David Hardtke, B.S. 1994

ML Engineer, Curated – San Francisco, CA

1994 Major: Physics; certificate in Canadian Studies

How has being a Physics graduate from Duke helped shape you personally and/or professionally?

"Honestly, it was the non physics curriculum at Duke that helped me most throughout my career, both as a research physicist for 15 years after graduation and my subsequent career as a Silicon Valley data scientist/ML Engineer. Duke taught me to write well, and that has helped me write both scientific papers and also to communicate my ideas in the startup and corporate world. I was sufficiently prepared at Duke for the rigors of a Physics Ph.D. program, but felt I had a leg up in the communications area."

What advice would you give students in Duke's Physics programs? 

"Getting a Ph.D. in physics from Ohio State after Duke and then spending 10+ years as a research physicist is something I look back on with great fondness. I enjoyed physics research and particularly the thrill of finishing a paper and seeing it through the referee process. I still get a thrill to see my papers cited to this day. So, if you love physics and/or science in general it is a wonderful career and don't necessary be tempted by the dark side (becoming a software engineer or similar) until you've played that out. When I did start working in Silicon Valley, I was well prepared, but also was missing two sets of skills I should have picked up at Duke. First, an intuitive and practical understanding of statistics is a differentiating skill in both academia and private industry. I wish I had taken advantage of Duke's great statistics department while I was there. Additionally, the ability to put ideas into well structured computer code is something that is helpful as a physicist but also a pre-requisite for success in Silicon Valley. I "faked it until I made it" but that is harder these days. If your intention is to become a data scientist please read my blog post on the subject: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/advice-switching-data-science-david-hard…"

David Hardtke