Dr. Paula Gonzalez

Head of Data Science

Paula is a data lover in and outside the job. Originally from Mexico City, Paula moved to Heidelberg to study Molecular Biotechnology. After discovering the joy of working with data during her PhD in Bioinformatics, she stayed in academia as a Data Analyst for a few years before moving to industry to work as a Data Scientist. In parallel, she was developing, teaching workshops, and giving talks on Data Visualization, a topic she’s very fond of. When not working with data, she can be found in or under water, spending time with her family, playing strategic board games with her wife, or taking long walks in the woods with their kid.

Paul Fowler

Head of Marketing

Paul has over 5 years experience creating international marketing campaigns for a range of exciting startups. An award-winning writer with a passion for combining marketing with design and UX, he focuses on building a unified, cross-platform message that resonates with people from all walks of life. He has lived and worked in Cardiff, London, Buenos Aires, Bogotá and Berlin, and enjoys traveling and making music.

Anne Luck

Quality Manager

Anne has over 15 years experience in the educational sector. After developing and managing a Student Partner Program at Microsoft Germany, she worked as an educational advisor and product manager in several StartUps in Berlin. She has a strong passion for education and the impact education can have on peoples lives. Anne has lived in U.S., Mexico and Egypt and loves to work in multicultural environments.

Petra Kischkewitz

Business Development Manager

Petra has always had a passion for the beautiful things in life - that’s why she worked in industries like Interior Design, Fashion, Music, and Food. As a Marketing and Sales Manager, she worked for well-known companies like Sony Music and Telekom and in start-ups such as My Media and Seamore. After obtaining more than 25 Years of experience, she realized that true beauty lies in knowledge. Besides spending time with her family, she loves books, handbags, shoes, and everything else life has to offer.

Toara Fantechi

Admissions Manager

Born and raised in a small town in the heart of Tuscany. Toara grew up speaking two languages (Italian and German). She decided to move to Berlin in 2011 to discover the German part of her DNA. After her social & pedagogical studies, she worked six years in children and youth welfare service in Berlin. After looking for something different, in the education field, she landed at Spiced Academy! She loves good food, video-games, traveling and learning more about foreigner cultures and different life-styles.

Valeria Pizzolorusso

Admissions Manager

Valeria was born and raised in Salerno, a city in the south of Italy. She studied Languages and Multiculturalism in Naples and after her degree she gained experience in the tourism industry. She has lived in many European countries before landing back to Germany, where she spent a semester as exchange student during her university time. She moved to Berlin to volunteer in a youth club, then she decided to further explore the education industry: that’s when she started her career at Spiced. She has a vivid passion for food, traveling and outdoor activities.

Fairooz Aniqa

Program Manager

Fairooz is from London and has worked in various settings within the education field. After graduating from the London College of Fashion, she served as the Students' Union president, which led her to pursue her interest in shaping Diversity and Inclusion within higher education. When she moved to Berlin in 2017, she entered the tech scene.

Lucía Martín

Program Associate

Born and raised in Madrid, Lucía studied philosophy as a BA and its still her greatest passion. She also did a MA in contemporary philosophy and a MA in teaching. Lucía has 5 years of teaching experience in philosophy and prepared students for university. Her thirst of knowledge drove her to expand horizons through a Data Science Bootcamp as machine learning and AI tools are integral part of the future of tech and human development. Lucía LOVES her dog ‘Book’ and is a sport enthusiast, specially frisbee, which she discovered in Berlin. Oh, and also Kung fu.

Lindsay McQuade

Career and Development Coach

Lindsay is a trained coach who has found her place in the world through supporting people making life transitions. She was the Head of Careers for 5 years at Cass Business School in London where she helped many students make successful career changes. She has a Masters in Engineering and worked in I.T. Management Consultancy for 10 years. She was born in Scotland and has also lived in London, Italy and now Berlin. Having made many transitions in her own life, she enjoys helping others to do the same. She also enjoys mindfulness meditation and helps run meditation retreats that raise funds for a Sri Lankan charity.

