Lumina Analytics Promotes Inaugural Class of Intelligence Analysts

TAMPA, Fla., Jan. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Lumina Analytics announced the promotion of Katherine Martin, Jacob Shonkwiler and Kristopher Smeage to senior intelligence analyst.  All three staffers joined Lumina in 2016.

Martin, a graduate of and former Presidential Scholar at Boston College has a bachelor's degree with a major in theology and a minor in philosophy.  Katherine also was the founder of early-stage funding firm, LaRagazza in 2014.

Shonkwiler is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Law and the University of Florida.  Prior to joining Lumina, Jake practiced commercial law at a firm in Tampa. While in law school, he worked for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in Miami.

Smeage holds a Master of International Affairs with a concentration in quantitative policy analysis and data science from Columbia University and a Bachelor of International Affairs from Baldwin Wallace University where he was honored as an Outstanding Senior of the Class of 2012 and served as Student Body President. Prior to joining Lumina, Kris worked with New York City Transit on a data integration project to enhance subway operations. Kris also worked with the Ministry of Finance and provincial governments in the Philippines to operationalize the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, a global initiative to reduce money-laundering and corruption in extractive industries.

"This is the most talented group of young professionals I have ever worked with," Said Dr. Morten Middelfart, Chief Data Scientist and cofounder of Lumina.  "Their individual contributions to our work in 2016 were extraordinary. We would not be where we are today if we had missed the opportunity to hire any one of these young associates."

Martin and Smeage each work on projects for corporate and government clients. Shonkwiler has specialized in litigation risk analytics and reporting to date.  "Working with Lumina Analytics has afforded me with more opportunities for professional growth than I ever could have imagined this early in my career," Said Katie Martin.  "The work is challenging and inspiring. I love my team and working through complex problems every day.  The data science is fascinating."

"I was told during the hiring process that I would be pushed into the deep end of the pool here," Said Jake Shonkwiler. "I was immediately assigned to solve problems that presented serious challenges. But I love it.  We work long hours and the work is difficult.  We push each other to think and grow.  The culture here is special."

According to Kris Smeage, "My first few months have been remarkable.  The senior staff has given me opportunities to run important engagements with a degree of autonomy I did not expect. In my first month, I presented my own work to a special committee in Washington and met with a team that included former members of Presidential cabinets and several three-letter agencies. The learning opportunities surrounding our predictive analytics and data mining capabilities have also been terrific, immediately enabling me to apply theory from my graduate studies toward solving real world problems. I am very glad to be here."

About Lumina Analytics. Lumina is a big data analytics company based in Tampa, Florida.  The company provides data aggregation and analytics services to corporate and government clients throughout the United States. Its focus is on the aggregation of external, publicly available data for risk management analysis.  Lumina uses proprietary machine learning algorithms to address certain risks within healthcare, financial services, defense and corporate and national security.  The company was founded by serial entrepreneurs Dr. Morten Middelfart (Lumina's Chief Data Scientist) and Allan Martin (Lumina's CEO).  Lumina is capitalized by its founders and Atlantic Merchant Capital Investors of Tampa and its principals.

Contact: Candace Cole, 1-813-597-9153, candace.cole@amci360.com

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SOURCE Lumina Analytics