README.md

This blog is a written, edited accounting of the problems that I’m working on today in machine learning engineering, meta-learning, and discovery of self.

This work should in no way be considered authoritative or final on any of these topics. Perhaps it will be helpful to some who find themselves asking similar questions, but primarily it is a tool for me to write my way to clarity.

Getting Started

You’ll find me posting here every week by Monday for the next 12 weeks as I embark on a journey that was started 10 weeks, or maybe 27 years ago. It’s perhaps useful to look to recent history for a lens on this publication.

Today

Today I am 2.5 months past the date I left my job as the Lead Data Science Engineer for a fast growing start up where I was employee #2 working to bring a AI for Marketing product to market. My focus was primarily on leading projects for enterprise companies to build out their marketing data platform on GAP and to enable the intelligent audience building through statistical-segmentations and ML. However, I chose to leave this role because it wasn’t fulfilling my need to grow.

I’ve spent these past 10 weeks decompressing from what was both a positive, constructive, and very difficult experience working at ——-. Trying not because of the challenges of work, but the lack of them. I joined this team with a mind towards leveraging my 3 month investment a Data Science boot camp at Galvanize, but ultimately ended up performing the same job I was doing before just with fewer resources available. So despite my love for the people, the company, and the product. I decided to strike out on a new path of discovery.

With that decompression came a realization that I’ve felt restlessness on a few levels of my being. Particularly, the environment that I found myself in, on the outskirts of Seattle WA, while picturesque and lovely, wasn’t stimulating me as I would have hoped. So, I made the decision to pack up my life and lease out my home to someone who I hope will enjoy this place as much as I have over the last 2 years. Instead I’ll be moving to Austin, TX in a matter of weeks to hopefully find the energy and passion that’s so inspiring. Still though, that hasn’t been quite enough.

The second layer of restlessness, and I think the last one, has been around my purpose in life. That ever-present question of what my soul calls me to do. On this subject I believe I have an answer. And an ambitious one at that.

My purpose in life today is to work with the sharpest minds solving the hardest problems in machine learning systems engineering to bring this incredible technology to a point of accessibility that will allow the entire world to benefit from it. But very importantly, to do so not as my livelihood, but as my creative passion. My craft.

So now, 10 weeks after my final day of work and income, I am publishing this first blog post which demarcates my first creative steps on the journey to do just that. I know it will be challenging. I know I’ll have to make sacrifices and prepare my mind set to persevere. But I know I am a capable of it and I know this is the way I want to give my gifts to the world.

So join me! I’ll document the process here and hope to connect with you along the way.

Prerequisites

What things you need to install the software and how to install them

python3
tensorflow
tensorflow-extended
kubeflow
beam[gcp]

Features

  • GCP Machine Learning Certification - the first stop on this ML Eng. journey! I’ll be taking the exam February 5th, 2021 and sharing my study process here as well as thoughts after the exam.
  • ML Engineering Methodology - I believe one of the best ways I can contribute my experience to the world is by helping to refine a methodology for ML Engineering/MLOps similar to what Ralph Kimball did for Data Warehousing. It’s an ambitious goal, but one worth undertaking.
  • Book Reviews - These are more for myself than anything else, but perhaps you’ll find them interesting as well.
  • Other - Data or thoughts on my current training regime for running my first 1/2 marathon, cryptocurrency research and perhaps explanations as I learn about the topic myself, and whatever else I might feel the need to write about!

Built With

Contributing

Email me @ ericbragas412 at gmail dot com

Authors

Acknowledgments

  • Hat tip to Ronin 10 of the Samurai Brotherhood for holding me accountable to this path I’ve chosen
Written on January 8, 2021