Olga Lavrenko

Career and Development Coach

Olga is a qualified coach and business skills trainer with over 15 years of experience in learning and development, and a portfolio of projects for clients in various industries, including consulting, technology and finance. A big part of her job has been working with individuals and teams in a business environment to help raise self-awareness and overcome blockers on their way to greater success and professional fulfilment. Before coming to Berlin in 2019, Olga lived and worked in London and Moscow. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, playing music and cycling in nature.

Shohel Tahir

Performance Marketing Manager

Shohel was born in Fiji Islands and was 2 years old when his family moved to Toronto, Canada and has been living in Berlin since 2018. With already 3+ years experience in marketing working in a telecommunications company, he decided to venture into the world of digital marketing and has worked for a few startups in Berlin specialising in Search and Display. In his spare time, Shohel likes to cook, travel, and experience the vibrant arts and culture scene Berlin has to offer.

Diego Caponera

Lead Full Stack Coach

Diego grew up bilingual (Italian/Spanish) in Rome, Italy. He self-taught himself web development at the beginning of the 2000s and started collaborating with local web agencies, while studying Applied Mathematics. During his studies he discovered his passion for mentoring, first by assisting his programming teacher and then succeeding him after graduating. In 2012 he moved to Berlin, Germany where he worked in the IT-consultancy world as a Full-Stack Developer for a wide array of clients. At the turn of the decade he decided to go back to education by joining Spiced as a Full Stack Teacher. In his spare time, he loves to write and play music, and to spin records in smoky bars.

Gimena Czarnievicz

Full Stack Teacher & Developer

Born and raised in Montevideo, Gimena is an Electronic Engineer. She worked in her field, programming microcontrollers for three years before deciding to take the adventure of her life and move to Germany. She join Spiced shortly after graduating Spiced Web Development Bootcamp.

Sven Hermann

Full Stack Teacher & Developer

Sven has been working as a software developer since 2000. He started programming as a teenager (BASIC and Assembler on the C128), and to this day has a fascination for computers and everything that has to do with them. He also has been teaching IT-related topics since 2016.

Jan Redmann

Lead Full Stack Coach

Jan worked as a Software Engineer for 10 years after playing Poker professionally. He is German and loves dogs and coding

Marcell Prét

Full Stack Teacher & Developer

Marcell is originally from Rio de Janeiro. After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Media and Communications with a specialisation in Advertising, he worked as an Art Director for various companies in Brazil before moving to Germany to pursue his career as a dancer and musical artist. As the fields of design and technology have been always among his main interests, his decision to study Web Development felt like a natural choice and after completing the Full Stack course at Spiced, he shortly thereafter joined the team as an Instructor. On his free time, he enjoys playing beach volleyball and spending quality time with his family.

Yair Gordon

Full Stack Teacher & Developer

Yair grew up in South Africa with a love of music, language, and all things computers. He learned Java online as a kid, and later completed a B.A. in education administration. He has 10 years’ experience as a developer and coach in small start-ups and larger e-commerce companies, working with a variety of technologies and systems. Yair enjoys reading, martial arts and playing keyboards and guitar. He loves guiding people to discover new knowledge, skills and ways of thinking and communicating.

Klaus Stille

Full Stack Teacher & Developer

Klaus graduated from ECAL/University of Art and Design in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he got a prize for his Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, that is to say a five-month artist residency in Hong Kong. Thus, he was teaching type and editorial design and giving workshops for higher diploma students. He previously has worked as an Art Director at the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong where he was responsible for their new overall visual identity. In his search for a new professional challenge and a position to harmonize his past experiences with his current practical knowledge and interests about software development, eventually led to him enrolling at Spiced Academy.

