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Immense Personal Growth

ilseu — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 23:20:28 +0000

Immense Personal Growth ilseu Tue, 07/30/2024 - 16:20 More Blog Posts Laurie Mclaughlin July 30, 2024

At the 2024 commencement ceremonies for A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management (AGSM), Pious Khemka ’24 MSBA carried the Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) processional banner representing her cohort and classmates.

“This honor came as a surprise to me and signifies that my efforts, even though they weren’t aimed at gaining recognition, have indeed been acknowledged by the school,” says Khemka of being selected to carry the banner. “Being part of the graduation ceremony in this capacity was a great honor and a meaningful culmination of my journey at UCR.”

Gaining Experience with Intensive Involvement

Khemka’s selection to carry the MSBA ceremonial banner was much less of a surprise to faculty and her academic colleagues due to her wholehearted engagement in AGSM student life. But the transition to a new community was daunting.

“Stepping outside my comfort zone fostered immense personal growth,” she says. “I used to avoid doing things alone, but now I embrace independence and have developed time management skills. Balancing coursework, a teaching assistant job, a capstone project, and social activities has taught me discipline.”

Khemka’s involvement in the Women in Business student organization was just one of the many projects she undertook while studying for her master’s at AGSM. “Women in Business has been a cornerstone of my UCR experience,” says Khemka, who served as the group’s partnership director and helped organize their UC Collab event with UCR, UC San Diego, and UC Irvine.

“The club has provided a platform to champion women’s empowerment, a cause close to my heart. I aspire to support and mentor women in business, creating networks and opportunities for them.”

While also competing in a number of case competitions, including her team’s second place win at the UC Davis Food and Agriculture Business Competition, the intensive preparation and presentations were “exhilarating,” she says, “and challenged me to apply classroom knowledge to real-world scenarios, sharpening my skills and broadening my perspective.”

Khemka is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma International Business Honor Society, which welcomes graduate students in the top 20% academically. In the classroom, Khemka compliments Finance Professor Jean Helwege, who also holds the Anderson Chair in Finance. “She may not know this, but she is one of the professors I hold in the highest regard at UCR,” says Khemka. “Her lectures are so insightful and engaging that I was torn between taking notes and absorbing her every word.”

Off campus, Khemka interned as a startup business consultant with the INNOVAR project (part of the National Science Foundation I-Corps program offering introductory training workshops to entrepreneurs) at UCR and was a teaching assistant in the Economics Department within the university’s College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. “Both experiences underscored the importance of networking and professional relationships,” she says. “The INNOVAR internship required extensive outreach, and the teaching assistant position highlighted the need for both qualifications and connections.

“I’ve built a diverse network of peers, learning from their unique experiences and backgrounds. Being among the youngest in some classes has been a blessing, because I’ve gained insights from seasoned professionals that I could not have elsewhere.”

Education is Essential for Long-Term Growth

“Initially, pursuing a master’s wasn’t part of my plan because the job I had as a business analyst at Goldman Sachs was fulfilling,” says Khemka, who joined the global financial services firm upon earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2021 from Christ University in Bangalore, India. “However, I realized that continuing my education was essential for long-term growth, and UCR stood out because it offered an excellent analytics program and the opportunity to live in California.”

Her hometown is Indore in Madhya Pradesh, India, and she says she is naturally inclined toward business studies: “My parents’ dedication to our family business instilled in me a strong work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit. My interest in analytics was sparked during my first job, where I realized the transformative power of data.

“My MSBA degree is the pathway to mastering these skills and making a significant impact on the business world.”

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Hands-on Experience: UCR Business Case Competition

ilseu — Fri, 26 May 2023 22:42:39 +0000

Hands-on Experience: UCR Business Case Competition ilseu Fri, 05/26/2023 - 15:42 More Blog Posts Laurie McLaughlin May 26, 2023

With less than 48 hours to prepare their final presentations, eight UCR School of Business teams presented their case studies to a panel of judges at the inaugural UCR Business Case Competition on Feb. 25.

