Merlin Schäfer

Data Scientist & Project Manager

About

Myself

Hey! I'm Merlin.


A psychology graduate turned Data Scientist. I enjoy life, solving problems (preferably with data), as well as obtaining and sharing knowledge.


Find me here:

Current Interests

Some topics that sparked my interest recently

MLOps
 

While working at my current jobs for a variety of clients I realized that bringing models from an exploratory state to an actual productive system remains a large challenge for many teams. The data science process is often put under pressure by a turbulent mixture of expectations, leaving the data scientists little room to make sure their work is reproducible, accessible and can be deployed with relative ease. I am currently tasked with alleviating these issues as a MLOps/Data Engineer and thoroughly enjoy helping teams make their work as useful and robust as possible.


Project Management

Although I enjoy coding and solving some "nitty gritty" problems, I also like to coordinate teams efforts and zooming out to look at the bigger picture. I started to acquire and use project management skills which should soon lead to my first project as a pure project manager. I still have a lot to learn and am interest to see how I can balance leadership and coding.


Data Ethics and Privacy

After dismissing data ethics as "not that important" in the very beginning of my learning journey, I have come to realize the tremendous importance of this topic and the major shortcomings we all face. I am always learning more about AI bias and how to avoid it, representative data collection, privacy preserving techniques and the possibilites of blockchain.


The future of AI
 

I am trying to keep up with current events in AI (although this becomes increasingly difficult) and the road to AGI, consciousness in the context of AI and AI safety. I am fascinated by the breadth and depth of this seemingly narrow topic. Recent discussions and developments, especially those about consciousness and agency really made me think and question some of my (and many other people's) viewpoints.


Portfolio

My work is not featured here anymore. Most of it is outdated as my main work happens within my job.

Milestones

Some of my steps towards Data Science

  • Data Scientist & Jr. PM

    Data Scientist at HMS Analytical Software


  • Jr. Data Scientist

    Junior Data Scientist at StackFuel


  • Master in Data Science

    Studied Data Science at Rome Business School and Universidad Internacional de Valencia.


  • B. Sc. Psychology

    Studied Psychology at Humboldt University Berlin.
    Thesis: ”Stability and Change in Personality and Interests: Investigating the relationship between stable traits and situational influences using Latent-State-Trait models”