CCNY Graduate Joseph Winter

Joseph Winter graduated from CCNY in 2019 with a M.S. in mathematics. He is now working as a data scientist with Moat!

Hear about it from Joseph himself!

I completed the Master’s program in the CCNY Department of Mathematics in the spring of 2019. After graduation, I did research with Professor Christian Wolf over the summer, where I honed some computer programming skills as a resident at the Recurse Center in the early fall, and then found a job as a Data Scientist at Moat.

Moat primarily does measurement and analytics for online/digital advertising. My specific team is research oriented: we try to discover and implement new methods for detecting ‘invalid traffic’ (which includes both benign bots and active fraud operations). A lot of the math that I make use of as a data science is statistics (ironically, a course I never took at CCNY!), but I think the range of graduate-level work in mathematics gave me the confidence to approach difficult technical questions.

Math in ad-tech is certainly not always the most sophisticated, but I think my research experience and coursework at City allows me to tackle more interesting problems and understand the tools of data science more deeply, ultimately making me better at my job. There a quite a few math people on my team at work: we read and share mathematical papers on a regular basis. One of my projects currently involves reconstructing continuous gestures made by mobile devices from discrete data, a project where I’ve applied both algebra (group theory) and analysis. I feel luck that even working in industry, I found a place where I can explore open-ended questions.

I came to CCNY more than decade after I finished my previous degrees in Art. In 2016/17, I took a few semesters of calculus along with linear algebra at Laguardia Community College, and all of a sudden I found myself in a mathematics graduate program! I love that the CCNY gives people from unconventional backgrounds a chance to dive into math. The affordability and evening-centric course schedule of the MS program are only outshined by its talented faculty. After spending a few weeks in a classroom with Professors Zajj Daugherty and Christian Wolf (with whom I worked for 2 and 4 semesters, respectively), I knew I was in the exact right place. Thank you for your wisdom, guidance, and encouragement.

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