Written by Gemma Hayhurst in collaboration with Helen Bates

The FSA Food Alerts API provides data on alerts regarding food safety and hygiene, ranging from undeclared allergens to pathogen risks. The dataset the API provides has tremendous potential for data analysis which can provide interesting insights about the food market.

My first task as a software development intern at Epimorphics was to create a Python API wrapper for the FSA Food Alerts API (https://data.food.gov.uk/food-alerts/ui/reference). This wrapper makes consuming the API much easier and allows users to process and analyse the data the API provides without having to worry about the details around accessing the API. 

While studying for an Engineering Degree in Computer Sciences at INSA Toulouse in France, I had the opportunity to intern for 3 months at Epimorphics as part of my 4th year studying. I was attracted to Epimorphics because of their previous work with the Environment Agency, as I wish to work for companies who care about environmental issues, and because I was interested in learning more about semantic web and linked data while working for a company that publishes open data.

While studying at the University of Edinburgh, I had the opportunity to intern at Epimorphics throughout the summer on one of their data-oriented projects. I was able to further practice my skills in machine learning by developing an algorithm for a database matching task, seeking to match addresses from one dataset to a preferred standard format. The project was engaging and the team friendly, making it a pleasure to work for them.

I am currently studying for an MSc in Data Science at the University of Edinburgh. Toward the end of my first year, I decided to look for an internship to make use of the summer break that divided the two taught halves of my course. I was particularly interested in a position near Bristol and shortly found out about Epimorphics via LinkedIn.

We care about being as sustainable a business as possible, we have always looked to minimise our impact on the environment. As we grow, this is something we’ve begun to look at more systematically, focusing initially on our energy use.

It’s that time of year again! Epimorphics are looking for two or three software development interns with enthusiasm for emerging technologies to come and work with us.

Today the applications for our 2018 summer internship program open

Last year Epimorphics took on two CompSci students, Max and Mihajlo from the University of Bristol; here they are talking about their experiences: