Peter Nolan, PhD

Data Scientist

Lowe's•  September 2019 - Present

• Maintaining a core forecasting application–written in Bash, SQL and Python–for predicting weekly sales. • Leading the development of a custom forecast application–written in SQL and Python–for internal business partners. • Developed new python based error reporting software to evaluate weekly sales predictions. • Generated a representative sampling of item-locations to accelerate forecast evaluation. • Explored the effects of various weather features on sales forecast accuracy. • Assisted in the development of new python classes to evaluate forecaster performance.

Applied Mathematics Research Assistant

Virginia Tech•  August 2015 - September 2019

• Formulated a novel algorithm to approximate the gradient of a scalar field from measurements along a fixed-wing unnamed aircraft system’s flight path and a Python based binary classifier for detecting atmospheric transport structures, yielding 1 first author journal paper. • Constructed a new mathematical diagnostic based on tensor invariants to predict material transport in fluid flows–such as smoke in the atmosphere or oil in the ocean–along with Python software for its implementation, yielding 1 first author journal paper. • Developed and applied a methodology to utilize sparse data from unnamed aircraft systems’ measurements in order to analyze atmospheric dynamics and predict material transport, yielding 1 first author journal paper. • Wrote code in Python and Matlab to de-noise scalar fields using convolution filtering with Gaussian kernels and then extract features from resultant images, contributing to 5 projects. • Participated in research projects in: data-driven reduced order modeling, prediction of material transport in geophysical flows, and dynamical systems theory, contributing to 4 journal papers. • Organized and lead bi-weekly lab group meetings, ensuring all lab members were up-to-date on each other’s latest research. • Presented findings at 3 professional conferences. • Mentored 1 undergraduate researcher.

CFD Research Assistant

Montclair State University•  October 2013 - May 2015

• Built physics based computer models in COMSOL Multi-Physics to simulate fluid flow around a bio-inspired body with flexible appendages, yielding 1 primary author journal paper. • Simulated fluid structure interactions in collaboration with other researchers, contributing to 1 journal paper. • Discussed findings at an academic symposium. • Mentored 2 undergraduate researchers.

Developer, Web and Database

LiveTechnology Holdings, Inc.•  June 2013 - November 2014

• Developed dozens of classes for the LivePlatform web-based data management system. • Debugged scores of web pages and server functions. • Trained 3 new developers in the use of company software. • Assisted in the management an object oriented commercial database.

Help Desk Technician

Flextronics•  October 2010 - September 2011

• Conducted in-store troubleshooting, fixing and updating of cell phones, wireless routers, USB modems and tablet computers for Verizon Wireless. • Administered training sessions on proper usage of equipment and network capabilities.