Winner: Informs UPS George D. Smith Prize for Business Analytics
Course Completed
My main motivation when I applied for this masters degree program was to learn all the things I didn't know, but already knew I had an aptitude for: understanding data and translating it into easy to understand, actionable recommendations.
These courses have elevated me to be data-savvy data ninja. I'm not an expert, yet, but I love learning everything there is in the data science/business analytics realm.
Courses Completed
Data and Decisions
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What's the sales value of a home in Des Moines? Create a price prediction model using market data.
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What are the costs and benefits of bringing a pharmaceutical drug to market? Analyze the situation using structured decision analysis.
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How many flu shots should be ordered for a clinic during an epidemic? Maintain high-quality service even in the face of substantial uncertainty.
Advanced Analytics
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How did the 2001 terrorist attacks impact travel patterns and behavior in the United States? Determine hypothetical trends if the attacks had not happened using time series analysis.
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How can I create an index fund to track a particular financial sector? Solve an optimization model to choose a representative sample of companies in which to invest.
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How do companies use analytics? Present a case study of a large company using analytics successfully.
Data Programming in Python
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How do I automatically combine data from separate sources? Design a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem and then code it using the open-source Python environment.
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How can I download real estate data? Use advanced Python features that extract data from websites.
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How can I use Python to do some basic artificial intelligence and machine learning?
Data Science
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Will this stock price go up or down tomorrow? What about in the next 5 seconds? Identify opportunities for profitable trades.
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Which of these people is most likely to respond to a direct marketing contact? Segment your customers for better targeting, and identify the most promising new leads.
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What kind of approach might move a donor to a higher giving level? Conduct a design of experiments to gather the most information from your trial marketing campaign.
Data Management and Visual Analytics
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Which zip codes had the highest increase in sales within a product category? Convert data needs into SQL queries and integrate SQL in an interactive visualization.
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How can a nonprofit track donor engagement to provide more personalized and targeted promotional materials? Answer a business problem using data stored in a database management system.
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Can I create an online dashboard for team KPIs? Transform live data into metrics using SQL queries and choose appropriate visualizations for query outputs.
Analytics Experience / Capstone Project
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The knowledge you've gained in the program, particularly in the core courses, will culminate in a group project and/or competition that solves a real-world business problem. Groups may partner with an area business.
Social Analytics
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Explore the collection, management, and analysis of social data(interactions among actors). Actors are individuals, organizations, or other collectives. Sources for social data include social media, websites, annual reports, press releases, articles and other traditional media.
Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation
Agile Project Management
Currently in Progress
Data Leadership and Management
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How do I manage a team of analytics and IT professionals?
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What are the best practices for a CIO (chief information officer) or other data manager?