David Sheffield
Director, Data Scientist
New Jersey, United States
Summary
👤
Senior🎓
Top SchoolDavid Sheffield is a Director and data scientist with 12 years of experience applying machine learning and statistical modeling to commercial insurance at Prudential and to high-energy physics at CERN. He bridges production-grade predictive modeling for mortality and risk with deep domain expertise in experimental particle physics, having contributed to CMS analyses and Monte Carlo generator configurations for exotic searches. His work on the cms-sw/genproductions repository shows practical back-end skills in physics-driven simulation (Pythia8) and automation of complex configuration workflows. Comfortable leading teams and building analysis pipelines, he blends hands-on coding, scientific rigor, and product-focused delivery. Based in New Jersey, he holds a PhD in Elementary Particle Physics and a Sc.B. in Mathematical Physics from Brown, combining academic pedigree with enterprise impact. An uncommon strength is his ability to translate collider-scale simulation practices into robust, reproducible data pipelines for industry use.
12 years of coding experience
4 years of employment as a software developer
Sc.B., Physics (Mathematical), Sc.B., Physics (Mathematical) at Brown UniversityDoctor of Philosophy - PhD, Elementary Particle Physics, Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Elementary Particle Physics at Rutgers University
English
Stackoverflow
3reputation
3kreached
1answer
2questions
Github Skills (11)
simulations10
simulation10
physics10
monte-carlo10
simulator10
cprogramming-language9
c-language9
google-apps-script6
python6
google-app-engine6
django6
Programming languages (5)
Github contributions (5)
cms-sw/genproductions
Nov 2013 - Sep 2016
Generator fragments for MC production
Role in this project:
Back-end Developer
Back-end DeveloperContributions:163 commits, 57 PRs, 26 comments in 2 years 10 months
Contributions summary:David primarily contributes to the project by creating configuration files for generating Monte Carlo events. Their work focuses on defining physics processes and decay modes within the Pythia8 framework, specifically for high-energy physics simulations. The user modifies existing configuration files, often related to the generation of specific particles (e.g., gravitons, Z' bosons, or long-lived particles) and their subsequent decays, ensuring that the simulations accurately reflect the desired physics processes. Furthermore, the user creates and modifies existing configurations for specific physics scenarios, such as the production and decay of various particles in several data samples.
productionfragments
davidsheffield/genproductions
Mar 2015 - Sep 2016
Contributions:96 pushes, 9 branches in 1 year 6 months
productionfragments
Find and Hire Top DevelopersWe’ve analyzed the programming source code of over 60 million software developers on GitHub and scored them by 50,000 skills. Sign-up on Prog,AI to search for software developers.