Hi Swann, thanks for joining us today! Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m 24 years old, from France and I’m currently a student at DTU, in Denmark. I’m completing a double-degree with Centrale Supelec, which is an engineering school based in the suburbs of Paris. I joined LYS in February, and thus I have been working here for 3 months as a data analyst. I moved to Copenhagen in September 2021 so it’s still a brand new city and new company for me, which is really exciting. I’m passionate about sports and sustainability. I spend most of my days either studying or working, but you can always find me doing crossfit in the late afternoon. Environmental issues and sustainability are also a big part of my personal preoccupations, and as an engineer, I am especially interested in the latest technologies and innovations that participate in building a better tomorrow. My particular areas of focus are energy savings, energy efficiency, and how to have a healthier yet sustainable lifestyle, which is very aligned with LYS’ mission.
What got you interested in LYS in the first place?
Before moving to Denmark, I had the opportunity to work on a start-up project for 5 months. I never grew and learnt as many things as during that time and I really enjoyed this experience. I had to put this project on the side when I started my Master at DTU but continuing to work in a start-up environment was definitely still in my mind. So when I had the opportunity to join LYS, I was more than happy to work again in this kind of working environment. I also liked LYS’ vision and mission of helping people live healthier lives, which is a topic close to my heart and LYS’ unique approach of using light immediately interested me. Moreover, the tasks I am involved in at LYS are highly motivating: data-analysis is of course a key part of my interests, but also supporting all the team members in their daily tasks allows me to learn a whole set of skills.
Tell us about your role at LYS. What are some of the projects you are working on right now?
My official position is data scientist, so most of my tasks revolve around data, but as mentioned before, I’m also helping the team with all sorts of matters when it’s needed, such as backend development, or sales for example. My daily tasks are quite diverse which participates a lot to my enthusiasm for working here. I had the luxury to arrive just as a new product’s development was starting, so many of my responsibilities include reviewing the product and app, and participating in its improvements. To do so, I have mostly been working on the backend development to analyze the data we can get, and implement those learnings in the next product versions. I will also be interviewing potential customers to gather feedback, so we keep what’s good and appreciated but also add new features or elements which can make the system even smarter and an even better fit for the market.
A question to all of our team members: What struck you the most when learning about circadian rhythms and light? Are you a Night Owl or a Morning Lark?
I’m definitely a night owl. I always knew that I was more productive in the evening than in the morning, but I had never heard about all the science behind this. It was a nice surprise and great learning for me to discover about chronotypes and how they influence your daily life. By working at LYS I can start a bit later and finish a bit later, which allows me to get more light in the morning after I wake up. I am also lucky because when I arrived in LYS, it was the end of the winter and the beginning of spring, so more and more light is available, and I now truly feel the benefits of more light in the morning. For the next winter, I plan to, if possible, use the new product we are developing, and get as much light as possible at the right time and will avoid being disconnected to what my body needs. I pay way more attention to the type of light I am exposed to, the color of the light, if it’s bright or not, and especially in the evening, I try to avoid inappropriate lighting.
Since working at LYS, I am struck by the lack of knowledge the general population has (including me before being part of the team) concerning light and its impact on our life: it’s not at all taken as a valuable element to health and wellbeing, and nobody cares about light exposure. I was quite surprised at how bad we all are at getting a good and healthy light exposure, whereas we have the scientific proof of how important light is. I’m spreading the word about this, by explaining the science behind and by telling about how bad our light exposure is. I encourage the people around me to be aware of the light they are exposed to, as I think it can help many of them. This is something that’s constantly on my to-do list.
In your opinion, what are the key takeaways from working in a tech start-up?
There are many takeaways, but I would say the fact that you have to learn to multitask and take over many different responsibilities, is one of the main ones. Compared to a big company, where you will have mainly one key task, in a startup you have to be constantly open to taking on new projects in which you have no previous experience or knowledge. This means that you also need to communicate easily with the team members. It’s also really nice to see how fast things can change, from one week to the other, I can see a lot of difference. It’s really a dynamic environment! Moreover, the tech environment is also very enlightening because you can learn a lot about different technologies, whether they are related to lighting but also data or backend development. It’s really a nice way to learn a lot and about many different topics.
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