Meet The Team

Dr Raoul-Gabriel Urma

Founder & CEO

Raoul holds a PhD in Computer Science from Cambridge University and was nominated an Oracle Java Champion for his contributions to the community.

He is an international speaker and best-selling book author. He has advised and worked for several organisations on large-scale software engineering projects including at Google, Oracle, eBay and Goldman Sachs.

Kevin Lemagnen

CTO

Kevin has led the development of data products for the energy sector and worked for the telecommunications industry at Qualcomm. He was also a visiting researcher at Stanford University.

Kevin has delivered data science and machine learning training courses to various clients from industries that include finance, engineering and research helping professionals leverage the latest techniques.

Angela Au

CFO

After receiving her degree in Engineering and Management Studies from Cambridge, Angela trained as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG. Post-qualification, she spent 10 years at Arm, a UK technology company, supporting its growth from a start-up into a FTSE-100 company, before taking a career break in 2003.

Since then, she has worked as a consultant helping technology start-ups build their financial infrastructure and operations. Her most recent client was the award-winning social enterprise Simprints Technology.

Anthony Clark

Commercial Director

Anthony has led and developed commercial teams, delivering growth and organisational change for corporate and startup businesses.

After completing a degree in Biotechnology and Strategic Management at the University of Edinburgh, Anthony managed operations, sales and marketing functionalities within the Food Retail and Agritech industries. He is a passionate leader, enjoying coaching others to help them reach their potential.

Judit Gorog

Business Support and HR Manager

Judit has 13 years’ experience as PA and Executive Assistant.

Before joining Cambridge Spark she worked for organisations like the University of Cambridge, Cambridge City Council and Cambridgeshire County Council as a Senior PA / EA.

With a BSc in Economics and many different PA and Secretarial qualifications.

Zaneta Sevcikova

Community Marketing Manager

Zaneta joined Cambridge Spark in early 2019. After finishing her studies and obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Taxes, she gained experience in customer service, administration, finance and marketing within several educational organisations.

She loves everything that involves travelling and exploring.

Kieran Garvey

Director of New Ventures

Kieran has worked for over a decade in tech-enabled financial innovation; developing regulatory and FinTech data products, leading the creation of a FinTech education programme for regulators from 150+ central banks in 100+ countries at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Alternative Finance, supporting businesses in raising £25m+ via equity crowdfunding and co-authoring 30+ reports on the global FinTech industry. Kieran holds degrees from the LSE and Imperial College London.

Darren Vidler

Governance and Admissions Manager

Having studied both a degree (BA Hons Enterprise & Management at the University of the West of Scotland) and undertaken an administration apprenticeship, Darren has subsequently spent over a decade working for start-ups and national apprenticeship providers. With experience building teams and processes from scratch, working in established settings and a successful audit track record, Darren's remit at Cambridge Spark extends across apprenticeship compliance, audit and operations, supporting our drive to deliver a gold standard learning experience.

Miran Mistry

Data Mentor Senior Manager

Miran has a background of working with Data for over 20 years. Primarily as a TSQL/SQL programmer and Database developer in leading organisations across number of different industries including Automotive ,GIS systems , Legal and Finance. In the past two years he has entered the training industry within the Apprenticeship sector at one of the largest providers, supporting and mentoring Level 4 data analysts through the BCS programme.

Here he will be the Technical mentor for apprentices working with them to develop their projects and managing them through the End Point Assessment for their apprenticeship.

Kayte Winter

Delivery Operations Coordinator

Kayte has spent her most recent years working in Further Education, primarily focused on compliance and delivery of Apprenticeships across a broad range of subject sectors.

Kayte is driven and motivated by improvement and has successfully implemented processes and models in alignment with ESFA and OFSTED guidance. Kayte remains committed to quality improvement within training and education which supports the vision of Cambridge Spark.

Helen Gibson

Head of Training Solutions

Helen has a degree in Psychology and has worked within training and development for the last 8 years, helping clients choose the best solutions for their team. She has worked with organisations at a global scale, across a wide range of sectors including Pharma, Finance and FMCG.

Tom Phillips

Director of Strategy and New Markets

Tom looks after market strategy and new areas for the business to develop. He works closely with our network of partners, developing more opportunities for workforces to upskill for data. He originally trained as an accountant and tax advisor, before moving into business development and client relationship roles. 

