Guy Duer

How did you find your current job?
I applied the old school way on Airbnb’s website. So old-fashioned, I know! Actually, the job I was first hired for was a 6-month contract to support a specific spatial analytics project. Thankfully, once the 6 months were over, my manager brought me on as a full time data scientist.

What kind of work are you doing?
Currently I am a data scientist on Samara (Airbnb’s design studio). This means that I work within a product team and use Airbnb’s data (and external geospatial data) to find insights, recommend business actions, quantify the impact of alternative decisions, and create tools that help my business partners gain a data-driven understanding of the world.

What attracted you to the firm or job?
Samara is part of Airbnb’s R&D wing so it’s all about experimental work that dreams big. Our mission is to reimagine the future of the home and of cities. I was really attracted to this ambitious nature of the work and our ability to take risks and think out of the box. Additionally, Airbnb has amazing data science talent and I was excited by the opportunity to learn from the best people in the industry.

How did your education at PennDesign prepare you for your current tasks?
MUSA gave me the foundation for doing analytics and spatial data science. The focus on spatial techniques that I gained in the program is something that helped me differentiate myself and my skill set. Aside from the technical skills I learned in the program, I think the domain knowledge in real estate, policy, and economics that I have learned has been extremely helpful in my current role. Having an understanding of the research domain, and being able to effectively communicate the significance of your findings to business partners, is equally as important as technical data science skills in my opinion.

Are there specific courses and instructors that influenced you philosophically?
Two Professors come to mind - Dana Tomlin and Susan Wachter. I learned so much from Dana about how to approach problems and break them down into manageable pieces. Dana has a lot of passion for cool spatial puzzles and his energy definitely rubbed off on me! Susan Wachter’s real estate class was one of the most interesting classes I have ever taken! It taught me so much about cities and the economic forces that shape them. Her class totally changed the way I look at cities.

Any top moment(s) of your education here?
Working with the City of Louisville for my MUSA capstone was definitely a highlight! It was really exciting (and nerve-wrecking) to have a real client who has a stake in your work. Aside from academic highlights, one of my favorite memories is participating in Penn’s Hackathon (PennApps). It was a really fun and rewarding experience and the project I worked on helped me get my job at Airbnb.

What’s next?
Currently my plan is to continue learning and improving my skill set as a data scientist through my work. There’s so much to learn and the field is always changing.

Are you keeping in touch with others from your class/the Penn community?
I do keep in touch with my close friends from the program. Sadly, after the program, everyone ended up in opposite corners of the country. The program is so short and saying goodbye after a year is one of the hardest parts!

Any words of advice for prospective students?
My only advice to prospective MUSA students would be to remember that the program is short and intensive. To make the most of it you’ll need to be ready to work hard, be very focused, and make use of all the resources that Penn has to offer. If you do, you’ll learn a ton and build an amazing skill-set!