A team of graduate students—Jazmin Hernandez ’23 PMBA, Minhua Jiang ’23 MSBA, and Aarev Rawalh ’24 PMBA—were awarded the $300 first prize.

The teams were challenged with a case from the Harvard Business School, “3M: Rethinking Regionalization to Adapt to the Supply Chain Disruptions,” and made their presentations in person to the judges on campus.

“I think the reason our presentation was successful is that we brought our individual experience to the problem,” says Hernandez. “Our winning presentation was about a supply chain issue, and we focused on short-term and long-term goals integrating technology."

“Minhua brought her analytical background; Aarev brought his consulting background; and I brought in my experience working in strategy. We collaborated and exchanged ideas organizing our thoughts in a strategic way.”

In preparation, all teams participated in a January workshop, including a Saturday seminar on case study preparation led by Professor of Practice Sean Jasso and HCT Global Consulting/UBIS Adjunct Professor Erick Jensen. “During the workshop, students learned market sizing, market entry, and profitability within the larger framework of preparing case analyses for a client,” says Jasso.

UCR Case Competition 2023 judges and Women in Business leaders

Along with Jasso and Jensen, the judges for the day’s competition included Alyssa Stump Sherick ’16, ’18 MBA, foundations and grants deputy director with Best Buddies International, and Valtteri Salomaki ’20 MBA, CEO of EDGE Sound Research and co-founder of Free Logic Inc.

Hernandez is pleased with the victory, but immersion into a new and instructive experience is what she values most. “I was able to test my problem-solving methods, sharpen my speed and analytics skills, and learn about different industries,” she says.

“I gained insights on the supply chain industry, as well as how technology can be integrated within a global company. This allowed me to connect all the skills learned in my finance, marketing, information technology, and corporate strategy courses.”

This inaugural UCR Business Case Competition was envisioned by MBA students and members of the A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management Women in Business organization led by Renuka Kulkarni ’23 MBA and Shubham Thakur ’23 MBA.

“The Women in Business recognized the need for more competitions within AGSM and were inspired by the 2022 UC Davis Case Competition,” says Jasso, who provided mentorship for the organization. “The case competition furthers the overall readiness of the UCR business graduates entering the competitive labor market.”

“I’ve never done anything like this competition before,” says Hernandez. “It was an amazing opportunity because it showed me I could think under pressure, speak confidently, and apply outside knowledge to find a solution.”

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Header image (from left to right): Valtteri Salomaki ’20 MBA, Alyssa Stump Sherick ’16, ’18 MBA, Jazmin Hernandez ’23 PMBA, Minhua Jiang ’23 MSBA, and Aarev Rawalh ’24 PMBA, Adjunct Professor Erick Jensen, and UCR School of Business Professor of Practice Sean Jasso

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Grad Students Tackle Company's Analytics Projects

ilseu — Tue, 16 May 2023 23:12:37 +0000

Grad Students Tackle Company's Analytics Projects ilseu Tue, 05/16/2023 - 16:12 More News Laurie McLaughlin May 16, 2023

Louis Young is the CEO of Healthmetryx Inc. in Boston, and he had previously worked with Md Moniruzzaman, lecturer in business analytics at UCR School of Business, on analytics work. And, as Young was looking at other projects within his company that needed attention, “Md said, ‘You know, if you want to turbocharge what you’re doing, we have some really hungry master’s students that would like help,’” says Young.

The CEO made a presentation to UCR’s Master of Science in business analytics (MSBA) students: “They were really enthusiastic about the possibility of working with us,” says Young, who founded Healthmetryx, an exhaled-breath health-data analytics and artificial intelligence company that is working with NASA, NVIDIA, and Amazon to launch the Respiratory Cloud Machine, an IoT-enabled cloud-based AI platform.

“The platform’s intent is to provide drug developers, clinical decision-makers, and population health managers with real-world data and evidence to make better decisions related to the health status of any target population,” says Young.

