The term ‘Data Science’ was first coined by Google, and like Google, the field of data science has taken off! Corporations are overwhelmed by a firehose of data that they don't have the capability to sort, manage, or interpret. They are faced with a critical shortage of data scientists who can synthesize huge amounts of information from multiple sources, derive new insights, convert data into actionable information, and articulate their findings.
With its long history of research in data management, statistics, and business analytics, WPI is one of a handful of universities ready to prepare graduates for the challenges of this rapidly expanding field. The program brings together a trifecta faculty mentors from computer science, mathematics, and business. Combined with our community of student scholars from all over the world, we have a team of visionary leaders and researchers prepared to contribute important insights that will change the way we live, how we work, and our interaction with the world around us.
According to 2019 Glassdoor data, data scientists are in high demand. With a median base salary of $108,000 and plenty of opportunity, we ask: What will you do with your degree?
We are busy organizing the 2020 Women in Data Science (WiDS) annual event, scheduled for Monday, March 2, 2020 at WPI. Please join us in making this amazing event a great success. Everyone is invited to attend the WiDS regional event where we feature outstanding women doing outstanding work. Learn more.
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I learned the data eco-system from both academic and industrial perspective in the Data Science program. The graduate qualifying project (capstone) gave me exposure in industry. It not only helped me to learn the foundation of industrial core tech, but also how to build good relationships both with the company and other developers.
During my course of study, I could choose different classes in areas like AI, machine learning, Big Data, and business intelligence. I learned database (sql), data processing and analysis (python), data reporting (tableau). Each course benefited me during my job hunting, as I talked about my projects in the different courses to match different roles and job descriptions. Through my graduate qualifying project (capstone), I also learned new techniques/methods/software to solve data related problems, while improving my public speaking and communication skills.
The Data Science graduate program has taught me the necessary fundamentals of machine learning and pragmatic data science projects through teamwork. Personally, it has also allowed me to use my creative talent, especially with regards to presentations and video demonstrations. I would absolutely recommend the Data Science program (undergraduate, graduate, and PhD) to any of my friends and colleagues! The program emphasizes team collaboration and working towards having a diverse skill set to handle any kind of data science scenario.
The overall graduate experience involved collaborating with students coming from different academic and cultural backgrounds. Through this experience, I learned how a problem could be approached from multiple angles and solved effectively.
The high flexibility for course selections gave me a strong background in data science, engineering, and business. I can create my own learning path, based on my career plan. The program also offers interesting colloquium and conversations. WPI is a good place if someone wants to dive into the data science world.
This program starts from a fundamental base and keeps upgrading the difficulty, which made me comfortable and built up my confidence and enhanced my skills—and ultimately made me ready to walk into my new job. It has provided such a great way to not only get our hands dirty real quick, but allows us to innovate.
I greatly enjoyed the GQP, which connected me with a company and a project that I could interact with and develop while finishing my degree. The project work allowed me to grow my skills in more of a corporate environment while still in school. This provided me with insights into how a data science team works outside of the classroom, what expectations would be set, and also allowed me to work alongside both other students and industry professionals.
The project, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), aims to use “smartphone biomarkers” and machine learning to create an early warning system for soldiers and veterans who may be suffering from traumatic brain injuries and infectious diseases.
WPI Computer Science professors Emmanuel Agu, faculty director for WPI’s Healthcare Delivery Institute, and Elke Rundensteiner, director of the university’s Data Science Program, are developing the new technology. The $2.8 million award from DARPA comes through its Warfighter Analytics Using Smartphones for Health (WASH) program.
NPR Hartford reported on Andrew Trapp, associate professor of operations and industrial engineering, developing analytical tools to estimate capacities for holding sites, judges, and other resources needed to humanely process migrant asylum cases at the U.S. southern border.
An academic paper by Eleanor Loiacono, a professor in the Foisie Business School, and Data Science PhD student Huimin Ren was cited in a World Economic Forum article. (See link to paper below the video under header “Empowering neurodiversity in the digital workplace.”)
The U.S. government has recognized the importance of STEM education by offering certain privileges to STEM degree recipients who are foreign nationals, including a 24-month extension of Optional Practical Training (OPT). Nearly all of WPI’s graduate programs are eligible for this extension, including data science, information technology, and operations analytics and management. Learn more about the STEM OPT Hub.
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