Smital Dhake, a British Indian data
scientist from Maharashtra, has been awarded the UK’s RailStaff Awards 2023 in
the Newcomer of the Year category at a Birmingham ceremony.
Dhake, the first and only data scientist
at mobility giant Alstom, was born in Jalgaon and later attended Watford
Grammar School in England, followed by university at King’s College London.
The 26-year-old, based at Alstom’s
Hatfield office in eastern England, says she was inspired by her grandparents
to work hard and her ambition is to continue to develop and apply her skills to
contribute to developing engineering technologies.
“Smital is a fast learner who always
finds ways to seek knowledge and grow herself in an exponential manner,” said
Mifaz Miftha, Design Group Manager at Alstom, after the award ceremony last
month.
“She regularly takes on much more
complex tasks above her role and delivers them with full commitment and with a
high level of accuracy. Her meticulous approaches to problem-solving and
critical thinking on design have made Smital an asset to Alstom and the wider
railway industry where innovation and sustainability are key to growth,” he
said.
The young scientist is described as an “enormous
inspiration” to young women who are thinking of pursuing a career in the
science, tech, engineering and maths (STEM) category.
“Smital has used her own time to visit
numerous schools promoting careers in engineering and sustainability,” added
Miftha.
The RailStaff Awards began in 2007 to
recognise the great work of the people who work in the rail industry and to
show appreciation for the people who deliver the UK’s railways – from drivers
to cleaners, and engineers to station staff. As the only national award scheme
for UK rail employees, they often showcase stories of lives saved, careers
turned around and adversity conquered.
Smital joined Alstom’s Digital and
Integrated Systems (D&IS) UK signalling business to work on the innovative
Modular Advanced Route Setting (M-ARS) system at its Hertfordshire base.
The UK railway’s first M-ARS system with
machine learning techniques, or reinforcement learning, uses real-time data to
predict future events to enable quicker decision-making to resolve conflicting
train movements and thereby increasing the efficiency of the railway.
Alstom said its M-ARS system is
currently undergoing Network Rail product approval and Smital is instrumental
to the process. Once approved, M-ARS will be delivered on a number of high-profile
rail projects.
PTI