The grad students were indeed eager to work with Healthmetryx. Each cohort of MSBA students participates in a capstone project like this one: a hands-on, real-world experience that allows students to take the concepts and methods they’ve studied and apply them in a practical setting. “The capstone course for business analytics emphasizes the importance of analytical skills, data visualization, data mining, and big data analytics,” says Moniruzzaman.

A Win-win for Everyone

Working virtually, the five business analytics master’s students provided strategic goals, areas to work on within the company’s data on the Amazon cloud, and how to “plug that data into different visualizations,” says Young.

“They developed a host of analytics visualizations that allow for population health management uses and understanding the status of particular populations—males, females, individuals living in certain states, people working in certain industries, and other categories.”

Young feels the project was a win-win for everyone.

“They did very good work, and we couldn’t be more pleased,” says Young. “Their work positioned us to understand what the analytics and visualizations would look like from an artificial intelligence standpoint and how to use those analytics and visualizations as mockups for our larger work with Amazon and AWS.”

Creating a Capstone Experience

Each year, master’s students work on different capstone assignments, and Moniruzzaman’s extensive contacts within the industry allow for exceptional experiences for grad students. He finds companies that are willing to share existing projects within their organizations and pairs executives with capstone students, who then take a deep dive into an actual business challenge.

“In this instance, Healthmetryx’s expertise in respiratory early detection and self-monitoring technology aligned with some the health care-related problems that the students might work on in their careers,” says Moniruzzaman.

Projects Come to Life

Florian Sterr, MSBA ’22

“It was interesting to see a data-driven project come to life,” says MSBA alumnus Florian Sterr ’22. Along with four other MSBA students, his capstone project was with Lionchase North America (LNA), a private equity firm (which was the initial investor in Healthmetryx).

LNA President Kenneth Brown says the capstone students did an “excellent job. They were an ambitious group and very inventive. They helped us with a large Department of Transportation database and came up with a process to learn how the data could assist us with site location.”

Sterr was a product manager in the banking industry before deciding to make a career pivot, which included earning his master’s in business analytics; the capstone project was a valuable immersion into the work he loves. He is currently a product manager for Playstudios, a developer of free-to-play mobile and social games.

“Using data from the U.S. government predicting the movement of perishable goods through trucking, we investigated and validated an approach to identify ideal locations for the warehouse sites for perishable goods,” says Sterr of the LNA capstone project. “We used geographical information systems in conjunction with statistical analysis programs.”

Executives Understand the Value of Hands-on Immersion

Brown and Young know that taking the time to work with business master’s students is important. “Any real-world opportunity to learn about client needs is extremely helpful. It’s also ideal to learn the limits of technology and intersection of practical approaches to solve problems versus always relying on technology because it might not be available all the time,” says Brown.

Young agrees, and says, “The combination of classroom education and getting experience in the real world is necessary because these students now have a substantive project they can talk about as they compete with their peers for jobs.”

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M.S. in Business Analytics: What You Will Study

ilseu — Fri, 08 Apr 2022 18:01:20 +0000

M.S. in Business Analytics: What You Will Study ilseu Fri, 04/08/2022 - 11:01 More Blog Posts April 08, 2022

This story was originally published on BusinessBecause.

If you’re someone who’s interested in digging into data and leading analytics-driven projects at a top company, then a Master’s in Business Analytics degree might just be for you.

In a world that’s undergoing digital transformation, Masters in Business Analytics are gaining traction. These programs provide a deep dive into data interpretation and visualization, storytelling, and, most crucially, how to leverage analytics to stay ahead of the game in a competitive business landscape.

But what do you actually study on a Master’s in Business Analytics?

A Master’s in Business Analytics syllabus blends theory and practice

In the business world, you’ll need to know about more than just how to analyze data.

Subramanian Balachander, professor of marketing

The STEM-designated Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) syllabus at the University of California Riverside (UCR) School of Business blends theory and practice, so that students learn how to apply their data-driven skills in a real-world environment.

“Working with practical business problems helps students learn to identify what data may be relevant to address a business problem, as well as how to appreciate that real-life data can often be imperfect and noisy,” says Subramanian Balachander (Bala; pictured), professor of marketing at UCR.

