As a data scientist, one is expected to be agile. It includes dividing tasks into smaller assignments, assuming roles you never thought of, and adapting plans. Faith Neema Benson is an AIMS-Ishango Data Science Fellow. On this week’s alumni of the week, we take a look at her journey into the field of data science and artificial intelligence.
Faith Neema Benson is a Kenyan national. She attended the AIMS South Africa Centre for her Master in Mathematical Sciences and graduated in 2019. She wrote a thesis entitled “Implementation of Discrete Element Method.” She later joins the AIMS Ghana Centre for African Masters of Machine Intelligence (AMMI) degree from October 2019 – to March 2021. She finished the coursework and wrote a thesis entitled “Thorax Disease Detection with Deep Learning.” As a Machine Learning Engineer with coding skills in Python and R, she has undertaken certification courses in Data Analysis and Visualization, Introduction to Data Science in Python, Machine Learning Practical Workout, Neural Networks, and Deep Learning, Improving Deep Neural Networks, AI for Medical Diagnosis among others.
In September 2021, Faith commenced work on an Elder Research Project through the AIMS-Ishango Data Science Fellowship Program. She developed an unsupervised anomaly detection method to predict hydroelectric power plant failures. The job gave her a much-needed chance to apply her mathematical skills to a real-life challenge and boost her self-confidence in addressing issues. “Having no experience utilizing my skills to solve real-world problems motivated me to apply for the AIMS-Ishango Data Science Fellowship Program.”
Before this fellowship program, Faith worked with Diamond Industries Limited in Mombasa, Kenya, from March 2021 – to September 2021 as a Sales and Marketing Officer. She marketed and sold various soap products produced by Diamond Industries Limited. Between March – April 2021, Faith did free-lance work solving mathematical questions, reviewing journals, writing argumentative essays, and undertaking data analysis. She was a Statistician Attachee at the Kemri-Wellcome Trust, Kilifi, Kenya, from January – to April 2016. Her duties included undertaking data entry, analysis, and literature review. She supported Kemri-Welcome Trust in clinical studies as a Field Worker from May 2011 – May 2012. She worked with study participants, collected and entered data, and prepared reports.
Want to know more about the Inshango Data Science and Artificial Fellowship? Join the info session on Wednesday 23rd February 2022 at 11:00 – 12:00 GMT on the program for the Accra edition.