A team of Master of Science in Business Analytics students placed in the top four out of 25 teams in the 2019 Data Science Competition, which took place at the RMDS IM Data Global Conference in Pasadena. Peng Zhang, Eric Wu, Vania Revelina and Rongxing Vincent Chen were tasked with creating a statistical model to predict tropical cyclone intensity change in 24 hours using advanced machine learning techniques. The LMU team was the only finalist from a business analytics program while others came from data science programs. This is a testament to the well-rounded education students experience at LMU.
“What a great showing from our inaugural class in the M.S. in Business Analytics program,” said Dayle Smith, dean of the College of Business Administration. “Great faculty coaches and superb students. So proud to have LMU represented among this community of innovators.”
Marketing Professor Sijun Wang, who sits on the conference advisory board, was the main catalyst in getting LMU involved in the conference. She lectured a CRM Analytics course for pre-conference certificate programs and moderated a session titled “Raising Capital for Data and AI Startups.” The CBA also had a booth promoting graduate business programs.
Keynote speakers included experts from prestigious universities like Caltech and Harvard as well as big companies like Google, Disney and ObEN to talk about their recent research and innovation in the AI / big data fields and how their projects directly benefit the community. Other hot topics included the ethical use of AI, raising capital for data startups, applications in media & entertainment, and career paths in data science.
“It was a wonderful networking event and several keynote speakers from distinguished companies expressed interest in partnering with LMU on future capstone projects,” said Sijun.
All LMU MSBA students (and a few MBA students) attended the conference, which featured over 1,600 global data experts. Sijun hopes to expand LMU’s presence next year by bringing undergraduate students majoring in Information Systems and Business Analytics as well as those from the Marketing Analytics pathway.