UCR MSBA students learn to use programming languages like Python, R, and SQL. Core modules include Business Analytics for Management, Statistical Data Mining, and Statistics for Business Analytics.

There are also two Capstone in Business Analytics projects, which see students test their knowledge while working on a data-based problem, such as forecasting future demand for a product, using social media analytics to identify business opportunities, or optimizing freight transportation using shipment data.

Florian Sterr, MSBA 2022

“The capstone course not only gives us the opportunity to work on real-life business projects but also gives us a short introduction to a broad variety of different tools that are common in business analytics across different companies,” says Florian Sterr (pictured), a student on the UCR Master’s in Business Analytics.

On the UCR master’s degree in business analytics—which can be studied full-time or part-time—there’s also a large emphasis on using business analytics for management, so students graduate from the program with the technical and managerial know-how to lead data-based projects.

Students coming into the degree are also required to take a Statistics or Business Track depending on the undergraduate degree they obtained.

Students from business and other STEM-related undergraduate degrees are required to take modules in Discrete Data Analysis, Statistical Computing, Marketing Research, and Applied Business Forecasting.

Those from statistics undergraduate degrees are required to study Financial Management, Cost and Management Accounting, Operations Management for Competitive Advantage, and Marketing Management.

Master’s in Business Analytics specializations

If you’re dreaming of a career within a specific industry, then choosing an analytics master’s degree that offers specialized tracks can be a great way to tailor your education.

The UC Riverside MSBA degree offers three career paths, in finance, marketing, or operations.

If you’re interested in a career in investing or corporate risk management, you might pursue the Finance Career Path. If you want to become a consumer behavior expert, the Marketing Career Path might be more your thing. And if driving sustainable supply chain management is your passion, you might consider the Supply Chain Career Path.

Yukta Amin, MSBA 2022

Yukta Amin (pictured), a student on the UCR MS in Business Analytics, explains that she’s interested in pursuing a career in marketing analytics, so it made sense for her to choose the marketing track, which offers modules in Market Assessment, Internet Marketing, Consumer Behavior and Marketing Strategy.

“I love mathematics but I'm also creative person—I wanted a mixture of both, so marketing analytics suits me perfectly,” she says.

Students of the UC Riverside Master’s in Business Analytics finance track can take modules in Fixed Income, Corporate Risk Management, Derivatives, Investments and Portfolio Management, and Empirical Methods in Finance.

The supply chain track offers modules in Spreadsheet Modeling for Decision-Making, Simulation for Business, and Logistics and Supply Chain Management.

Where can a master’s in business analytics take you?

When choosing a master’s degree in business analytics, you should target a business school, and region, that will provide access to a strong network of employers.

The STEM-designated Master’s in Business Analytics at University of California, Riverside is ideally located in Southern California. Nestled between Los Angeles and San Diego, the Riverside region is brimming with tech companies and innovative startups.

Also, California boasts the largest population of any US state.

“It really benefits me that there are more people here, which means more technologies and more companies recruiting here,” says Yukta.

UCR’s Master’s in Business Analytics is aimed at students with a quantitative aptitude and those who enjoy solving data-based problems. On average, students bring around 21 months of work experience to the cohort.

The degree provides a gateway to a variety of high-flying careers, including analytics consultant, project manager, data scientist, or chief technology officer.

“I decided to pursue a Master’s in Business Analytics to give my future career a more data-driven perspective and prepare myself for the future job market,” says Florian, who has a background in finance.

The average annual starting salary for MSBA graduates is around $75k, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC).

Meanwhile, data scientists can expect to earn a median base salary of around $130k.

“The MSBA program helps students gain the crucial skill sets needed to provide critical insights to companies as business analytics professionals,” says Bala.

Since data is only going to become more crucial in a technologically driven world, master’s in business analytics grads who can offer companies statistical expertise and managerial know-how are likely to be high on the list of must-have hires in a fast-changing, digitalized business sphere.

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