Christina Sevigny

Customer Success Manager

Christina has years of experience in Marketing and holds a degree in Business and Human Resource Management. Hailing from Canada, but now based in Cambridge she has experience in business development, digital marketing and graduate recruitment.

As Account Executive, she will focus on the careers and talent side of the business helping to bridge the gap between our students and business partners.

Robyn Harley

Delivery Director

Robyn is a further education professional with over 10 years’ extensive experience in Operational Leadership, Delivery, Governing Compliance and Quality. She has a wealth of experience in supporting organisations to achieve growth whilst ensuring that quality practices are upheld.

As Head of Delivery, Robyn supports the Cambridge Spark Delivery Team and wider members of the team to develop and deliver impactful training and education experiences. Robyn is a qualified APM PMQ Project Manager with a Higher Diploma in Leadership and Management.

Jason Sandham

Assistant Account Director

Jason joined the team in 2021. He has spent the last 3 years of his career working in the learning and development industry. Supporting organisations to develop digital and data capability to aid in in digital transformation initiatives in client facing account management roles.

Samantha Hackett

Head of People Operations

Samantha has 10 years experience working within the tech industry primarily responsible for office management, health & safety, payroll, travel and all things HR. In her previous role as Office/HR Manager for a tech start up she played a vital role in building the business from the ground up. This included project managing a purpose built facility from start to finish but also implementing all the systems, policies and procedures to support the organisation's aggressive growth plans.

Samantha is an Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development.

Lauren Starling

Programmes Coordinator

Lauren is an experienced teacher and has spent the past 10 years of her career delivering and coordinating adult education in a variety of sectors. Prior to Cambridge spark she worked as a Lecturer for a local college. Within these roles, she most enjoyed creating user friendly training content catered to all learning styles- ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential. Lauren brings with her a Postgraduate Certificate in Education.

Jack Poulton

Curriculum and Quality Engineer

Jack has a passion for education and data. He has a background in Physics having completed his PhD at University College London. After graduating he entered the education sector in a mentoring capacity and he greatly enjoys helping others expand their knowledge. He joined the team in June 2021 as a Curriculum and Quality engineer.

Ahsan Imran

Training Solutions Manager

Ahsan has extensive experience in lead generation, business development and client relationship management areas. After completing his degree in Banking and Finance at London Metropolitan University, Ash entered the world of apprenticeships where he worked with fortune 500 companies across Automotive, Financial Services, Retail, Public and Technology sectors by advising businesses on how they can improve their talent strategy using the apprenticeship levy.

Artur Sokolovsky

Data Mentor

Artur joined Cambridge Spark in September 2021. He is a physicist by education and a PhD candidate in Machine learning. He is mainly specialised in time series analysis and IoT infrastructure deployment. He is a big fan of dancing and street music.

Sam Tobin

Head of Service Delivery

Sam has worked in the professional training and apprenticeship sector for 10+ years, overseeing delivery of a wide range of learning programmes to a rich variety of stakeholders, across various sectors and disciplines, including FTSE 100 organisations and other large scale organisations.
As Cambridge Spark's Head of Service Delivery, Sam is passionate about developing and sustaining client partnerships, utilising her degree in Business Management alongside her qualifications in Project Management, Online Delivery facilitation & harnesses her years of experience in leading people to deliver excellence.

Pete Traynor

Admissions Coordinator

Pete Traynor has been working in the education sector since 2007.

Before working at Cambridge Spark he worked in secondary and higher education. This included working in examinations and admissions for King's College London and the Royal Veterinary College.

Working in admissions he helped oversee university applicant interviews in the UK and North America. He also oversaw admissions for The Royal Veterinary College’s Gateway Programme, which aimed to give students from certain socioeconomic backgrounds a route into a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine degree programme.

Tom Cartwright

Business Development Executive

Tom is part of the Business Development team looking after lead generation. He has experience with developing new business, lead generation and customer relationship management. Tom has previously worked with apprenticeships from levels 2 to 5 in the health and social care industry. Prior to stepping into the Business Development world, he completed a degree in Coaching & Sport Science at Nottingham Trent University

Seb Crawford

Business Development Executive

Seb graduated from the University of Sheffield with an Economics degree. After graduating he spent 2 years working in the education sector. He joined the business development team in September 2021, where he is sourcing, generating and building new business leads.

