Our department is thrilled to be welcoming two new faculty colleagues: Katie Burak and G. Alexi Rodríguez-Arelis.
Both Katie and Alexi will begin their roles as an Assistant Professor of Teaching position with a primary focus on the Master of Data Science (MDS) program on July 1, 2023.
Please join us in extending a warm welcome to Alexi and to Katie!
Get to know our new colleagues
Katie Burak
Katie will take up her appointment on July 1, 2023.
Katie earned her B.Sc. in Mathematics from MacEwan University and M.Sc. in Statistics from the University of Calgary. She recently completed her Ph.D. in Statistics at the University of Alberta, where she focused on increasing the computational efficiency of bootstrapping by approaching it using concentration of measure.
During her Ph.D., she developed a passion for statistical outreach and promoting women in data science. She has previously organized a variety of outreach events for her community such as data science workshops and hopes to continue doing so at UBC. Additionally, she is interested in investigating modern pedagogical methods and best teaching practices in the field of data science.
G. Alexi Rodríguez-Arelis
Alexi will begin his role on July 1, 2023.
Alexi received a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering and a Master Degree in Applied Statistics from Tecnológico de Monterrey. After completing his Ph.D. in Statistics at UBC, Alexi continued contributing to the department by teaching as a Postdoctoral Teaching and Learning Fellow, jointly with the UBC Master of Data Science (MDS) program.
Alexi’s academic work is mostly focused on computer experiments that emulate scientific and engineering systems via Gaussian stochastic processes. He has developed modelling reformulations that seek to improve output prediction accuracy while relying on Dimensional Analysis and statistical principles from the first half of the 20th century. He is also incredibly passionate about teaching statistical topics in a Data Science context while approaching real-life data-related projects for social good.