Ada Zhang
About Me
I'm Ada, a Data Scientist with a passion for uncovering insights from data and making data-driven decisions. Currently, I work on AI and machine learning solutions for aerospace and air traffic control at NASA. I'm also a calligrapher and classical violinist. Welcome to my personal website!
Why I Chose Data Science
John Tukey (often regarded as the Father of Data Science) once said, “The best thing about being a statistician is that you get to play in everyone's backyard.” This quote resonated deeply with me and was a major reason why I pursued statistics, which naturally led me to data science. Data science is domain-agostic, and I love getting to work in different fields.
Data science is a perfect blend of programming and statistics. In high school, A.P. Statistics was my favorite class. I enjoyed my coding classes in college and the logical problem-solving they required. Data science is the perfect combination of these two subjects, bringing the best of both worlds together.
Also, data science aligns with my personality. I like organization, and data scientists need to organize their data in order to make sense of it. My friends tell me "you're the most organized person I know." I like to make decisions based on data, which is the heart of data science! Also, I like details. Just like a data scientist should validate their results, I naturally double-check everything, ensuring accuracy and reliability in my work.
It’s All in the Name
Ada is a very technical name, for several reasons. Ada Lovelace was the world’s first computer scientist, there's a programming language called Ada, and it rhymes with "data." These connections to artificial intelligence are purely coincidental. When my parents named me, they had no idea I would go into AI!
Ada sounds like the Greek letter eta, η, which is the learning rate in the gradient descent algorithm. I LOVE to learn (as a child, I’d count down the days until school started). There is another, more advanced version of the vanilla gradient descent algorithm, called Adaptive Gradient, or AdaGrad. Instead of a fixed learning rate, the learning rate adjusts, much like people do in real life. I love how machine learning algorithms reflect human learning! There also exists AdaFactor, AdaDelta, AdaBoost, AdaNet, etc.
My Story
In our careers, people often focus exclusively on academic or work experience (which makes sense, given time constraints and the need to assess your direct contribution). Still, our other life experiences, the challenges we face, and those who support us shape who we become and how we work. If you’re interested, I’d like to share the parts of my life that shaped who I am today.
Unlike most other children, I dreaded the start of summer and counted down to the first day of school. I loved going to school daily, always eager to learn. My passion for learning wasn’t my only reason; home was scary and tumultuous. Violence, a difficult divorce, food insecurity, and housing instability made school, the one structured place, a refuge for me. I cherished school and dreaded home.
When I was 7 years old, I became close to my nearly 80-year-old neighbors, Norman and Dorothy. Due to my parents’ inability to care for me, I lived with them on and off for many years. They received no payment and never officially adopted me, but I considered them my grandparents and their family my own.
Their household was the polar opposite of mine: gentle, kind, and loving. Mistakes didn't result in violence, but in understanding and compassion (even after I accidentally flooded their basement). Dorothy taught me to make my bed and bake pies; Norman took me on my first drive. Most importantly, they instilled in me the compassion and kindness that were absent from my parents’ home. They were a light in my life.
In college, life tested me again. I was diagnosed with (another) rare chronic illness that led to countless hospital stays and surgical procedures. One chronic illness is scary enough, but two? It's surely hard for the reader to imagine what this was like. To be honest, it's hard for me to imagine now, because I was so sick that that time in my life was mostly a blur. But what I remember most was the people who took me in, Gerald and Jeanette. Fun fact: Jeanette is Norman and Dorothy’s daughter.
You might wonder why I’m sharing such vulnerable moments from my life. It's for three reasons:
1. A Lifelong Thank You: This story is my lifelong expression of gratitude to Norman, Dorothy, and their family. They were the light that kept me going, and I am profoundly grateful that our paths crossed.
2. The Power of Education: I want to stress that school matters. You never know which class will lead you to a career you deeply love. Everyone thought I would become a professional violinist due to my heavy involvement in music, but my favorite class was A.P. Statistics, which set me on a different path. Your education will be one of your most important tools in life. There are literally peer-reviewed, data-driven studies to back this up.
3. Guidance and Support: Whether it’s navigating higher education as a First-Generation, Low-Income (FGLI) student or balancing coursework while managing chronic health conditions, I know how overwhelming it can feel to keep going when the odds are stacked against you. If you happen to be on a difficult path, please reach out.