Simon Funke, Developer in Oslo, Norway
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Simon Funke

Verified Expert  in Engineering

Data Scientist and Developer

Oslo, Norway

Toptal member since May 4, 2021

Expertise
PythonRuby on RailsAgile DevelopmentMachine LearningDjangoTensorFlowChatbot DevelopmentC++CSQL
Bio

Simon has in-depth expertise in the development of mathematical problems, especially in physical modeling, neural networks, and optimization. He designed software that won the Wilkinson Prize for Numerical Software, a prestigious prize awarded once every four years, acquired over 30 million NOK funding through research grants, and managed the technical design of a SaaS company now one of the largest in the UK and Germany. Simon is a stickler for high-quality code and enjoys leading teams.

Portfolio

Red Hot Rails
Ruby on Rails (RoR), JavaScript, SQL
FutureReady
Data Science, Neural Networks, Linear Regression, Optimization, Rasa.ai...
Simula Consulting
Kotlin, Python, Optimization, Testing, Azure, Azure SQL, Azure IoT Suite

Experience

  • Python - 10 years
  • Large-scale Computing - 10 years
  • Data Science - 10 years
  • Agile Software Development - 7 years
  • Team Leadership - 5 years
  • Pandas - 4 years
  • TensorFlow - 3 years
  • PyTorch - 3 years

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

Django, C++, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Science, Scientific Computing, Python, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Java, Optimization

The most amazing...

...solution I built is a propagation algorithm for simulation codes that won one of the most prestigious awards for numerical algorithms in scientific computing.

Work Experience

CTO

2011 - PRESENT
Red Hot Rails
  • Managed the technical design, architecture, and implementation of a SaaS company. This company is now one of the largest professional nutrition softwares in the UK and Germany.
  • Oversaw the initial implementation and maintenance of the database and back-end portion of the business.
  • Ran the server configuration, automated testing, and software quality control.
Technologies: Ruby on Rails (RoR), JavaScript, SQL

Data Scientist

2020 - 2021
FutureReady
  • Developed a voice-enabled chatbot for customer service training.
  • Performed data analysis in historical sales data to implement a sales prediction likelihood tool.
  • Acquired funding, and doubled the technical team in size within six months.
Technologies: Data Science, Neural Networks, Linear Regression, Optimization, Rasa.ai, Chatbots

Senior Data Scientist

2020 - 2021
Simula Consulting
  • Implemented an optimization solver to optimize delivery routes of a transportation company.
  • Performed technological due diligence reports for mergers and acquisitions (Q&M).
  • Implemented a large-scale analysis pipeline for a Corona virus tracking application.
Technologies: Kotlin, Python, Optimization, Testing, Azure, Azure SQL, Azure IoT Suite

Research Director

2020 - 2021
Simula Research Laboratory
  • Acquired 30 million NOK research funding from the EU and Norwegian public funding sources.
  • Formed and implemented strategic decisions into a 45+ strong team.
  • As a member of the company board, I oversaw the company's strategic decisions.
Technologies: Team Leadership, Change Leadership, Management

Senior Research Scientist

2014 - 2021
Simula Research Laboratory
  • Developed a back-propagation software for FEniCS finite element models to optimize physical simulation models. This software was awarded the prestigious Wilkinson Prize for Numerical Software: wikipedia.org/J._H._Wilkinson_Prize_for_Numerical_Software.
  • Acquired over 30 million NOK funding through research grants.
  • Led a research team of 12+ people and designed, implemented, and published papers on novel optimization methods, high-performance computing, and scientific machine learning.
Technologies: Python 3, C++, Pandas, TensorFlow, PyTorch, FEniCS, Optimization, Testing, Ruby on Rails (RoR)

Experience

Professional Nutritional Calculator

http://alacalc.com
A nutritional calculator for professional food manufacturers. I developed the overall technical architecture and back-end implementation, in addition to providing strategic advice to leadership. The platform has now grown to one of the largest professional nutritional software platforms in the UK and Germany.

Algorithmic Differentiation for Physical Simulation Models in FEniCS

http://www.dolfin-adjoint.org/
Designed and implemented an algorithmic differentiation tool for simulation models implemented in the finite element software FEniCS. This software received the Wilkinson Prize for Numerical Software, a prestigious prize in scientific computing, awarded every four years to the authors of an outstanding piece of numerical software. The software is open-source and available under https://github.com/dolfin-adjoint/pyadjoint.

Education

2009 - 2013

Ph.D. in Mathematics and Computer Science

Imperial College London - London, UK

2004 - 2009

Master's Degree Equivalent in Mathematics and Computer Science

Technical University of Munich - Munich, Germany

Skills

Libraries/APIs

TensorFlow, Pandas, PyTorch, FEniCS

Tools

Azure IoT Suite, Rasa.ai

Languages

Python 3, Python, Kotlin, C++, C, Java, Fortran, JavaScript, SQL, Bash

Frameworks

Ruby on Rails 5, Django, Ruby on Rails (RoR)

Paradigms

Agile Software Development, Testing, Management

Platforms

Azure

Storage

Azure SQL, MySQL

Other

Large-scale Computing, Optimization, Team Leadership, Data Science, Scientific Computing, Linear Regression, Operations Research, Machine Learning, Neural Networks, Change Leadership, CTO, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Chatbots, Regression, Data Visualization

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