Can you start by introducing yourself?
My name is Luke Moberly, I joined Le Wagon London’s Full-time Data Science Bootcamp back in October 2020 as a way to help me launch my own company after graduating from high school. I wanted to understand the basics of data models and data manipulation; grow my professional network; learn how to use Machine Learning and grasp the core concepts for learning new programming languages and development skills.
What were you doing before you joined Le Wagon?
I was actually working at Chipotle and developing an iOS game at the time! (Llama Launch). I had about five months of self-taught experience. I had learned some Python, Javascript, and Swift before joining the Bootcamp.
Why did you choose to learn Data Science?
I had wanted to start my own company, but didn't understand how to handle the data operations necessary for software operation. At the time I was also very interested in robotics and driverless cars, fields that are using data to improve their operations.
Which topics did you find the most memorable during the bootcamp?
I really enjoyed the basic database models. I had been struggling to learn backend software operations on my own and this unit in particular clarified a lot of key concepts for me. I’d say the neural networks were the most difficult to wrap my head around, although I was able to use them in the end!
Tell us about your final project!
In our group, we created a sentiment analysis tool that analyzed Tweets in real-time, detected the emotion behind the tweet and plotted it onto a map of London. Meaning you could see the general sentiment of people Tweeting from all across London.
What are you doing now & what are your plans for the future?
After I graduated from Le Wagon,
I was accepted into a Startup Incubator in Nebraska, United States and began building
Bumper. Bumper is an educational investing platform for teens - we help teens learn about and begin investing before they turn 18 with just $1 and an adult to sponsor the account. We’ve recently partnered with a US-registered broker-dealer and we’re launching in mid-August!
I currently spend half my day on app development with a freelance agency. Le Wagon was instrumental in giving me the basic knowledge necessary for this role.
The other half of my day is spent on gaining traction for Bumper and business development efforts. This mostly consists of working with high school clubs to attract new users, speaking with investors and managing our team of 4.
In terms of future plans, I will be attending Stanford University this fall for Computer Science and hope to eventually work in robotics.
Any advice for anyone thinking of learning Data Science?
Le Wagon is a fantastic opportunity to gain essential Data Science skills. Even if you don't see yourself working as a Data Scientist per se; Le Wagon helps you understand Data Science tools suitable for application within a variety of fields, and take concrete steps that you can build upon to learn further skills after the Bootcamp. I used the frameworks that Le Wagon provided to learn NodeJS and React after the camp which proved invaluable in creating my own company.
