Meet the Team
We have asked the members of the Intellegens team a few questions so that you can get to know them better. Here, we introduce Alexis Drakopoulos.
1. What is your position at Intellegens and what does your role entail?
I’m a research engineer working primarily on solving client problems through the use of the Alchemite API and custom internal tooling. I also work on ML system design, as well as all things ML such as the model interpretability and optimisation-based problems that we face. Since Intellegens is a relatively small company I get to contribute to various problems or implement ideas across the company, such as creating videos showcasing Alchemite features and onboarding clients.
2. What is your favourite part about working at Intellegens?
The flexibility to work on various internal problems and use my skills in creative ways, which is always encouraged. I enjoy working in startups due to faster-paced environments and feeling like my work is having a significant impact to the performance and direction of the company.
3. What is your career/education background?
My BSc was a joint degree in Mathematics & Physics at the University of Strathclyde, however during my first internship at RCaH, which focused on additive manufacturing experiments, I met a very talented engineer who was a wizz at programming and using keybindings. I instantly grew more interested in programming and pursued it more during my final years of my BSc through two internships and my thesis. I then undertook an MSc in Computational Applied Mathematics at Edinburgh which gave me a growing exposure to statistical learning, numerical linear algebra, probabilistic programming and convex optimisation. Joining Intellegens was an obvious choice due to allowing me to further develop my engineering skills, whilst using my mathematical background to solve high-impact problems.
4. What is something that you think makes Intellegens stand out from other companies?
Due, in part, to our talented head of platform, Robert, Intellegens has managed to keep engineering standards high with extensive code reviews, use of CI/CD, structured software release cycles, IaC and more. Working in such an environment is more productive and allows engineers to focus on solving problems rather than getting bogged down in technical debt or integration issues.I also enjoy the openness and communication from leadership ranging from bi-weekly discussions on project priorities as well as long-term internal goals.
5. What does a perfect day look like to you?
Discussing a new paper or tool with friends, closing a difficult pull request (and receiving praise for it), helping a friend with an interesting bug, painting some tabletop miniatures, and finally no day is perfect without a good latte with locally roasted beans.
