Profile
Dmitry Dereshev
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About Me:
I grew up in Siberia, and moved through Ireland to the UK, being an international student for almost a decade! I like videogames 🎮, music 🎶, and powerlifting 💪.
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I became an international student at 13. I finished primary and most of secondary school in Siberia, with my high school days spent in Ireland. I moved to the UK for the university, completing both Bachelors in Maths and a PhD in Computer Science.
I’ve been interested in gaming since about 5 when I got my first videogame console. My passion for videogames steadily developed into interest in broader digital technologies. As a pupil, I was super-interested in science, technology, and everything computers (and being a bit bored with the slow pace and passivity of school lessons). I am still gaming in my spare time, preferring deep and atmospheric games; some of my favourites include Dark Souls, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Deus Ex, and Cyberpunk 2077.
Powerlifting is my preferred physical activity, though I only started doing it in late 20s. Before that, I’ve tried numerous sports from football and volleyball to martial arts and fencing (even got an award for that last one 🏅).
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My pronouns are:
He/Him.
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My Work:
I use maths 🔢📈 and programming 💻 to help universities 🎓 figure out what students like you want to study and where! 🤔
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Universities have a hard job balancing what they want to teach, what cool students like you (⌐■_■) want to study, and what will give you an excellent start for a fulfilling career. They often need to figure this out a few years in advance to write up the lectures, get the kit, talk to employers, and many other things.
Universities talk to UCAS data experts like me, who have deep knowledge of how higher education works, and who’s likely to study what and where, given the previous students’ choices. For example, a university may want to know how many students it might get if it were to offer a videogames development course, where those students would come from, want kind of grades they would have, etc.
It’s my job to use the latest in analytics, data science, and statistics to come up with an answer to whatever it is that universities want to know. Because each university is unique, I often have to invent and adapt new analytical methods or ways to look at data to answer questions in a way that’s relevant to them.
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My Typical Day:
I work from home, and my day starts with a balanced breakfast and a home-made mocha. My work happens on the internet with colleagues and clients based all around the UK. Once my work is done for the day, I head to the gym to lift heavy weights 🏋️ and let my mind rest 😊
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Figuring out who may study what and in which uni is pretty hard – everyone is free to choose what they want and even change their mind half way through the application process! So UCAS has a data consultancy team, which I am part of, whose job it is to use and invent some clever maths and stats, and work with unis to help them figure that out, sometimes years in advance!
Since UCAS is a charity, you can find some of what we do online for free. Every year, for example, we publish how many students choose to study what kind of subjects; in 2023, more students are interested in computing and law, but fewer in nursing and teaching. This was different last year, when a lot more studens went into nursing. Next year, some other subjects may become popular.
Working as a data consultant at UCAS will have you use vast amounts of information, work with programming languages, and create inspiring visuals, with all of that work helping students in the future to pick the right subject and university for them!
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Education:
2016-2019 Northumbria Uni (UK) – if you want a PhD, innovation is a requirement – literally! A PhD in computer science turned me into a true scientist with the ability to learn fast and check that what I learn is true. I also developed my own experiments, and wrote about them in scientific journals!
2011-2015 Greenwich Uni (UK) – a Bachelors degree in pure Maths made me love numbers ٩(^ᴗ^)۶, even though I did not like the subject at school (¬､¬). University-grade maths just hits different.
2009-2011 Wilson Hospital School (Ireland) – my first long-term stay as an international student really tested my ability to adapt and perform: I couldn’t even understand what people were saying during my first year there due to language barrier! Yet, I was expected to perform just as well at school as any local student, nay, better than that, since my stay there depended on my academic performance.
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Qualifications:
Things move fast in technology, and I need to stay on top with developing and certifying new skills!
2023 AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate – solutions architects figure out how to use digital technologies for apps to run fast, and for websites to stay up even when lots of people visit them at the same time!
2023 Certified Professional in Python Programming – Python is one of the most popular programming languages out there. It is easy to learn, and is used in games and artificial intelligence!
2021 CompTIA Network Security Professional – Security+, CySA+, PenTest+ – Network Security is all about hacking and defending computers, phones, and other devices from hackers.
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Work History:
2021 Associate Research Consultant (Software Ethics) – this was an interesting project figuring out what makes software ethical, and what ethics even means when it comes to the computer programmes that you use!
2019-2021 Research Associate for SPRITE+ (Cybersecurity, Data Science, Digital Media) – ever since watching The Matrix (1999), I had a dream to be able to hack computers. With this job that dream came true and then some! I have interviewed dozens of people in this line of work, and built social media presence for a nation-wide project!
2016-2019 Doctoral Researcher (Academic Research, International Collaboration) – the cyberpunk culture of 2000s hit me hard, and with the rise of artificial intelligence in early 2010s, I was keen to work with robots. Combining that with the then-new Amazon Alexa and Google Home, together with some connections in Japan I was able to turn my curiousity into a worthwhile scientific project!
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Employer:
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) – UCAS is where you go to if you want to get into a UK university or get an apprenticeship.
It is also a place where universities and employers go to find out what prospective students/apprentices want, where they are, and how to attract the most suitable applicants to the most suitable places.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Kind, Smart, Inquisitive
What did you want to be after you left school?
Mathematician, musician, or auditor. Honestly, I didn't think about careers much until late uni. I did not share the "education is just a means to get a job" attitude, so I did my degree as a curiosity, which happened to pay off well.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Once. I was careful not to get caught all the other times (-‿◦)
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
If I could choose anything at all, I'd probably go into videogame artificial intelligence development - skills are similar to what I do now.
Who is your favourite singer or band?
With my love for drone and ambience, I'd say it's MooZe (who composed soundtrack to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.) and Mark Morgan (who composed soundtrack to early Fallout games).
What's your favourite food?
I like variety in my food, so if I had it my way, the week would go like: Monday - Mediterranean fish mezze; Tuesday - Chinese takeaway; Wednesday - something from Eastern European kitchen; Thursday - stakehouse; Friday - Japanese sushi, or ramen; Saturday - pizza; Sunday - Greek gyros with some baklava for dessert ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡ – ✧)
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1. To know all that is knowable. 2. To achieve full mastery over mind and body. 3. To live a life I'd wish to relive 1000 times.
Tell us a joke.
Humour is not my strong suit (ᴗ ͜ʖ ᴗ)
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