Lesia Tkacz, PhD

Experience

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  Lesia Tkacz Photography

  Jan 2007 - Jan 2015

  Fine Art Photographer

  - Digital, analog & alternative process photography- Specialization in portrait & event photography

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  The Portrait Place

  Oct 2011 - Mar 2013

  Senior Digital Imaging Specialist

  - Restoration, digitization & archiving of analog media- Creative software based projects- Client data management- Office administration

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  Tetem

  Oct 2013 - Sept 2017

  Media Arts Workshop Instructor, Art Gallery Front of House Manager

  - Instructor for media arts educational workshops- Managing weekend personnel and exhibition spaces- Maintaining, promoting, and engaging with TETEM's social media - Creating press releases and translations for the Arts (Dutch to English)- Exhibition photography- Presentations to visitor groups and other public outreach

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  Universiteit van Amsterdam

  Oct 2014 - Aug 2017

  English Linguistics and Literature Board of Studies Member

  - Reviewed and advised on education and university policy- Received training on meeting management

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  English Pronunciation Coach

  Mar 2017 - Feb 2018

  English Language & Pronunciation Coach

  Drawing on my phonological training to teach working professionals English pronunciation.

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  Network Institute VU

  Oct 2017 - Aug 2018

  NLP Researcher

  I work as a Human Language Technology research assistant for the 'Enhancing Quality Assessment Using Perspective Detection' project, funded by the Network Institute. The aim of the project is to develop a web tool which helps users to quickly review collections of web documents based on several information quality dimensions, and textual content.I focus on researching how Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology can be used to detect perspective in controversial texts about health information. Currently, I am experimenting with methods in automatic text summarization, measuring semantic similarity using Word Embedding models, and Textual Entailment with the help of Deep Learning. I am also helping to design a visualization describing the information quality of web documents, which is contextualized by the documents' content and perspective. The visualization and content information are presented to web users through a browser plug-in.http://www.networkinstitute.org/academy-assistants/academy-projects-17/ Show less

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  Southampton Data Science Academy

  Jul 2019 - Oct 2019

  Data Science and AI & ML Course Instructor

  Tutoring working professionals in the finance sector to help them understand and apply core data science concepts and methods in the 'Fundamentals of Data Science' course.Tutoring professionals on the 'Fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Business' course to apply core concepts towards crafting an AI solution business proposal.

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  University of Southampton

  Oct 2019 - Feb 2020

  Python Programming Instructor

  I support engineering students who are learning to program in Python.

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  University of Southampton

  Sept 2020 - Aug 2021

  Mentor for MSc AI Students

  I mentored 10 international students who were enrolled in the MSc AI program. I created and gave presentations on academic skills and industry trends topics in weekly sessions.I designed and ran fun online social activities to boost moral and peer interaction during the isolating pandemic lockdown period.

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  Winchester School of Art

  Feb 2021 - Jan 2022

  - Supervising several MA Global Media Management students through all stages of research, project design, data collection and analysis, and writing up. - Running regular supervision meetings, giving constructive feedback, and supportive motivation.- Marking and evaluating MA dissertations Leading Global Media Management MA student seminar discussions with a focus on qualitative research methods and research study design and planning. This includes ethical concerns, compliance with university policy, and responsible data management. -Working with team members to develop and organize a collaborative design workshop with invited domain experts and students.-Completed the initial stages of designing a physical, interactive chatbot for a gallery setting. - Surveying, documenting, and playtesting a range of consumer, educational and open source products and systems that might offer accessible and hands-on exploration of the workings and possibilities of AI, machine learning and robotics to arts and humanities scholars and students. - Developing AI resources for non-STEM practitioners and theorists. Leading Global Media Management MA student seminar discussions with a focus on industry trends and current debates.

  • Master's Dissertation Research Project Supervisor

    Sept 2021 - Jan 2022

  • Lecturer for Professional and Academic Skills 2

    May 2021 - Sept 2021

  • Researcher for the Chatbots in the Art Gallery Project

    May 2021 - Aug 2021

  • Researcher for the Creative AI Lab Project

    Feb 2021 - Aug 2021

  • Lecturer for Professional and Academic Skills 1

    Feb 2021 - May 2021
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  Winchester School of Art

  Feb 2023 - Sept 2023

  - Communication with design and technical team members to understand user needs and to translate them into technical requirements, while also managing technology performance and technical resources expectations.- Draw on my creative AI and NLP specialist knowledge to collaborate with technical team members to design NLP process pipelines and reframe existing AI methods to pivot into creative, playful product features.- Supporting team member's workflows by creating testing datasets and researching related products to identify and report on emerging design patterns in order to support for the technical developers and UI designer. Show less

  • Teaching Fellow in Games Design and Art and Digital Games Development

    Sept 2022 - Sept 2023

  • Researcher for the Sleepr Collaboration Tool Project

    Feb 2023 - Aug 2023
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  University of Southampton

  Oct 2023 - Apr 2024

  - Collaborating to generate ideas and problem-solve within a cross-functional, interdisciplinary team.- Qualitative analysis from a 20-person, and a 30-person playtesting session, plus focus groups (audio, video, photographs, and physical artifacts created by players), designing and running interviews.- Survey design and quantitative analysis of survey responses and transcribed data- Reporting on results and recommendations on how to improve game play, game app, and player engagement- Collaborating with team members to document playtesting and focus-group study procedure, and discuss and document ethical considerations. Show less

  • Researcher, Empaville Game Development Project

    May 2023 - Apr 2024

  • Interaction Design Workshop Facilitator

    Oct 2023 - Jan 2024

  • Python Programming Instructor

    Oct 2023 - Jan 2024