From reading C++ and survey sampling books on the holidays, to building apps in our spare time, we are passionate about applying maths to solve real-world problems.
But working at Symbolix requires more than that. A solution is not a solution unless it is tuned to our client's needs, and delivers on their definition of 'best fit', not ours. We are a small core team (with a trusted partner network) who continually challenge each other to better analysis and clear communication: each job will be better than the one before.
Meet our staff
Elizabeth Stark
Managing Director & Systems Engineer
Elizabeth is the Managing Director and head of Data Science Products at Symbolix. She keeps the team productive and works with clients to translate their business, transport or ecological needs into functioning data science solutions in a realistic time frame and budget.
It takes a special type of terrifying to corral the cats of data science and management into an orderly production of insights. Elizabeth is formally an applied mathematician, a certified scrum master, certified product owner and has over a decade’s experience communicating complex systems to policy makers, stakeholders and the general public. Her ecological work has seen her recognised as a Fellow of the Environment Institute of Australia & NZ. She may also hold National Titles in whip-cracking. But we don't know for certain and, at this stage, are too afraid to ask.
Stuart Muir
Director & Applied Mathematician
Stuart (known as Stu around the office) founded Symbolix and is head of Analysis Services. He started his career simulating high-energy fluid flows around black holes but now focuses on everything from automated clustering analytics on multi-million row data sets, down to survey designs for thousands of households or few hundred people (or even a few dozen rare animals). Given the complexity of data and number of factors in play in modern transport and ecological problems, the phrase "I think we need to talk to Stu." is regularly heard from staff and clients alike.
If it can be solved with some combination of maths, programming and pizzazz, Stu will design a solution. If it involves Fortran or high-speed analytics, he might even whistle happily as he does it.
David Cooley
Lead Developer
Dave is our Lead Developer. If you have interacted with Symbolix on Stackoverflow or github, you’ve probably already met him.
He is currently wrangling data visualisations, mapping tools, android and IOS apps, or frowning quizzically at the symbols Stu just asked him to code. The onerous task of converting the symbols from Alex and Stuart's desks into lightning-fast applications and dashboards falls on Dave. He has a lot to deal with which is why he is on the forums so often.
Alex Jackson
Consulting Statistician
With a degree in Statistics, Alex has over nearly a decade’s of statistical consulting, design, and analysis in diverse fields, including transport surveys, ecological management, and synthetic populations. From tiny ecological Excel sheets, to complex survey-weighted data, to official statistics and big machine data, he’s seen it all (just no data as a blurry .png, please).
You’ll find Alex constantly snacking to fuel his hair growth, and to keep the neurons firing as he solves whatever complex statistical problem you’ve put on his desk. Occasionally, out of the goodness of his heart, he will answer your questions on generalised linear mixed models on Cross Validated.
Sahinya Akila
Analyst Programmer
Meet Sahinya, an Analyst Programmer with a professional penchant for precision and a secret life on the dance floor. With expertise spanning household travel surveys, spatial data analysis, wind farm collision risk modelling, and agent-based transport simulations, she excels in transforming data into valuable insights.
When the workday ends, she trades data points for dance moves, seeking rhythm and inspiration in the art of movement. From creating data dashboards to managing end-to-end data pipelines, she brings that same dedication and creativity to the analytical and dance worlds.
Julia Ryeland
Ecological Statistician
One fateful day in mid 2022, Julia crashed through the doors of the Symbolix office, brandishing a slide deck filled with statistical models. She handcuffed Alex and Elizabeth to their chairs and forced them to listen while she waxed eloquent on her ecological modelling experience. Obviously, she was hired on the spot.
Now, she works as our ecological statistician. With over eight years of experience in the environmental sector, including a PhD in Emu Wrangling (don’t ask), she is capable of leading ecological projects in at all stages - survey design, field work, data collection and analysis, and reporting. She is also a full-time dog mum to our gorgeous pupperino, Chibi.
Ray Shao
Analyst Programmer
Ray is our go-to maestro for orchestrating lightning-fast code. He doesn't just write code; he engineers it for speed and efficiency, ensuring our applications run seamlessly in the cloud. Need a web-app tweaked or an (R-)shiny new feature added? Ray's your guy! With a love of VSCode and an eye on security, Ray navigates the AWS clouds, infusing web apps and dashboards with a touch of technical finesse. When our arrays are in disarray, we call on Ray to rearrange them.
Despite his distaste for Melbourne's cold winter, Ray brings warm-heartedness to our tech world. He's not just a coding expert; he's a tandem bike enthusiast, pedalling through life with his better half. If you're in search of help to make your codes run faster than you can say "parallel processing," Ray is your friendly neighbourhood Programmer. Just don't bring up the weather!
George
Chief Disruption Officer
When the daily grind starts to feel heavy, our four-legged team member George steps in to remind us that sometimes, a little canine companionship is all you need to turn a challenging day into a brighter one.
Chibi
Wellness Wooficer
With an unwavering commitment to providing comfort and joy, our Wellness Wooficer Chibi is here to lend a paw, offer those much-needed snuggles, and make every workday a little more 'pawsome.'
And …..?
We are not currently hiring but always happy to talk. Do you have a mix of programming and maths skills? Get in touch