Dr. Uğur Ural

Lead Data Science Coach

Uğur was born and raised in Istanbul, a city she loves dearly. Before moving to Berlin, she lived in Switzerland and also the United Kingdom where she earned her PhD in Astrophysics. She thoroughly enjoyed working in research and teaching, as well as being a data scientist in a non-profit climate science and policy institute, where she felt that she could make a positive impact. In her free time, she loves writing, singing, and running.

Sara Maras

Data Science Teacher

Originally from Croatia, Sara graduated from the University of Zagreb with Master's degree in Geographic Information System. In 2018, she moved to Berlin in search of new opportunities. Last year she decided to take the Data Science course and shortly after graduating, she joined Spiced as a Teaching Assistant. Sara speaks 5 languages and, when she doesn't teach, she loves to dance, read, and spend time in nature.

Dr. Dina Deifallah

Data Science Teacher

Dina Deifallah is a Data Scientist and a Data Science mentor based in Berlin. After 10+ years working in academia as a researcher and lecturer, she switched to working in the Data Science field in 2017, soon after completing her PhD degree in Communications Engineering. Since then, she worked in the field in multiple capacities: as a Data Science consultant for a consulting firm in London, a Data Scientist for a Berlin-based startup and a Business Intelligence Analyst. She is also a founding member of the Berlin based AI Guild and a co-organizer and regular speaker in the Science to Data Science Meetup, which aims to help academics make a successful career change to data professionals. In her down time, she enjoys hiking, reading thriller novels, and watching Sci-Fi movies.

Ahmed Ashmawy

Data Science Teacher

Ahmed is a Data Science teacher living in Berlin with 10 years of experience in applying machine learning and analytics in different markets. He is passionate about teaching and finds value in helping people start a career in the field. He also enjoys a good pizza and travelling when not in the classroom.

Carlos Pumar-Frohberg

Data Science Teacher

Carlos has worked for 15+ years in development finance, mainly as a consultant to financial institutions specialised in offering access to finance to clients usually excluded from the formal financial sector. He was born in Venezuela, raised in Germany, and has lived in several other countries outside of Europe. His interest in data stems from his studies of economics as well as some of the final projects he was involved in prior to joining Spiced - and has been “hooked” on it since then. If he is not working, he spends most of his time with his daughters and raises his pulse on a bike and/or in a pool.

Arjun Haridas Pallath

Data Science Teacher

Arjun has over 3 years of combined experience in the IT and Research sector. After working as an IT consultant in India, he came to Germany for his Masters in Electrical Engineering, post which he attended the Data Science Bootcamp at Spiced. He has a strong passion to learn and work on the latest trends in Deep learning and loves to share his tech related knowledge with people. Arjun has lived in India, Sharjah, and Germany and loves to work in multicultural environments.

Dr. Carmine Somma

Data Science Teacher

Carmine was born and raised in a small seaside city located on the feet of the volcano Vesuvius. He graduated in experimental physics from the University of Naples. Because of his passion for science, he proceeded with his studies and moved in 2013 to Berlin. A few years later he earned his PhD in physics by enjoying turning optical mirrors, playing with colourful laser beams and digging into the data. When he first knew about Spiced, he enrolled in the Data Science course to deepen his understanding of coding. After his graduation, he was thrilled to join Spiced as a Teaching assistant. During his spare time, he loves riding his old bike, swimming and cooking.

Dr. Joseph Karianjahi

Data Science Teacher

Joseph completed his Bachelor and Master of Science in Meteorology from the University of Nairobi, Kenya in 2012. He also completed his doctorate in Natural Sciences from Karlsruher Institut für Technologie in 2019. Joseph has worked for the IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Center as a climate researcher in Nairobi between 2009 and 2012. He then worked as a meteorology tutor in Kenya, and later as an environment lecturer at the University of Eldoret. His meteorology profession exposed him to large atmospheric datasets whose analysis required a software skillset. After his doctorate, he developed an interest to work in a data science environment. He subsequently joined EDI as a data scientist until June 2021. He then decided to improve his Python and Data Science skills by joining a 3-month data science Bootcamp at Spiced Academy, and joined the team shortly after graduation.

