Richard Podkolinski
Data Scientist // Visual Designer // Developer
Profile
Highly adaptive analyst, designer and developer. Adept at interacting with complex unstructured data for the production of analytical products, interactive visualizations and infographics. Capable of training non-technical individuals in visual communication best-practices.
Skills
Analysis
- Administered research & analytical projects on a wide range of political and scientific topics.
- Developed innovative research methods for analysis in digital environments.
- Connected technical analysts with non-technical administrators and content producers.
- Employed a diverse set of analytical tools including, statistics, text mining, systems dynamics modelling and survey analysis.
Design
- Directed a company-wide design process from project concept to final output.
- Developed infographics & online interactive visualizations in support of projects.
- Taught theoretical and practical perspectives on visual communication.
- Designed branding, promotional material, reports, magazines and books for external publication.
Data
- Assembled databases from online data for analytical projects.
- Created tailored text mining and data analysis software for research purposes.
- Developed information extraction methods for dealing with large quantities of qualitative data.
- Developed dynamic websites in support of projects and to communicate with external partners.
Experience
NetSociety
Data Scientist
The development of analytical methods for dealing with 'big data'.
- Collecting open-source tools to allow for input, manipulation, exploration, modeling and interpretation of online marketing data.
- The creation of time-series forecasting models.
- Development of probablistic models for customer exploration and stratification.
- Reverse engineering and upgrading bid management solutions.
Dev-Elements
Freelance Designer & Developer
Met the needs of social scientists requiring access to design and/or development skills. This included the creation of interactive data visualizations, the development of tools that facilitate or automate open-source research and data mining as well as more traditional design activities.
Universiteit van Amsterdam
Instructor of Visual Communication
Developed and executed a course on visual communication specifically aimed at PhD’s in social science. The course covered three primary areas:
- data management of quantitative and qualitative information;
- design and cognitive theory for effective communication;
- summary of the existing tools for visualization.
The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies
Policy Analyst
Produced analysis for the NATO, the EU, Various Dutch Ministries, large corporations and private clients.
Directed the company-wide visual design process, assisting analysts with resources and developing infographics and visualizations.
Contributed to foresight studies on the security implications of technological and scientific trends.
Administrated broad multinational collaborative projects.
Technical
Programming
- R
- Python (Pandas)
- Ruby
- jQuery
- Javascript
- Processing
Design
- HTML5/CSS3
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Flash
- Adobe Flash Catalyst
Administration
- Windows/Linux/Mac
- Microsoft Office
- Adobe Acrobat
- Wordpress CMS
- MySQL & SQLite3
- Version Control (Git)
Publications
Digital Presentations
- Scarcity of Minerals, HCSS Reports,
- Military Operations That Are War, Leiden University,
Author
- Scarcity of Minerals - A strategic security issue, HCSS Reports,
- Defense Against Terrorism Programme of Work, HCSS Reports,
- New Horizons, HCSS Reports,
- Future Issue Scarcity, HCSS Reports,
Designer
- Korteweg, Rem, The Superpower, the Bridge-Builder and the Hesitant Ally
How Defense Transformation Divided NATO, Leiden University Press, - The Maritime Future of the Indian Ocean, HCSS Reports,
- Strong in the 21st Century, HCSS Reports,
- Future Issue The Arctic, HCSS Reports,
- Future Issue Economic Crises, HCSS Reports,
- Future Issue Biometrics, HCSS Reports,
- Knowledge Investment Quote, HCSS Reports,
- Closing the Loop, HCSS Reports,
- New Horizons, HCSS Reports,
Education
Universiteit Leiden & Clingendael Institute
MA, International Relations & Diplomacy
Graduated Cum Laude from a joint program between the Netherlands Institute for International Relations Clingendael and Leiden University.
Completed a comprehensive data analysis and interactive presentation on the effectiveness of American counterinsurgency operations in Iraq.
University of Calgary
BA/BA, Political Science & Sociology
Dual Major, Political Science concentrated in International Relations, Sociology concentrated in Structured Inequalities.
Recommended
I have worked with Richard both as a colleague and as a customer. Throughout the course of several projects, whether it involved designing graphs, compiling and synthesizing large amounts of data, or building visualizations, from start to finish Richard’s work has been characterized by a commitment to quality and detail. His dedication to finding new, smarter and more insightful ways to make sense out of large amounts of unstructured data is truly impressive. He has a strong ability to visualize data quickly, clearly and convincingly. In addition I have come to know him as a person who is passionate about his work, who combines the valuable qualities of understanding the dynamics of contemporary international affairs as well as having in-depth IT-skills, and has demonstrated a continuous commitment to learning. Besides, he’s a very entertaining and pleasant individual.
Richard is the perfect example of how one should not judge a book by its cover. On the outside Richard may appear to be odd, even aloof. But don’t be fooled. Richard is exceptionally intelligent and possesses an infinite desire to learn and overcome challenges. His creativity and ability to process complex data into coherent, easy to read, visually attractive models is superb.
Richard is an exceptionally creative designer and always meticulous in his preparation. In any project he engages in, he brings a great eye for detail and thinks through what the specific requirements are for the data. This I already knew from our previous working relationship at HCSS.
To the course on Visual Communication at the UVA Richard designed (and I organized) he brought a great deal of knowledge on esthetics, data management, software and especially on discarding the extraneous to get to the core of the message.
Richard is an exceptional thinker and incredibly creative mind. Like few others Richard is able to make juggle data and make complex relationships visibly attractive and easy to understand. Dedicated and determined, Richard is never afraid to walk the extra mile! Would definitely work with him in the future again.
Over the past eight months, I have tasked Richard with a wide-variety of design projects. At every turn, Richard surpassed my expectations. Richard’s combination of raw talent, passion for design, and tremendous pride in his work drove him to deliver the highest quality results. In addition to his production contributions, Richard also proved quite invaluable in the concept development process, relating technical design concepts in an easily understood manner. He challenged me to move beyond “pretty picture” requests and come up with ideas that conveyed my desired message on multiple levels.