Hi! 👋

I'm Alexander Pugeat

Physics & Mechanical Engineering Graduate

About Me

Hi there - thanks for stopping by. If you've already seen my CV, consider this the story behind it. I'm a STEM graduate shaped by an international academic journey across Beijing, Hong Kong, and London. It was during my degrees that I discovered how much I enjoyed the modules involving data analysis, coding, and machine learning — enough that I kept going on my own, working through material from UCL's MSc in Data Science and Machine Learning alongside courses on Coursera and other accredited platforms. That self-directed exploration confirmed what I'd started to suspect: Data Science is the field I want to build my career in. I'm drawn to the mix of rigorous problem-solving, engineering craft, and the satisfaction of turning messy data into decisions that matter. Take a look around — I hope what you find here makes the case that I'd be a strong addition to your team.

Python PostgreSQL ETL Pipelines pandas / NumPy / scikit-learn Machine Learning (CNNs, ResNets, U-Nets) Tensorflow / Keras Unsupervised ML (UMAP, HDBSCAN, k-means) RAG / LLMs (LlamaIndex, ChromaDB, OpenAI API)

Projects

Experience

Software Engineering Intern

Edue

Sep 2023 - Feb 2024

A Python-based Discord bot that answers student coursework questions with citations grounded in their actual textbooks and research papers, built on a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipeline. Rather than relying on a generic LLM that may hallucinate, Edue Bot retrieves relevant passages from a curated library of course materials and uses them as context for its responses — giving students answers they can trust and trace back to source.

  • Ingests heterogeneous educational documents (PDFs, DOCX) into a clean, searchable knowledge base
  • Performs semantic search over embedded course content to surface the most relevant passages for any question
  • Routes queries intelligently between LLMs - heavier models for complex reasoning, lighter ones for casual chat - to keep inference costs low without sacrificing answer quality
  • Enforces per-user rate limits to ensure fair access across a shared student community

Research Intern

Warneken Consulting

Jun 2022 - Aug 2022

Built an end-to-end materials selection pipeline that combines engineering requirements analysis with a custom database and multi-criteria optimisation to recommend optimal materials for each component of a precision lathe.

  • Designed a SQLite materials database (200+ candidates) with ingestion from the Materials Project API, MatWeb, and literature sources. Added schema validation, provenance tracking, and confidence flags to handle messy, heterogeneous inputs.
  • Encoded engineering requirements as a quantitative scoring framework — hard constraints plus weighted objectives across 10+ properties (stiffness, damping, thermal expansion, cost) using Ashby performance indices.
  • Python (pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn) implementing constraint filtering, normalised multi-criteria scoring, and Pareto-front extraction to produce ranked shortlists per component.

Test Engineering Intern

Sinovision-Tech

Jun 2021 - Aug 2021
  • Developed diagnostic protocols for CT scanner circuitry using oscilloscopes, multimeters and signal analysers
  • Conducted root cause analysis using schematics and signal tracing, achieving 95% accuracy on 200+ assemblies
  • Applied statistical process control to circuit monitoring, reducing testing time by 40%

Education

International Baccalaureate

Dulwich College Beijing

2017-2019

Graduated with an IB Diploma score of 40/45, including 7/7 in Higher Level Physics, 6/7 in Higher Level Mathematics, and 7/7 in Chinese. Wrote an A-grade Extended Essay, "Measuring the Mass of Jupiter via Telescope," using telescopic observations of Jupiter's moons and Kepler's Third Law to calculate the planet's mass from collected orbital data — an early hands-on experience in turning raw measurements into quantitative results. Also served as Sports Prefect, leading the school's Terry Fox Run and annual sports awards.

Physics HLMathematics HLChinese SL

Bachelor of Engineering

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

2019-2020

Accepted into HKUST with an admissions scholarship. My time there was cut short after I left due to safety concerns during the 2019 protests, but I made the most of the rigorous academic environment — building strong quantitative and programming foundations through coursework in multivariable calculus, differential equations, and object-oriented programming in C++ and Java. Beyond the classroom, I led a team in HKUST's TechVention competition to design a portable air purifier, placing 8th out of 92 teams and gaining hands-on experience with end-to-end engineering development and cross-functional collaboration.

Multivariable CalculusDifferential EquationsObject-Oriented Programming

Bachelor of Science in Physics

University College London

2020-2023

Built a strong quantitative foundation through coursework in Mathematical Methods I-III, Data Analysis & Statistics, Electromagnetic Theory, and Quantum Mechanics. Applied these methods in hands-on research projects including Hall-effect characterisation of thin-film Bismuth and statistical analysis of Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting data — receiving the highest peer-review grade in every group project. Specialised electives in Practical Machine Learning for Physicists and Practical Physics and Computing developed my Python proficiency and gave me production experience with Keras and TensorFlow for model development on experimental datasets.

Practical Machine Learning for PhysicistsMathematical Methods I-IIIData Analysis & StatisticsPractical Physics and Computing

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering

University College London

2023 - 2025

Extended my technical foundation into computational modelling and simulation at Level 7, working with large numerical datasets through ANSYS Fluent and APDL for CFD and Finite Element Analysis. Coursework spanned robotics control, power transmissions, materials science, and energy systems — each requiring data-driven analysis and algorithmic problem-solving. My thesis delivered an end-to-end engineering project from problem definition through implementation and validation, complemented by formal training in project management and technical delivery.

Advanced Computation in EngineeringControl and RoboticsProject ManagementNew and Renewable Energy Systems

Service

Throughout university, I balanced academic work with part-time roles across retail, hospitality, and tutoring. Beyond providing income, these positions sharpened skills directly relevant to data work: operating under pressure, prioritising competing demands, communicating clearly with diverse audiences, and maintaining accuracy in fast-moving environments.

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UNIQLO

Sales Associate

2025-Present

Worked the shop floor and tills at the Oxford Street flagship, one of UNIQLO's busiest stores in Europe, serving several hundred customers per shift. Operated POS and stock systems accurately under sustained pressure, and learned to read demand patterns across the day to anticipate where staffing and stock attention were needed.

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The Coffee Tree

Barista

2024-2025

Ran solo service during peak hours at a high-volume Old Street café, handling order intake, drink preparation, and queue management simultaneously.

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CoCo Ichibanya

Supervisor

2024-2025

Managed floor operations at a high-traffic Leicester Square restaurant, coordinating between front-of-house, kitchen, and customers during peak service.

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WeEnglish

Maths & Physics Tutor

2022-2024

Delivered one-to-one maths and physics tutoring to high-school students, bilingually in English and Mandarin. Tailored explanations of abstract quantitative concepts to each student's level, and strived to maintain visually simulating content.