Dr. Thomas Zander

Data Science Teacher

Thomas is an Urberliner. He studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Berlin and received his PhD in Biomechanics. With the existence of large amount of motion capture data, he discovered his passion for Data Science and graduated from Spiced in 2021. Since then, he enjoys inspiring students in this promising field. In his free time, he enjoys cycling, running, and reading.

Dr. Parvin Sharifi

Data Science Teacher

Parvin is a Data Science teacher. She was born in Iran and after finishing her master study in physics, she moved to Germany for her PhD studies in the field of nanostructured materials. After working as a researcher for some years in different countries in Europe, she moved to berlin to work in the industry and became familiar with the amazing world of Data Science. In her spare time, Parvin likes meeting friends, cooking, watching movies and playing theater.

Dr. Jens Hahn

Data Science Teacher

After working as a music teacher for almost a decade in his hometown in the Black Forest in Germany, Jens moved to Berlin to study biophysics at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. He specialized in computational systems biology and finished his studies with a PhD in theoretical biophysics.

Dr. Marija Vlajic

Lead Data Science Teacher

Dr. Rakib Rahmen

Data Science Teacher

Dr. Marta Pallotto

Data Science Teacher

Marta was born and raised in a small town in the center of Italy. Driven by her love for science and curiosity, she lived in Turin, Paris, Zurich, Washington DC and in 2018 she finally landed in Bonn, where she found the perfect balance between city and town life. Marta has a PhD in neuroscience and 10+ years of experience in studying biological neural networks before she decide to switch to artificial neural networks. When she is not teaching, you can find her in her olive garden (in Italy), or hiking up in the mountains.

Anastasia Mikheeva

Data Science Teacher

Samuel McGuire

Lead Data Analytics Teacher

Originating from the San Francisco Bay Area, Samuel earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering at SFSU. He worked a short while in Silicon Valley before leaving to travel the world. Once the money started to run out, Samuel found work at a firm near Frankfurt, where he used not only his engineering skills but also his ability to speak Farsi. The project lasted 6 months, leaving the door open for Samuel to split his time between touring with his band and teaching technical English. While teaching at a data center in Frankfurt, Samuel's interest in data was awoken. He enrolled at Spiced to learn the trade. Due to his technical background and 12+ years of teaching, he was asked to join the team to help others to dive in the data science world.

Agnieszka Kaczmarczyk

Data Analytics Teacher

Agnieszka (Aga, for short) is originally from Krakow, Poland where she also studied Biomedical Engineering. After graduation, her passion for working with data led her to the startup industry, where she worked in R&D as a data scientist. In 2019, she moved to Berlin, taking up positions of a Data Analyst in both the startup and non profit industries. Although she loved working with data, she discovered that it’s teaching that makes her feel more empowered, mixing her love for data topics with sharing her experience with other people. After many years of only teaching as a side job, she was thrilled to join Spiced Academy as a full-time teacher. In her free time, Aga enjoys being far away from the screen, doing craftworks, swimming, hiking, traveling, cooking, or just being with friends.

Hilal Işık

Data Analytics Teacher

After finishing her Bachelor's degree in Geological Engineering Hilal Işık followed a different career path and worked in different NGOs, such as Transparency International and Climate Action Network. Holding MA degrees in Human Rights Law from Istanbul Bilgi University and in European Studies from European University Viadrina Hilal worked as a scientific assistant at European University Viadrina and as a district manager in Neuköln and using her research engineering and storytelling skills landed in Data Analytics. She is a feminist activist and works with feminist organisations as a free researcher. Besides coding, she enjoys reading and also writing. 'Rebel with Rhythm, Shatter with Words' is her first book.

Alex Schirokow

Data Analytics Teacher