The Institute is pleased to announce its practicum sponsors for the Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) Class of 2013. The projects were selected from a record number of proposal submissions (40). Among the organizations sponsoring projects this year there are several returning from previous years as well as a host of new sponsors, including industry leading firms from across the country, and several state and federal government agencies. Projects come from a wide variety of areas including agriculture, education, energy, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, retail, sports, and telecommunications. This year’s sponsors are:
- Allscripts (Chicago, IL)
- Caterpillar (Peoria, IL)
- Central Intelligence Agency (McLean, VA)
- Federal Communications Commission (Washington, DC)
- GE Energy (Atlanta, GA)
- GlaxoSmithKline (Research Triangle Park, NC)
- Global Knowledge (Cary, NC)
- Hanesbrands (Winston-Salem, NC)
- Houston Astros (Houston, TX)
- Inmar (Winston-Salem, NC)
- Lowe’s Companies (Mooresville, NC)
- M&T Bank (Buffalo, NY)
- Monsanto (St. Louis, MO)
- NC Department of State Treasurer (Raleigh, NC)
- Procter & Gamble (Cincinnati, OH)
- U.S. Postal Service (Washington, DC)
The practicum is a 7-month team-based learning exercise that is at the core of the MSA curriculum. Sponsors pose challenging business problems and share large quantities of data under confidentiality agreements with their team. The Institute solicits practicum project proposals each year.
“The practicum is what gives the MSA its strong real-world dimension,” said the Institute’s director, Dr. Michael Rappa, “and it’s the depth of their experience of working with actual data on a pressing business problem that makes our graduates so highly sought-after. This year’s projects represent a leap forward in both the level of complexity and confidence sponsors entrust in our students. It’s an amazing variety of organizations, and I’m delighted to see our students have the opportunity to work with them.”