Regardless of the topic–kpop, Machine Learning, a new movie, etc–a conversation with Felicia Nurindrawati, TCarta’s Machine Learning Engineer, will include questions, asking questions, answering questions and asking more questions. Ever since I began working with Felicia more than 2 years ago, I have enjoyed and benefited from her innate curiosity.
In using machine learning to solve problems at TCarta, Felicia naturally takes an inquisitive stance, gravitating towards posing questions to better understand the problem and formulating tests as part of her process. Another element of Felicia’s talent that she does not reveal in her Q&A is that she is a highly visual individual, who deploys diagrams to make sense of her work for herself and others every day.
I hope you’ll read on through the answers below, so you can appreciate the fun, light-hearted and innovative aspects of Felicia’s personality:
Q: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: I grew up watching Ultraman. It’s about a giant alien saving the earth from alien invaders. The main character said, “Why are humans so adamant in going up to space when they barely know what’s down there beneath the earth?” That somehow made me want to be some sort of earth scientist.
Q: How do you describe your professional role to people who don’t know anything about it?
A: I get data and do fancy machine learning stuff to get more data.
Q: Tell me something about how you came to work at TCarta?
A: I graduated right in the beginning of the pandemic and found a job opening from LinkedIn for a machine learning engineer position, and is specifically computer-vision related. I wasn’t too confident because I didn’t know much about bathymetry, but my graduate thesis was pretty much aligned with the job requirements and it sounded cool.
Q: What do you love about your work?
A: I love how I have the freedom and flexibility to try different innovations for solving technical problems!
Q: What software or tool makes the most difference in your day-to-day assignments?
A: ArcGIS PRO for now
Q: What industry or subject-matter resource or publication do you recommend?
A: I subscribe to medium.com newsletter to get the latest info for various technical topics of interest. Sometimes I get inspiration for new developments from it!
Q: What’s your current favorite hobby / past-time?
A: Listening to kpop, and soccer documentaries, drawing digital art
Q: What country or region do you hope to explore next in travel?
A: Florida
Q: What is one of the coolest things you’ve seen or visualized in your work at TCarta?
A: ICESat-2 bathymetry…it’s beautiful when you use the right symbology!
Q: Who inspires you or is a professional role model of yours?
A: BTS. I look at them everyday before going to work for a boost of energy!
Q: What is your favorite item in your office desk?
A: The cute mug coaster that I drew by myself. I want to make another one next time!
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