Hi! I'm Elena. Welcome to my blog.

I’m a machine learning engineer and researcher with a PhD in Computer Science from Heriot-Watt University, specialising in social data mining, adaptive web applications, and Deep Learning. I have been fascinated by computer science, Artificial Intelligence, technology, and philosophical questions from an early age. I have observed how telephone stations work, how data streams can be redirected between different locations, and how the telephone stations are programmed. I spent some time with my father, a telecommunication engineer, who explained how the technology works. I learned digital circuitry and logic in school. I started writing code on the ZX Spectrum computer when I was 13. I first focused on the BASIC programming language, then moved to machine code to manipulate memory more easily. Next, I moved to Pascal on IBM machines at a mathematical lyceum, where I prepared for the university exams.

Bill Bertram, CC BY-SA 2.5 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Meanwhile, I had various other interests. I finished music school in the fortepiano class, was a member of a biology club, and published my school’s class newspaper. I had the best childhood one could have. At 17, I moved about 845 kilometres from home to study Computer Science in Tomsk, arguably Siberia’s best city.

Jens Schäperclaus, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons

I had various courses on Computer-Aided Design, analogue and digital electronics, linear algebra, and loads of programming, amongst other subjects. Computers worked with floppy disks at that time and had relatively modest computing resources. Anyway, we had the Artificial Intelligence class, where I did my coursework on declarative programming in the Prolog programming language.

Павел Андрющенко, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Moving from functional programming and Object-Oriented programming to declarative programming was fascinating. I am open to changing conceptual frameworks and techniques to solve problems as efficiently as possible. However, knowledge of which tools and methods to use requires more practical experience. And after completing my studies, I worked as a support engineer, project manager assistant, Microsoft Business Solutions Consultant, researcher, and developer.

I have programming experience in C++, PHP, and Python. Now, it is a Python back end and a basic HTML front end. I focus mainly on Machine Learning problems. Python has all the necessary data manipulation and processing libraries, as well as Machine Learning and Deep Learning frameworks. I will share what I find interesting in this field in this blog.

Due to my natural curiosity about everything new in technology and Computer Science, I completed another master’s degree at the University of Liverpool, graduating with a Distinction in Information Systems Management.

By Phil Nash from Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0> via Wikimedia Commons

About ten years later, I did my PhD research in the intersection of social networking, communication, and Artificial Intelligence. I started developing the idea of using Twitter data to build culture-aware intelligent systems at the Delft University of Technology.

The PhD opportunity, however, was waiting for me in beautiful Scotland, where I was fortunate to pursue a subject that interested me and get training with the best teachers I know. My PhD thesis in Computer Science at Heriot-Watt University is about social data mining and machine learning tools for creating adaptive web applications. Read more about my research at researchgate.net.

Heriot Watt University Scottish Borders Campus - geograph.org.uk - 210840

None of it would be possible without the love and support of my family and friends, and the best research supervisor in the world, who gave me plenty of advice and made me think hard about the project, the research process, and life.

A picture of my place of birth, drawn by my Papa for my blog (my best friend, an inventor, telecommunication engineer, and an artist in retirement)

Besides coding and AI, I am interested in nature, especially birds, various music genres, and freestyle dancing, as everything free is what matters in life :)

While having fun and meeting wonderful people along the way, I graduated with a PhD in CS, an MSc in CS, and an MIS. Now, I continue my lifetime quest with a focus on Deep Learning.

I have created this blog to keep track of my new findings and share things I learn. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or interesting ideas.

Thanks for reading my blog!