Jemma Hooper

Delivery Operations Coordinator

Jemma has spent her previous years carrying out administrative work within the NHS and local Authorities, Jemma has a keen eye for detail that has enabled her to successfully implement a number of processes and procedures to improve the daily running within an office environment. Jemma is enthusiastic and driven to learn and expand her knowledge within the education sector.

Ajith Abraham

Data Mentor

Ajith has been working in the further education sector since 2014. He has a great passion for data. He has a BSc in computer science, PGDip in sales & marketing management. He is undertaking MSc in data science. He joins Cambridge Spark as a data mentor. He will be guiding learners to develop their skills and knowledge and help them prepare for the End Point Assessment

John Weedon

Data Mentor

John is an accomplished Data Professional with key experience in data analysis, mentoring and reporting. Central to this has been John's ability to develop actionable insight and use it to drive continuous business improvements in both process and performance.
With experience of managing teams of analysts, and a background in teaching, John has developed excellent communication, interpersonal and mentoring skills that allow him to build positive relationships with stakeholders from all levels.

Sarah Hardwick

Business Development Executive

Sarah is part of the Business Development team looking after lead generation.
She has experience of generating new leads, business development and customer relationship management. Sarah has previously worked within the professional education sector providing support to businesses looking to upskill their workforce.

Abby Leachman

Partnerships Manager

With over 7 years experience in sales, marketing & account management, Abby comes from a varied background, but with a passion for building long term relationships.
As Partnerships Manager at Cambridge Spark, she looks to establish and maintain strategic partnerships, with a focus on collaboration.

John Niggl

Digital Performance Manager

Rachel Phillips

Curriculum and Programmes Senior Manager

Rachel is a customer-focused project manager with a passion for learning and development. With over 10 years of industry experience, Rachel works with the Cambridge Spark Faculty to develop a gold standard curriculum.

Darshana Edirisinghe

Level 4 Data Faculty Lead

Darshana has been working in the education sector since 2006. For the last 4 years, his primary focus was to design and deliver high-quality apprenticeship training programs on Data Science and Data Analytics to a wide range of national and multinational organizations operating in Finance, IT, Health Care, Beauty & Cosmetics, sectors.

Darshana has a strong background in Python, R Programming Languages and has worked extensively with SQL, Data Visualization, and Statistical Analysis.

He enjoys and takes pride in helping and supporting learners and organizations achieve their goals.

Richard Lambden

Business Development Director

Richard is passionate about delivering outstanding customer service to employers and learners alike and enjoys building successful and motivated teams. With a career that has encompassed 16 years in the recruitment and resourcing sector and the last 12 in the apprenticeship and training industry, he looks forward to sharing his knowledge and learning from his new colleagues too.

Kris Kinnear

Technical Trainer

Kristofer joined Cambridge Spark in 2022 after working as a Data Analyst for one of the ‘Big Four’ professional services firms. In his time there, he worked for clients across all major sectors, including finance, IT, retail, entertainment and energy/utilities. During this time, he utilised tools such as Python, SQL, Alteryx, PowerBI and Tableau.

Previous to this, he worked in the Oil & Gas industry after graduating with a degree in Geophysics, as well as working in Secondary Education as a Physics Teacher.

Robyn Hamilton

Content Marketing Manager

Emmanuella Chinedu

Curriculum Project Manager

Emmanuella joined as a Curriculum Project Manager in March 2022. She will be supporting the development and continuous improvement of Cambridge Spark's education programmes. She has over three years of experience in training and coaching Level 4 project management apprentices with outstanding results. As a qualified project manager, she has industry experience in both project and risk management.

With a passion for learning and development, she hopes to make a positive impact on learners' apprenticeship journey and attainment of knowledge, skills and behaviours.

Jo Sharma

Digital Business Lead Mentor

Jo has been working as a Data Analyst / Business Intelligence Analyst and IT Project Manager since 2011.

For the last 4 years, her primary focus was to coach and mentor data and business analysts on the level 4 apprenticeship programmes.

She has worked with a variety of clients and helped 100% of her learners attain a pass or distinction grade after EPA.

Jo has a strong background in supporting with portfolio creation, advising with the business analyst product and delivery and using her industry and coaching experience to advise learners, connect with them and achieve timely completion.

