Project Origins & Background
In the summer of 2019, driven by a desire to enhance my software and data engineering skills, I considered graduate programs, certifications, and boot camps. At the time, I was part of a boutique technology consultancy, a team rich in exceptional engineers who honed their skills through passion projects undertaken during their free time. My personal interests—farming, nature, hiking—along with a desire to serve the local community, led me to embark on an orangutan trekking tour in Northern Sumatra, Indonesia, by the end of 2019.
Inspired by my journey, I collaborated with the owner of the trekking company to invest in a plot of land. Our vision was to establish a farm, provide guest accommodations, and implement data systems that could facilitate insights into effective agricultural practices, thereby benefiting the local Sumatran community and the adjacent Gunung Leuser National Park.
Fast forward to three and a half years later, our project, dubbed "oranguan-stem," has flourished into a thriving orchard that hosts an array of crops including mango, avocado, cinnamon, guava, and other unique species. In addition to the orchard, our premises feature four guest rooms, a full-service restaurant, WiFi connectivity, and a dedicated team that ensures the smooth running of our data systems and prepares for the initiation of drone surveys in early 2024.
My personal investment in this venture—for the land, irrigation controls, roads, electricity, plumbing, WiFi, guest rooms, restaurant, data systems, and other farm maintenance—totals close to $100,000. All revenue generated from the accommodations, restaurant, orchard harvests, and trekking tours is retained by the local Indonesian community. I invite you to support this project by visiting our orchard and booking a trekking tour!
We offer rental accommodations and can arrange for trekking tours in the nearby jungle. We also provide round-the-clock transportation service between Medan airport and our orchard for your convenience.
My professional journey in data began in 2015 with a summer internship and a senior year co-op at a fleet management firm. This experience segued into a full-time role in 2016 at the same company where I worked in various capacities as a Data Analyst, Data Scientist, and Product Manager. After nearly four years, I moved to a consultancy in downtown Chicago to join the Modern Data Practice team for 2+ years. A further transition took me to a Breakthrough Energy Ventures biomaterials manufacturing company, working as a Data Engineer.
From 2018 until now, I've devoted extensive time to data infrastructure implementation for production-grade applications. My focus has been on understanding and developing data infrastructure that is immediate, accessible, scalable, low-cost, and minimizes maintenance. The tools in this field have drastically evolved from 2015 to the present day, and as advanced programming languages, libraries, and even AI applications simplify the intricacies of building data infrastructure, we find ourselves needing more data pioneers to fully leverage its potential.
As we navigate through a technological renaissance, I'm an enthusiastic participant. The rapid progression of technologies may bring about a significant inflection point in the coming years, with potential for either exponential growth or upheaval. I'm an advocate for free, community-driven tools, hence my inclination towards open-source frameworks. With a vast network of data professionals and resources like chatGPT, there's an abundant supply of learning material in this domain. As of 2023, advancements in language models, open-source SDKs, and the sophistication of cloud products have created a plethora of opportunities for data professionals. Despite fears that technological growth will deplete job availability, historical evidence from the past 150 years suggests that technology has instead expanded job opportunities.
I've been involved in a wide range of data projects throughout my career, some starting with no existing data infrastructure, and others involving the modernization of legacy systems. I've been responsible for the evaluation, design, and implementation of high-value data solutions. My professional roles span from Data Analyst and Data Scientist to Product Manager, Consultant, and Data Engineer. I am currently the Manager of Data Science and Engineering at a company specializing in self-service retail technology.
I plan to maintain this repository consistently, using it as a sandbox for testing the technologies we implement in our pipelines on our farm in Sumatra.