Francesca Valsecchi
Data Scientist
Title: My Transition from Academia to Industry: Discovering a Passion for Startups
Abstract:
I spent 3 years on the academic job market before getting hard-to-refuse postdoc offers. During that time, I discovered data science, a career where I could use my research skills to tackle diverse problems with immediate impact. In this talk, I'll share my path from academia to data science in consulting, design, and climate tech, where I discovered that startups are where I thrive. Startup work lets me experience the full scope of my craft, moving beyond data wrangling to help teams deliver the right information to users, when they need it, in language they understand. I'll walk through my typical day and dive into Lineup, a venture design project where we built a restaurant forecasting tool through research, prototyping, and launching, as well as a COVID plot twist. You'll hear how I prepared for the transition, what academia equipped me for, and what I love about startups: the scrappiness, the fast pace, the collaboration, and teams that value both excellent work and creative play. I'll close with practical takeaways for your own career exploration.
Bio:
Francesca earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics and Astronomy from Northwestern University, where she developed computational models to study compact objects, tidal dynamics, and planetary systems. As a data scientist, she has worked across healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and sustainability, learning from and collaborating with designers, engineers, and clients on a variety of projects. Her experience spans developing fraud detection and entity resolution models, designing and launching digital ventures for diabetes management and restaurant labor forecasting, and building carbon footprint measurement tools. Francesca is passionate about building human-centered, end-to-end solutions from ideation through launch. Outside of work, she loves triathlon, cooking, and eating gelato.
William Vercellone
(847) 491-8646
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