Tag: Data Analysis
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Analysis to Action: Decision-Making Models
All of us, except for newborns, have to make decisions. When I go to the store, I have to make decisions. As I drive, I have to make decisions. Many of these decisions come naturally; but what if the analysis is more complex? As an engineer, at work, I often have several choices to make…
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Are US Police Trigger Happy?
Recently, I stumbled upon a Washington Post article discussing the statistics of police-involved shootings and fatalities over recent years. The article referenced a comprehensive dataset, which I managed to download before encountering the paywall. This dataset documented all fatal police shootings spanning roughly a decade. While the data extended into 2024, I’ve excluded those entries…
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The Power of Differential Equations: A Backbone of Science and Engineering
Differential equations, mathematical equations that relate a function and its derivatives, are the cornerstone of many scientific and engineering disciplines. They provide a powerful tool for modeling and understanding complex systems, from the laws of physics to the dynamics of biological populations. In physics, differential equations are used to describe the motion of objects, the…
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Mastering XLOOKUP: The Ultimate Lookup Function for Scientists and Engineers
Oftentimes, data is stored in tables and frequently needs to be accessed. Take, for example, this data set (taken from kaggle.com) that lists the refractive indices of glass as a function of the percentage of the various elements present in it. Imagine needing to quickly look up the elements of a glass with a particular…
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Spreadsheets: Common man’s programming tool
I remember sitting in my computer science class about two decades ago and my teacher teaching us how to print “Hello World”. I never became a computer scientist – nor did I become a professional programmer. But I did come to appreciate how useful programming is for most professions. As an experimental Materials Scientist, I…