Tim de Craecker

Career
After I graduated as a mathematician and studied a year of philosophy of science at Ghent University I was a teaching assistant for applied mathematics and made research on causal AI: causal AI is an upgraded version of current AI based on predictive statistical models. This study was very theoretical, but I still adhere to the guiding principle to make data algorithms explanatory. I am impressed with an AI application like Obsidentify that tells you the name of plant species from a few camera images, but it does not tell you in a human-intelligible way how it arrived at this result. When you go on an excursion with a botanist he will not only tell you the name of the plant but also inform you how to identify the plant species. This past study still helps me to put recent developments in AI in perspective. On a personal level, I will always remember the pleasant relaxed international environment at the university.

Afterwards, I worked for two years in Poland in Finance. This was an adventure: moving to a new country. I met people from different cultural and artistic backgrounds. This journey had largely a positive influence as well.

Spare time
I live near Brussels. It is a complex city with pros and cons, but it is also the place where I made good friends from all over the world.

I love to relax during walks in nature. I do my best to get more conscious about nature protection and growing healthy food. Therefore I was happy to work this year on a project for the Flemish forest reserve at Tensing: I look with different eyes now at nature and find my way easier to local activities that improve our relationship with nature.

I find it important in a data-driven world that we won’t forget what arts and crafts provide us. Personally, I got fond of making small furniture myself and drawing with pastels. It’s a beautiful medium to share a story in a sensitive way. Crafts are a great activity to connect with each other too.

Why Tensing?
Tensing shared the focus on geo-data I was looking for. My impression is that we view IT as a support to the client, not an end to itself.
That’s a very healthy perspective. The subject matter I worked on is very engaging: from urban planning and house renovation to nature protection.