She enjoys being part of her learners' upward growth and celebrating their success and empowerment as goals are reached.

Rachael Treanor

Service Delivery Manager

Rachael has worked in the further education and work-based learning sector for 20 years within private training providers and FE Colleges. She has successfully managed delivery and quality assurance teams from a variety of curriculum areas through periods of significant growth whilst continuously improving the quality of teaching and learning.

Rachael is passionate about ensuring that clients and learners experience the best learning and development journey for their chosen career pathways and achieve the best possible outcomes.

Scarlett Lowin

Business Support Administrator

Scarlett assists the Head of People Operations, ensuring the smooth running of the business behind the scenes.

After graduating from Royal Holloway University of London she lived in Brighton and worked mainly in the arts.

Scarlett relocated to Bristol and worked for the DfE, where she began training customer service advisors, afterwards moving into the legal sector.

She recently walked 500 miles from London to Glasgow to attend the UN climate conference, COP26.

Ana Rojo-Echeburúa

Data Mentor

Ana is a Data Mentor at Cambridge Spark. Prior to this, Ana did a PhD in Applied Mathematics, focusing on applied differential geometry and symbolical algebra. Since them, Ana has worked as a data scientist for a couple of years and also as a data coach.

In her spare time, Ana likes to practice CrossFit and she is interested in photgraphy and videography, art and music.

Maisie Holder

Customer Service and Commercial Coordinator

Alison Kirby

Bid Manager

Alison has worked within the apprenticeship training industry for the past five years.

She was a founding member of the team that created a dedicated Apprenticeship training Hub within a higher education institute. Alison has worked within a wide range of organisations, including Zenith Corporation, Dun & Bradstreet, Dow Jones, Associated Press, and Kodak Inc.

When she's not busy working, dog walking or doing the school run, she loves to travel and meet new people, try new foods and learn more abut their customs and way of life.  "My bucket list of places to visit is still very full," she says, "so there are lots of adventures still awaiting me!"

Krutika Patel

Data Mentor

Krutika joined Cambridge Spark as a data mentor in July 2022.

She has over 18 years' experience in delivering a variety of data and IT courses and assessing them toward various qualifications in the education sector. She also holds a Master's Degree in IT with data science qualifications and is a qualified and experienced trainer and assessor.

She has previously worked as a lead data coach, assessor, data analyst, software tester, web developer and team leader. And for the past 9 years, she's delivered highly successful results to her clients by ensuring that individuals' learning needs are met and by preparing them for end point assessment. She has also been awarded “Best IT Assessor” twice. She is an expert individual in end point assessment and in how to guide apprentices through completing their summative portfolio and final gateway.

She feels honoured and joyful when her apprentices achieve their grades, which makes a huge impact in their lives and meets clients' and organisations' goals.

Florian Vagner

Account Manager

Florian joined the team in 2022.

After completing a degree in Entrepreneurship Innovation and Technology at the University of Strathclyde Glasgow, Florian managed sales operations within the fintech and cryptocurrency industries in South East Asia and the United Kingdom.

He is passionate about new technology and mentoring project-led and developed commercial teams, delivering growth and organisational change for corporate and startup businesses.

Tilly Allen

Training Solutions Director

Tilly has over 12 years of experience in the world of apprenticeships and professional development primarily focusing on new business and developing existing clients. 

She is passionate about supporting organisations to grow their internal capability and develop their talent pipeline through true partnership. Tilly prides herself on providing exceptional consultation and customer experience.

Sol-Raksha Raja

Full-Stack Engineer

Coming from a background of Energy Data Analytics, Raj joined the company in 2018, and is developing the K.A.T.E application. They transitioned careers from an Economics field to Computer Science. Often talks about their dog.

Samson Crocker

Full-Stack Engineer

Samson has a background in Physics and holds an MPhys from Durham University. After graduating he worked in an analytics role before moving into software development, building client-facing web dashboards for or a research consultancy in the sports, media and sponsorship space. He joined the team in May 2020 and is working on the KATE platform in a full stack role.

Caroline Bleger

Front-End Engineer

Caroline joined the team in September 2018. Having studied Publishing, Web Development and Interactive Media in Cape Town, South Africa, Caroline has a background in graphic design and front-end web development, with a passion for UI and UX design. She now works on improving K.A.T.E. Always finding new ways to make the user’s journey as effortless as possible.

