Maryanne Maira (Advanced Computer Science MSc, 2020) (formally MSc Computer Science)

Tell us a bit about your time at Queen Mary, including any special or favourite memories.

I studied Computer Science at Queen Mary whilst working full time in Defence. When I think about Queen Mary, I remember the helpful lecturers, the interesting workload, up to date I.T. software and systems and overall great student support.

Why did you choose to study MSc Advanced Computer Science? 

I was working in Land and Air Systems when I realized that my engineering degree didn’t give me much of an understanding of different software tools which were used to support algorithmic development and hence this is why I decided to study Computer Science.

Which modules did you most enjoy and did anything surprise you during your studies?

My favourite module was Functional Programming. My lecturers were amazing, passionate and I learnt so much about a very different paradigm that exists in Haskell that isn’t used much in industry. I was previously exposed to Object-Oriented and Procedural programming, but specific concepts in Functional Programming elevated my skills in writing code – all of which I still use today.

I also enjoyed Natural Language Processing and Advanced Data Modelling and Semi-Structured Data. Overall, I was very surprised by the support of lecturers. Working full-time and studying part-time was very stressful to say the least, and I found that my lecturers cared about my situation and would offer great support when needed. This made my experience overall at Queen Mary amazing.

I loved Computer Science as it grew my understanding of different elements that are important in the tech industry. It touched on Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing as well as Databases and Search Engines. These are all elements that I find to be very important in my day to day.

Aside from support from Queen Mary directly, how did you personally manage to balance working full-time and studying part-time?

Balancing working and studying was difficult. It required a lot of prioritisation and being rigorous in meeting specific goals and deadlines on both ends. It was vital to be disciplined with lectures, lecture-notes and required a lot of hard-work at times after a 8-10 hour work shift. Queen Mary was very good in that it recorded a lot of its lectures and so I was offered the flexibility to create my own schedule. Regardless, it was rewarding to get good scores and learn so much and I would do it all over again.

Describe your career path since graduating including your current role as Customer Data Scientist for Mudano. What are some of your daily responsibilities in this role?

I decided to leave the company I was with during my studies and branched into Data Science Research in NLP for a SaaS company. I then moved to Mudano as it gave me the ability to apply Data Science in product solutions whilst also working in Software Development and integration, which is working with databases and off the shelf-search engines etc. I have been assigned to work with a global Bank in order to aid them in their commitments of sustainable growth, assisting them in establishing an overall data architect tool that would bring transparency in their ESG compliance.

My day can consist of wearing three different hats, having to report to client managers as well as my very own managers, developing solutions that would bring automation to specific analyses as well as coming up with product proposals that would have every element of I.T, data science, database, and front-end applications.

How did your degree prepare you for your current job role and are there any particular areas of your degree that you use in your day-to-day job?

I loved Computer Science as it grew my understanding of different elements that are important in the tech industry. It touched on Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing as well as Databases and Search Engines. These are all elements that I find to be very important in my day to day. Overall, it gave me the insight, knowledge and skills to be able to envision product solutions and how they work. My time at Queen Mary also gave me a foundation to easily grasp new coding languages that I haven’t worked with before such as Scala, R and Kotlin.

Why do you think there is a need for more women in the tech industry?

Diversity is very much needed in the tech industry. In a world obsessed with Machine learning and artificial intelligence, bringing diversity and having more women would minimise bias in the many models created today. An example would be the implementation of an AI recruitment tool used by Amazon that showed high bias towards men over women. Machine learning can take us so far if we choose to be inclusive.

In a world obsessed with Machine learning and artificial intelligence, bringing diversity and having more women in the tech industry would minimise bias in the many models created today.

What are your career plans for the future? Do you plan to use the knowledge gained during your degree to give back to the world in a particular way?

What I love in this day and age is the use of tech in every aspect of the world, whether that may be in retail or in marketing aiding B2B businesses or as far as medicine and the financial industry. I see a corporate world using Artificial Intelligence to aid itself in purchasing, logistics as well advertising, e.g. retail companies using computer vision algorithms to find out what is on trend and using these key metrics in purchasing choices. In many ways, I see a world that wants to be efficient and thorough in making smart integral decisions to make itself competitive.

It is also exciting to see the use of Block-chain to verify suppliers and I hope to be part of transforming business ethics when it comes to lowering their climate impact as well as establishing fair trade principles whilst also making profit.

Is there any advice you would give to women considering pursuing a degree and/or a career in tech based on your own experiences?

Go for it. There is much to learn and much to be part of in a world becoming more agile.

When you are not working, what are you most likely to be doing?

I love to read historical books, and I can spend hours learning about different time periods. I especially love reading different fiction books written in different time periods by different authors from different countries, such as Leo Tolstoy and Miguel de Cervante. I love doing gymnastics and train up to three times a week and I also love cycling. I love to be immersed as well in creativity such as painting and photography.

What is one thing that people might find surprising about you?

I love to cook and I particularly like attempting to make many things from scratch, especially foods that I am not familiar with. 

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This profile was conducted by Alumni Engagement Officer, Nicole Brownfield. If you would like to get in touch with Maryanne or engage her in your work, please contact Nicole at n.brownfield@qmul.ac.uk.