales, to back end systems upon which manufacturing business are run. Recently, I have stepped back from the web development in favour of analytics, experimentation, and optimisation; I attempt to take data to ensure that companies are getting everything that they can out of their web presence.
Summer of 2016: Research in the Database Systems Laboratory, which built on my previous experienced, but now focused on ML development in Bluemix. Specifically, I worked in (mostly) C++ building out cognitive applications in the Watson ecosystem. The applications ranged from QA applications in Cardiac Rehabilitation to NLC applications, and plenty in-between. The ultimate goal of the research was to develop practical material in order to facilitate CISC 490: Cognitive Computing Using Watson, a fourth year computer science course running at Queen's University.
Summer of 2015: Research in the Database Systems Laboratory and with the MIS Department at the Queen's School of Business looking at the business applications of machine learning, specifically with regards to Watson. I worked in a project-management, and business development role, facilitating the development of an application; the work that we did became the inspiration for the initial offering of CISC 490: Deep Analytics using IBM Watson, a fourth year computer science course that ran at Queen's University.
Summer of 2014: Business Operations (Systems) at D2L. I worked alongside the sales and marketing teams, developing processes and implementing them in the CRM and related tools. Notably, I spent a great deal of time analyzing and improving the process through which new leads requested a trial, were added to the CRM, and then were marketed to - a process that took >20 hours of labour weekly when I arrived, and got it down to ~3 hours of labour a week over my tenor.
Awards, Contests, ECs, Etc.
Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (2019): Merit-based scholarship program targeted specifically towards graduate students registered in a research graduate program in one of the STEM fields.
Sutton Scholarship for Higher Education (2017): Awarded at Graduation to a Queen's graduate who is continuing education, and who has exhibited Academic Success.
Queen's Business Analytics Club (Co-Chair) (2016/2017): I helped to start, and run, the Queen's Business Analytics Club, an AMS ratified club at Queen's University which focuses on the applications of data to business problems.
Dean's Honours List (With Distinction): Awarded to students ranking in the top 10% of the class at the Smith School of Business.
Holt Valuation Challenge (2015): Placed in the Top 10 (6 out of >7000 students)
ComSoc PR Team (2014 2015): Worked with the Public Relations Team, covering events and maintaining strong student relations for two years.
Governor General Bronze Academic Medal (2013): Awarded to the Individual with the highest cumulative average out of high school.
President's Scholarship (2013): Awarded from the University of Waterloo for a >95% Academic Average out of High School.
Competitive Rowing (2009-2013): Rowed competitively in doubles, fours, and eights throughout high school - competing in the North American Championships.
Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest (2013): Placed in the top 10% of all students writing the recreational mathematics contest.
Previous Education
University of Waterloo, Masters of Mathematics (Statistics) (2018 - 2019) - I attended the University of Waterloo, studying Statistics, where I attained my Masters degree under the supervision of Michael Wallace. During the degree I conducted research in measurement error and precision medicine - a topic that I have continued to investigate into my PhD.
Smith School of Business at Queen's University, Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) (2014 - 2017) - I attended the Smith School of Business (formerly Queen's School of Business) for my remaining three years of undergraduate, specializing in finance. I graduated with first class honours, and was awarded the Sutton Scholarship for Higher Education upon graduation.
University of Waterloo, Bachelor of Mathematics (2013 - 2014) - I attended a single year of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo, with an intended major in Actuarial Science. While I excelled there (earning a spot on the Dean's List with Distinction), I determined that the subject matter was not for me - which prompted me to transfer into Queen's Commerce [I was one of ~10 students accepted for a transfer that year]. I could re-attend the University of Waterloo after the completion of my B. Comm, and finish my B. Math in 2-3 semesters, due to my elective courses; though this is not something I am set on doing at this point.
Wilfrid Laurier University, Bachelor of Business Administration (2013 - 2014) - While attending the University of Waterloo for Mathematics, I was concurrently enrolled at WLU, working on a BBA. I stopped this after transferring out of Waterloo, as I was now studying Commerce, and have a B. Comm/BBA combination seemed far less appealing!
Side Projects + Interests
Programming: I spend a great deal of time programming, for academics (research and class), for work, and for fun. I spend the majority of my time working with Python, but have also become intensely familiar with R for research. I am extremely comfortable with PHP, and the modern web stack (HTML, CSS, JavaScript). I have used SQL in a great number of my projects, and feel more than comfortable navigating the relational database world. In addition, I have used C and C++ in academic settings, and spent a slight amount of research time with them. In addition to the above, I have somewhat of an obsession for jumping quickly into languages to see what I may be missing; as such, I also have very minimal experience with Java, Kotlin, C#, and Ruby.
Reading List: I try to read every single day. The following are the 10 most recent books I have finished, that I would recommend to others: Atomic Habits (James Clear); This Team is Ruining my Life (But I Love Them) (Steve “Dangle” Glynn); Digital Minimalism (Cal Newport); The Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip (Michael Barclay); A Man Called Ove (Fredrik Backman); An Absolutely Remarkable Thing (Hank Green); The Fifth Risk (Michael Lewis); If You Come Softly (Jacqueline Woodson); A Higher Loyalty (James Comey); The End of Faith (Sam Harris)
Glib: is a tool that I built to help people studying for the GRE. It goes through the list of official essay topics, picks one out randomly, and then lets you write a response in the exact environment as on test day. This article can then be shared with the community, open up dialog, and so forth. In addition, you can read other people's responses on the topics that you have written about as well!
Music: I play the guitar (and more recently the piano), collect vinyl records, and almost always have my headphones on.
Food: I have somewhat recently moved in the direction of vegetarianism, and have very much enjoyed learning how to make enjoyable, meat-free foods!
Sports: I am anxiously awaiting the start of the NHL season!