Imagine the following scenario. You’ve made it halfway through your bachelor’s degree. You are confident you chose the right major; you have joined a few clubs, attended your first college football game, and expanded your circle of friends. It is now time to adopt a specialization – a task that may seem daunting at first but could help significantly in shaping your future profession.
This was the case for Peter Tea, a uOttawa alumnus who earned his Bachelor of Science in 2019 with a specialization in Biostatistics. Currently, he is a Data Scientist at SportsMEDIA Technology where he carries out statistics analyses for sports broadcasts. More specifically, he determines which statistics would be the most relevant and compelling to display on the TV broadcast, such as the tennis players’ areas of success and development. According to Peter, “It was during my specialization that I was exposed to statistical methods and programming techniques that I use in my current job”. His undergraduate honours thesis with Professor Kelly Burkett played a key role in sculpting his successful career.
The objective of Peter’s honours project was to develop an approach to summarize genetic information, to determine whether there were genetic signals present in individuals with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a rare gastrointestinal disorder. He utilized biostatistical and programming techniques to condense the genetic biomarker information for IBS down to a manageable size. This research is central in identifying genetic risk factors for disease in order to develop more accurate methods to detect and diagnose rare diseases.
Peter further pursued statistical studies through a master’s degree at Simon Fraser University, where his research used statistics to predict tennis players’ movements and behaviour on the court. Ultimately, he was able to predict their actions with about 70% accuracy. Peter’s findings revealed that some of the best tennis players, such as Roger Federer, were more unpredictable than others. This work allows a better comprehension of players’ styles, which could lead to stronger strategies to face their opponents. Additionally, these findings could have great impact on the entertainment industry by enhancing tennis broadcasting and people’s understanding of the game.
Peter is grateful for the support of his supervisors, including Profs. Kelly Burkett, Termeh Kousha and Natalie Goto. He urges students to focus on the process of learning and enjoying their university courses, rather than overly fixating on the end goal.
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