The Harvard Business Review last October named data scientists as having “the sexiest job of the 21st century.”
Michael Rappa, founder and executive director of N.C. State’s Institute of Advanced Analytics, is not quite sure how sexy data is, but can attest to the fact that training in the field can bring about a rewarding and lucrative career.
The Institute of Advanced Analytics, founded in 2007, is preparing a new generation of data savvy professionals for leadership in a digital world. In 2012, graduates of the Institute had a job placement of more than 90 percent by graduation for a fifth year, giving the program an esteemed reputation across the country.
The degree, a masters of science in analytics, is a 10-month program designed to teach students how to master extrapolating large amounts of data and make relevant, insightful conclusions from vast amounts of information. While originally enrolling 40 students in its first year, it now hosts 80 students, and applications for the program continue to rise.
“What we wanted to produce when founding the institute was a graduate who was really, by design, ready to go out into industry and start doing analytics,” Rappa said, “as opposed to a master’s degree, which are often a prelude to a Ph.D.”
Instead, when founding the Institute, Rappa partnered with SAS Institute CEO and co-founder Jim Goodnight, who has propelled SASto the apex of business intelligence software. For the purpose of the program, SAS was an ideal partner, Rappa said.
“Dr. Goodnight was supportive right from the start, and SAS allowed us to interact directly with them and understand the needs of industry,” Rappa said. “We interact with many companies, but SAS has helped us understand a rapidly evolving environment — the analytics field.”
A critical component of the program is the practicum, which is analogous to a capstone project in other degree programs. The practicum is a team-based learning experience giving students the opportunity to conduct real-world analytics projects using data from sponsoring organizations.
Students work in teams of four-to-five members to understand some type of business problem and then work to clean and analyze the data.
The practicum spans a length of seven months, culminating in a report and presentation to their respective sponsors.
The teams perform their work under a confidentiality agreement, and the results remain the sole property of the sponsor. Current sponsors include a wide variety of sources including private companies GlaxoSmithKline, Proctor & Gamble, GE Energy, as well as governmental agencies including the Federal Communications Commission, the United States Postal Service, along with the Central Intelligence Agency. Even The Houston Astros, a Major League baseball team, is a sponsor.
Dhrumil Patel is a student enrolled at the Institute. After receiving his undergraduate degree here at the University and a law degree from the UNC School of Law, Patel returned to N.C. State to develop his skills in data analytics.
For Patel, the academic opportunities offered by the program were too great not to seek out, and he sees the program as a means for many to get involved in various fields.
According to Patel, data scientists are being sought after, “not only in business and software, but in non-profit and even in areas like epidemiology and public health.”
Rappa believes the demand for data scientists will only increase, and programs like this will continue to grow around the nation, with even more complex data problems to deal with.
“There was a certain amount of data yesterday,” Rappa said. “There is even more today, and there will be even more tomorrow.”
