Notes:

• In this role I am part of a small team that works on data and analytics problems. The team is focused on exploration projects which study the potential application of emerging AI and ML technologies to the field of flight operations. 

• Please note carefully: technically, ML Developer is my position title, but in practice I am a data analyst. I analyze datasets that are used to train ML models, and I help interpret the results which these models generate. The data analysis supports the ML engineers who don't necessarily have an extensive aviation background. 

• I use Python to analyze datasets, usually writing Jupyter notebooks. Most of the analysis can be done with pandas, and visualizations with plotly. 

• Topics I have worked on recently:

  • • (1) Information extraction from NOTAMs 

    • (2) Analysis of planned vs. actual flight paths 

    • (3) Anomaly detection in Quick Access Recorder (QAR) data from flights 

Notes:

• In 2020, due to a growing team size, the roles were split into Junior and Senior; please see the job description in the entry below.

Notes:

• In this role I worked on a product called AODB, which stands for Airport Obstacle Database. 

• The AODB contains airport, runway and obstacle data that pilots use for takeoff performance calculations prior to each flight. Each runway in the database has an "escape route", which is a navigation procedure to be used in the event of an engine failure or shutdown on takeoff after V1. Terrain and obstacles along this path are evaluated, and critical ones are linked to the escape route in the database. 

• The performance engineers are responsible for two things:

  • (a) maintaining all the data on a periodic schedule (the data slowly evolves over time)

  • (b) creating or modifying the escape routes, a process which often requires collaboration with end-users (airlines) for validation with performance tools like PEP, and pilot evaluations in simulators

• From 2017 to 2021 I built a set of three Python tools from prototype to production, to support the AODB work processes: 

1. Pathfinder: A route plotting and obstacle measurement tool. Escape routes are drawn on the WGS-84 ellipsoid, with FAA- or ICAO-based obstacle protection envelopes, plus wingspan customizations. Pathfinder performs obstacle and terrain detection and measurement within the protection envelopes, for datasets of up to 1 million obstacles. The terrain comes from the SRTM digital elevation model. 

2. GROAN (Great Reducer Of Annoying NOTAMs): A tool that uses Regular Expressions (regex) to parse out obstacle geocoordinates from NOTAMs, so that analysts can have a visual image to work with

3. APT Miner: A tool to generate AIRAC change reports for the American region of the AODB, using digital data sets from the FAA

Notes:

• In this position I worked as a flight dispatcher for a flight school. I worked in the Oshawa branch called Canadian Flight Academy; the parent company was called Toronto Airways. 

• The main tasks were:

  • flight scheduling and flight following

  • fueling

  • deicing 

  • maintenance tracking and bookkeeping 

  • moving planes in and out of the hangar for overnight storage 

Notes:

• In this position I worked as an aircraft refueler and became very good at parallel parking next to expensive airplanes

• The smallest plane I refueled was a Beechcraft 1900D and the biggest was a Boeing 747

• The biggest truck I drove carried about 20,000 L of jet fuel, but most of the time I drove a smaller fuel hydrant truck which could connect to the underground fuel pipes on the apron 

Notes: 

• The main jobs I did were:

• • Aircraft turnarounds: loading and unloading cargo; water and electrical service

  • Wing walking and some marshalling 

  • Pushback: I would usually do the towbar disconnection and bypass pin removal

  • Tug driving: I would sometimes relocate small tugs from one terminal to the other, but did not stay long enough to get trained for pushback

Short courses I have taken, sorted by most recent:

ICAO Enroute and Terminal PBN and FAA/EASA PBN Approaches

• Training provider: FlightSafety International

• Issued Jan 2021

Chambéry (LFLB) Special Airport Familiarization

• Training provider: FlightSafety International

• Issued Jan 2021

London City (EGLC) Special Airport Familiarization

• Training provider: FlightSafety International

• Issued Jan 2021

Innsbruck (LOWI) Special Airport Familiarization

• Training provider: FlightSafety International

• Issued Jan 2021

Performance-Based Navigation Overview

• Training provider: International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

• Issued Jan 2020

Performances jets appliquées

• Training provider: Centre Québécois De Formation Aéronautique (CQFA)

• Issued Jan 2020

Runway Analysis

• Training provider: FlightSafety International

• Issued Jan 2020

Notes:

• I play in the 2nd violin section in the CSO, a semi-professional orchestra in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. By semi-professional I mean the orchestra has a mix of professional and non-professional musicians. The orchestra plays about one concert per month, minus a summer break, and plays a mix of classical and pop concerts.

Favorite performances:

• Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 with soloist Janina Fialkowska – March 23, 2025

• Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 2 with soloist Cameron Grozman – October 26, 2024 

• J. S. Bach: Double Violin Concerto with soloists Joy Schuster and Kristi Coleman-Dorland – October 27, 2024

• Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 with soloist Ken Gee – October 21, 2023