Professional Experience
I started my career in academia, From 2014 to 2019 I have worked at the Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, serving different roles. It is here that I discovered my love for data science, my joy for programming, and my passion for simplifying complicated matters in such a way that they become understandable. I just love taking a seemingly complicated idea/question/hypothesis, thinking it through, reducing it to its core, deducing predictions from it, and then using data to test these predictions.
What can I say, I am a scientist.
In 2019, I made the exciting step to leave academia and started using my skills in the tech industry. Within 6 months, I went from being a freelance linguist, to be a contractor at google to becoming a full-time employee at Roku. I found that while at first glance there seems to be a big gap between the academic and the business world, there are a lot of similar problems and challenges in both, and thus I find myself using fitting in quite well in the tech world. See below for details on my roles., both in the industry and in academia.
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Led the development of a semi-automatic annotation pipeline by integrating rule-based and ML models, creating a new relational database, and optimizing manual processes, resulting in annual savings of over 88%.
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Improved multilingual NLU models, enhancing performance by 17%.
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Developed and managed a German voice system by writing grammar, developing algorithms for improved natural language understanding (NLU), creating training, test, and development datasets, training models, and providing error analyses for automatic speech recognition (ASR) and machine learning (ML) systems.
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Conducted large language model (LLM) experiments focused on data generation and error analysis, advancing the boundaries of machine learning applications.
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Managed and partnered with third-party contractors to ensure project success and maintain quality standards.
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Created, annotated, and analyzed data sets to help optimize software for certain locales and languages to finally deliver the right product in the locale.
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Managed several quality control projects simultaneously and successfully lead a pilot project.
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Started a linguistic talk series for the entires North America Search Language Specialist program.
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Served as the point of contact for team members, and served as a bridge between stakeholders and the team.
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Started and participated in several process optimization initiatives.
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Created utterances and provided localization expertise for a fortune 100 company.
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Established quality control procedure for utterances, conducted quality control analyses, and helped manage a team of over 100 vendors
Sr. Computational Linguist, Roku, Austin
September 2020 -Present
May 2020 - September 2020
Search Language Specialist/ Subject Matter Expert, Qualitest [supporting google], Austin
Linguist, WeLocalize
April 2020 - May 2020
Academia
Post-doctoral Researcher, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
October 2018 - September 2019
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trained research assistants in data collection, data annotation and data analyses, and served as a mentor for research related questions
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reviewed academic papers for the journals Glossa; Laboratory Phonology; Language, Cognition and Neuroscience and Morphology
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wrote scripts in R and Python to select, organize and clean various types of data, including acoustic data
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analyzed different types of data using a wide range of statistical analyses, including supervised methods, such as linear and non-linear regression models and decision trees, as well as unsupervised methods, such as cluster analyses
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taught graduate and undergraduate classes and supervised MA and BA projects
Research Associate in the project 'Job-Related Teaching', Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
October 2018 - March 2019
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developed strategy promoting the course of study (the university)
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built relationships between businesses, students and alumni
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promoted job-specific skills by integrating them into the curriculum
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mentored students (MA-theses, BA-theses, smaller research projects)
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became the point of contact for students with questions concerning their coursework and career path
Research Assistant in DfG research unit `Spoken Morphology' (FOR 2373)
Project: `Morpho-phonetic variation in English'
October 2015 – September 2018
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developed and carried out research projects following the scientific method
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collected data using data bases and experiments, including speech production experiments and survey studies
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developed annotation criteria and trained a team of student assistants to follow these criteria, ensuring the reliability and validity of the annotation
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analyzed data using statistical models to test theoretical assumptions
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presented results at national and international conferences
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wrote and published research papers in international journals
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assisted in writing research proposals
Visiting Researcher, Cambridge University
September/October 2015, October 2016
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collaborated with international researchers resulting in a publication
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organized and carried out speech production experiments, including setting up the experiment, recruiting participants, organizing lab-schedules, administrating bureaucratic tasks, and storing and securing data
Research Assistant, Department of English and American Studies, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
February 2014 - September 2015
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prepared project 'Morpho-phonetic variation in English' including literature research and data preparation
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taught undergraduate classes
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participated in methodological training, such as workshops on statistics and programing
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devloped schedule and task-based plan for PhD-project
Visiting Lecturer (German as a Foreign Language), Silapkorn University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
May 2013 - September 2013
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taught German and intercultural skills to graduate and undergraduate students
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served as an ambassador of the German language and culture by building relationships, serving as a point of contact for the students, and engaging in and organizing projects in the department
Industry
Pedagogical Experience
Before discovering my love for empirical research, I gained a lot of experience in the field of education and pedagogy. Not only did I study to be a teacher, and thereby built the necessary theoretical base, but I also gained a lot of practical experience teaching diverse groups of students, from intellectually disabled children, to kindergartners, to grad students, to High School students.
I have taught various contents, from German as a second language, to history, to linguistics to Latex. No matter what the content of my class is, my goal is to create a comfortable learning atmosphere in which there is no fear of making mistakes, and in which the student is an active part of their own learning process. To do so, each class, its contents and its learning goals have to tailoired to the learning group...But I am losing track, I just love education and talking about it! If you feel the need to learn more about my teaching philosophy, please feel free to contact me.
Teaching
Graduate Classes
The Mental Lexicon, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf (Winter 2018)
Latex for beginners, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf (February 2017)
Undergraduate Classes
Second Language Acqusition, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf (Summer 2019)
Syntax, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf (Summer 2019)
Phonetics, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf (Winter 2018)
Phonetics: Real World Applications, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf (Winter 2017)
Academic Writing, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf (Summer 2017)
Morphology, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf (Summer 2016)
Introduction to -Linguistics Part 2, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf (Winter 2015 & Summer 2018)
Introduction to linguistics : Part 1, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf (Summer 2015)
German: Communcation 1, Silapkorn University, Thailand (Summer 2013)
German: Communation 2, Silapkorn University, Thailand (Summer 2013)
K-12
Teacher, Berufsbildungszentrum der IHK Siegen, Germany (September 2011- May 2013)
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Professional Orientation
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Coaching for the job application process
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Development of secondary virtues
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Planning and executing group building exercises
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Educational assessment
Internship, Privates Gymnasium Maria Königin, Lennestadt, Germany (September 2012)
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Planing and teaching lessons (English and History, Grade 6 and 10)
Internship, Städtisches Gymnasien Kreuztal, Germany (February 2010)
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Planing and teaching lessons (English and History, Grade 5, 9 and 11)
Internship, National Institute of Developmental Delays, (September 2009), St. Gregory's University, OK, USA
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Assisting in planning and adjusting activities for developmentally delayed children
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Assisting and fostering developmentally delayed children with everyday tasks
Further Achievement
Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Germany
2014-2017
Participant in yearly didactic workshops on university teaching
Universität Siegen, Germany
November 2013
Zertifikat: Deutsch als Fremdsprache (Certified Teacher of German as a Second Language)
Berufsbildungszentrum der IHK Siegen, Germany
June 2011
Zertifikat: Fortbildung Potenzialanalyse (Advanced Training in analyzing students' potentials)