The Institute is delighted to announce it has enrolled 85 candidates who will begin studies soon as members of the Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) Class of 2013. The admissions committee reviewed 270 applications, up over 62-percent from last year. A total of 94 applicants were offered admission; all but nine accepted the offer. Continue reading “MSA Class of 2013”
The Institute for Advanced Analytics held its annual commencement exercise for the Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) Class of 2012. Diplomas were awarded to thirty-eight degree candidates. The Institute’s director, Dr. Michael Rappa, presided over the ceremony, held at the Raleigh Convention Center, and was joined by members of the faculty and staff and over two-hundred guests. It was the Institute’s fifth commencement exercise Continue reading “MSA Commencement Ceremony”
The Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) Class of 2012 heads to commencement this week with a bright future. Highly capable analytics professionals ready to tackle the challenges of big data, they are in high demand in virtually every sector of the economy. Employer demand for MSA candidates set new records on virtually every key performance indicator. Notably, the Class of 2012 became the fifth consecutive cohort since the Institute’s inception in 2007 to attain over 90-percent job placement by graduation. Candidates in 2012 also logged more interviews, more job offers, and higher starting salaries and bonuses than each of the previous four graduating classes. Continue reading “Job Placement Tops 90%”
The Institute is delighted to report that 29 candidates (76%) of the Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) Class of 2012 successfully earned the SAS Predictive Modeling certificate. Industry standard software tools are an integral part of the MSA learning experience and used extensively by students in their day-to-day work with big data. The Institute’s partnership with the industry leader in business analytics, SAS, provides MSA students Continue reading “MSA Students Earn Predictive Modeling Certificate”
Eight student teams are wrapping up their analytics practicum projects with final presentations to their sponsors this week—including one team that will travel to eBay headquarters in San Jose, California to present its findings. The Practicum is a core component of the Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) curriculum that gives students an opportunity to work with large, complex data sets provided by sponsoring organizations. Practicum projects apply advanced data modeling techniques to wide ranging business problems, from improving customer acquisition, loyalty and retention, to managing high volumes of unstructured customer feedback and dispute resolution data, to predictive models for guiding investment strategies in volatile financial markets. In addition to eBay, other project sponsors included: Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, Elder Research, M&T Bank, Marriott, Quaero, Siemens, and The Daniel Group.
North Carolina State University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Carnegie Mellon University are each receiving an initial $2.5 million in grant funds from the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) to stimulate the creation of a more scientific basis for the design and analysis of trusted systems. The co-principal investigators for the NC State Science of Security Lablet are Dr. Laurie Williams, professor of computer science, and Dr. Michael Rappa, director of the Institute of Advanced Analytics and professor of computer science. Continue reading “NSA Science of Security ‘Lablet’ Established”
A lease has been signed for an additional 6,500 square feet of physical space on the fourth floor of the Venture 2 Building, located directly beneath the Institute’s current facility on Centennial Campus. Construction begins this week to build a classroom, offices and student workspaces to accommodate the Institute’s growth in enrollment in the Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) degree program to 80 students beginning in June. The new expansion will increase the total space occupied by the Institute to 14,500 square feet. The Institute is extremely grateful to the managing contractor Craig Davis Properties, for all of its efforts to keep the expansion schedule on track.
What is a Data Scientist? That was the question put to the Institute’s director, Dr. Michael Rappa, in a recent interview with Forbes contributing writer, Dan Woods. Data science has emerged as the latest way to describe the ongoing quest to master the skill of drawing insights from vast quantities and varieties of data—sometimes called “big data”—which is core to the mission of the Institute. The interview with Dr. Rappa is the latest in a Forbes series on the subject with the country’s leading thinkers and practitioners in data science.