Ed Fincham

Research Engineer

Ed joined the team in February 2020, having completed his PhD in Machine Learning at the University of Edinburgh. He previously worked with us as a teaching fellow, but now contributes to our R&D as well as our commercial activities. His research focuses on behavioural profiling of students and building models to deliver interpretable insight for course instructors.

Ellen Hadfield

Coaching Manager

Ellen is passionate about empowering others to achieve their potential. Since qualifying in 2014 Ellen has coached a broad spectrum of clients within education settings, helping them progress towards their goals. Ellen is experienced in working with business leaders to develop mentoring and career progression programmes. Ellen also brings with her a degree in Social Policy, an IAG qualification, experience as a careers advisor, training facilitator and team manager within the charity and voluntary sector.

Annica Curtis

Learner Success Coach

Annica joined the Cambridge Spark team because she is passionate about the education sector and encouraging people to achieve their full potential. Having initially started her career at Cambridge University, Annica then spent 5 years working as an EFL teacher in Japan, and within the start-up sector in Sweden / Germany, before transitioning into coaching. Annica holds a BA Hons in English Language and Linguistics from University of York and is happy to guide learners through their English functional skills assessment.

Robbie Galvani

Learner Success Coach

Robbie is passionate about supporting others to progress and meet their full potential. He began his career in Youth Offending Services, going on to working within the Education Sector where he built effective working relationship across various stakeholders. This included maintaining business relationships and the delivery of training to companies such as Blackstone and State Street Bank staff to support the facilitation of their mentoring programmes. Robbie has been a qualified Coach and Mentor since 2013.

Lucy Baker

Learner Success Coach

Lucy is an experienced maths teacher and prior to this worked as a chartered accountant, spending several years of her career abroad in Switzerland. In these roles she most enjoyed interacting with people and helping others to overcome challenges in their work, learning and wellbeing. She joins Cambridge Spark as a coach.

Lucy has a BSc (Hons) in Mathematical Sciences and a PGCE from Durham University. She is happy to use her experience in teaching to provide maths support to learners.

Becky Britten

Learner Success Coach

Becky joins Cambridge Spark with a passion for inspiring and supporting individuals to achieve their potential. Becky has 8 years' experience working in Higher Education where she has helped learners around the globe unpack and reflect on their experiences and skills, in the context of their goals.
With a BA in International Business Management and a MA Ed in Leadership & Management, Becky has a wealth of experience delivering organisational development advice to a variety of businesses and enterprises within the private and voluntary sectors.

Joanne Scott

Learner Success Coach

Joining Cambridge Spark from Loughborough University, Joanne has 13 years experience in Higher Education where she supported students through their year in industry, helping them to secure placements and reflect on their skills and learning in the workplace. She is proudly dyslexic and has a passion for empowering neurodiverse individuals. Since qualifying as a coach in 2020 Joanne has provided coaching support to dyslexic students helping them to overcome barriers and tap into their unique strengths and perspectives.

Joanne has a BA(Hons) in Fine Art & Media Studies and continues to develop her art practice creating prints inspired by her childhood in the Yorkshire Dales.

Debbie Evans

Learner Success Coach

Debbie started her career in the Nursing Corps of the British Army and latterly has worked in the Apprenticeship sector in Quality Assurance and as an Assessor for more than 10 years. Debbie holds a Level 7 Membership Award in Leadership and Management and has used this alongside her many years of experience of leading and managing people and honing key skills to transition into coaching.
Debbie joins Cambridge Spark as a Learner Success Coach, who is passionate about encouraging and supporting individuals to maximise their full potential. This has been demonstrated through a successful career in the Apprenticeship sector, having worked with both private and public sector clients.

Lee Seville

Learner Success Coach

I have a passion for supporting learners with their chosen area of study and watching them grow throughout to achieve their full potential. This passion comes from three years working in the apprenticeship sector as a coach. Prior to this I worked in Finance and Retail in a management position and achieved a BSc in Physical Geography. I have found I have always enjoyed helping others grow through coaching and how rewarding this can be. 

