Ioannis Koutalios

Welcome! I am a Data Scientist at Sensorfact, where I turn complex industrial sensor data into models and insights that help businesses cut energy waste. I hold an M.Sc. in Astronomy and Data Science from Leiden University, and my work sits at the intersection of astrophysics, machine learning, and data science, a thread that runs from peer-reviewed research to the practical problems I solve today.

My research has spanned cosmology, exoplanets, and machine learning. My Master’s thesis, “A Cross-Power Model for Power Suppression in FLAMINGO”, developed modeling techniques for large-scale cosmological simulations and led to a publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Alongside Matthew Kenworthy’s exoplanet group, where my earlier thesis, “Finding the Best Exoplanets to Search for Exomoons by Radial Velocity”, got its start, I contributed to two 2026 studies of the young planet β Pictoris b, on its carbon isotope ratio and on limits for its exosatellites. I also explored AI for astronomy through a project on “Reinforcement Learning for Adaptive Optics”, presented at BNAIC/BeNeLearn 2024.

Before Leiden, I earned a B.Sc. in Physics from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and joined the Gravitational Waves Group. My undergraduate thesis, “Spectral Classification of Neutron Star Post-Merger Gravitational Wave Emission”, first sparked my fascination with applying AI in astrophysics, and my continued collaboration with the group led to a publication in Physical Review D, “Predicting Binary Neutron Star Postmerger Spectra Using Artificial Neural Networks”. You can find my full list of papers on the publications page.

Beyond my day-to-day work, I’m driven by curiosity. Most of my side projects grow out of a desire to solve practical problems with machine learning, statistics, and open-source tools, and you can explore some on my projects page. I’m a firm believer in Linux and open source, always eager to learn and take on new challenges, and happy to connect over an interesting idea or problem. Feel free to reach out!