What does mechanical engineering have to do with data science? →

On Signal vs. Noise:

I have a degree in mechanical engineering from a good school, but I’ve never worked a day in my life as an engineer. Instead, I’ve dedicated my career to “data science” — I help people solve business problems using data. Despite never working as a mechanical engineer, that education dramatically shapes how I do my job today.
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People sometimes ask me if I feel like I wasted my time in college by not studying statistics or computer science since the career I’ve ended up in is more closely aligned to those. My answer is a categorical “no” — I can’t imagine a better education to prepare me for data science.

Three charts are all I need →

On Signal vs. Noise:

The last few years have seen an explosion in new ways of visualizing data. There are new classes, consultants, startups, and competitions. Some of these new and more “daring” visualizations are great. Some are not so great – many “infographics” are more like infauxgraphics.

In everyday business intelligence (the “real world”), the focus isn’t on visualizing information, it’s on solving problems, and I’ve found that upwards of 95% of problems can be addressed using one of three visualizations.