Elizabeth Ellis

Learner Success Coach

Elizabeth has worked across all stages of mainstream education and now excels in being part of the learner’s journey with Apprenticeships.  She has 6 years’ experience working in Higher Education and Employability Coaching and has previously taught English at Functional Skill and GCSE levels.

Graduating from University of Birmingham in 2015 with a BPhil Degree in Inclusion and Special Educational Needs, she is mindful, knowledgeable and supportive to those learners who, for varying reasons, struggle accessing learning, ensuring that their learning journey is tailored for their specific needs to achieve positive, successful outcomes.

Jodie Hutson

Learner Success Coach

Jodie joins Cambridge Spark to continue fulfilling her passion of supporting those with a desire to fulfil their potential through professional development. She lives and breathes personal growth, currently completing her own Level 7 Executive Coaching & Mentoring studies. She is an experienced leader, with a wealth of experience delivering training to individuals and teams, with a special interest in managing change, building resilience and improving emotional intelligence.

Jodie began her journey in apprenticeships in 2017, launching apprenticeships standards in Digital Marketing, Advertising, Sales and Leadership, working with clients from a diverse range of creative industries including media, film and radio as well as charities and the public sector.

Julie Clark

Learner Success Coach

Julie Clark joins Cambridge Spark as a Learner Success Coach with almost 25 years' experience in the work-based learning sector across a range of roles, from Operations Manager through to Curriculum Manager, Quality Manager and senior leadership coaching.

Julie has worked with clients in the private business and finance sectors, as well as local authorities and the NHS. She is also a Mental Health First Aider (MHFA England).

She is passionate about supporting people to stay motivated to achieve their goals, and she has a wealth of experience in overcoming the challenges and obstacles that may arise.

Sahan Bulathwela

Senior Teaching Fellow and Researcher

Sahan Bulathwela is a PhD in Machine Learning at UCL. Before that, he worked as a Data Science Engineer at Skimlinks, where his primary focus was on building high-performance data pipelines for data processing and machine learning.

He holds an MSc in Computational Statistics and Machine Learning from UCL. For his master’s thesis, he worked with a Research and Advanced Development team at Cisco Systems to adapt machine learning algorithms to Cybersecurity.

Helen Hu

PhD in Statistics

Helen is completing a PhD in Statistics at UCL and The Alan Turing Institute. She holds a BA in Mathematics from University of California, Berkeley and a masters in Statistics and Data Science from the University of Edinburgh.

Eugenia Shynkevich

Data Scientist at Deutsche Boerse

Eugenia is a Data Scientist working for Deutsche Boerse Group. Her main focus is on bringing machine learning solutions to the financial industry. She uses AI and NLP techniques to develop new products and improve internal processes.

Her goal is to deliver end-to-end data science solutions from data acquisition to model building to deployment & operation. Since 2009 Eugenia worked for a broad spectrum of organizations ranging from large corporations such as Deutsche Bank to fin-tech start-ups to academic institutions. A committed professional with hands-on experience in machine learning, web development and data visualisation for the financial services and healthcare sectors. Elena is innovative and confident with a can-do attitude and outstanding communication skills.

Ryan Griffiths

PhD Researcher in Machine Learning and Physics

Ryan is a PhD Researcher in Machine Learning and Physics at the University of Cambridge. Prior to this, he was a Machine Learning Engineer at Prowler.io where he worked on Bayesian Optimisation and Bayesian nonparametrics. He also holds an MPhil in Machine Learning and Machine Intelligence. Outside of the ML sphere, Ryan is a Fide Master in chess, a keen runner, and has recently taken up Latin dance.

Chris Tegho

Machine Learning Engineer at Calipsa

Chris is a machine learning engineer working in computer vision at Calipsa. His interests are in Bayesian neural networks, reinforcement learning, variational inference and computer vision. Prior to this, he completed his MPhil in machine learning at the University of Cambridge. Chris also enjoys planting and working closely with artists on their ML projects.

Ashwin D. D'Cruz

Machine Learning Engineer at Calipsa

Ashwin D. D’Cruz is a Machine Learning Engineer at Calipsa. He holds an MPhil in Machine Learning, Speech and Language Technology from the University of Cambridge.

Maria Pérez

Teaching Fellow

Maria is a Research Fellow at the AI Centre at UCL. Prior to that she was Research Associate at the University of Cambridge, a Lecturer at University Loyola Andalucia and a Research Assistant at the Spanish National Research Council and the University of Cordoba. She holds a PhD in machine learning, a MSc on intelligent Systems and a BSc on Computer Science. Maria is especially interested in the application of artificial intelligence for sustainable development.

Jorge A Menendez

Teaching Fellow

Jorge is a PhD candidate at the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, where he uses tools and concepts from machine learning to understand how humans and animals learn.

Leigh Shlomovich

Teaching Fellow

Leigh is currently completing a PhD at Imperial College London in Statistics focussing on applications of time series analysis to network monitoring, predominantly for cyber security. Previously she completed her Masters in Mathematics also at Imperial.

Dr. Ekaterina Kochmar

Senior Teaching Fellow

Ekaterina is a senior research associate at the Cambridge University Computer Laboratory, working on Automated Language Teaching and Assessment (ALTA). She conducted her PhD at the Natural Language and Information Processing Group, Computer Laboratory. Her research focuses on compositional distributional semantics and the use of machine learning methods in educational NLP.

Ricardo Monti

Senior Teaching Fellow

Ricardo is a Post Doctoral Research Associate at the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, UCL. He obtained his PhD from Imperial College London, during which time he also interned as a data scientist at Spotify.

David Illes

Vice President at Financial Services

David is a lead technologist working for Financial Services Fraud Prevention Technology division. His main focus is delivering end-to-end analytics and AI solutions from model building to deployment, operating on a high-throughput real-time fraud prevention platform.

Previously he managed to bootstrap the department’s big data platform built on Apache Hadoop and Spark and was working as a technical architect on many projects on the areas of Trade Surveillance, Anti-Money Laundering and Regulatory Reporting. He likes reading, listening to weird music and learning about the next random thing he gets excited about.

Marc Torrellas

Senior Machine Learning Scientist at Streetbees

Marc received a PhD with honours in Wireless Communications and Information Theory from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), where he obtained his MSc. Since 2015, he has worked as a Data Scientist for Zhilabs in Barcelona, providing in-depth data analytics to telco providers; Darktrace in Cambridge, UK, providing ML-based cybersecurity services; Eigen Technologies in London, providing ML and NLP based products and services, focused on extracting unstructured information from legal and financial documents; and Streetbees in London, providing market research and insights into communities by leveraging ML and NLP concepts.

Alan Chau

DPhil in Statistics and ML

Alan is currently undertaking a DPhil in Statistics and Machine Learning at the University of Oxford. He has a strong research interest in Statistical networks, Kernel methods, preferential learning and Graphical Neural Network. His current project is on combining insights from nonparametric modelling based on reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHS) with spectral methods for ranking, in order to integrate contextual information with the pairwise comparisons, facilitating the extraction of latent structures behind preferential data.

Alan is also keen on bridging the gap between advanced Artificial Intelligence research and the business world. From his experiences as an ML consultant and the former Managing Director of a student-run AI consulting group, he has developed a strong skill set on mathematical modelling, project scoping, team management and designing functional teams for projects.

Alex Bird

PhD at the University of Edinburgh

Alex is currently finishing his PhD at The Alan Turing Institute/University of Edinburgh. His interests include time series, graphical models, Bayesian methods, deep learning and meta-learning. Small data problems perhaps interest me more than big data problems, and grey box problems more than black box. Alex holds an MSc in Machine Learning and Computational Statistics from University College London.

Julian-Ferdinand Vögele

Data Scientist at Security Research Labs

Julian-Ferdinand is a data scientist at Security Research Labs, a Berlin-based cybersecurity consultancy, where he optimises cybersecurity strategies for companies around the world. Prior to this, he completed his MSc in Computer Science at UCL with a focus on ML and software engineering. Throughout his undergraduate in Germany, China, and the US, he specialised in social computational science and gained first-hand experience in data analytics at McKinsey and various tech start-ups. He is a scholar of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation.

Helena Andres

Teaching Fellow

Helena is an AI and machine learning research associate at the University of Cambridge, in the Department of Computer Science and Technology. She holds a PhD in Artificial Intelligence, an MPhil in Mathematical Networks. With background in theoretical physics and mathematics, her research combines complex systems, mathematical networks and deep learning. She is currently focusing on unsupervised generative models and graph neural networks. In her spare time she enjoys playing Ultimate Frisbee.