On Friday, September 20th, 20 students from various academic disciplines joined together to celebrate the Fourth Annual MIS Case Competition Kick-Off. Run by MIS Program Director Jonathan Moore, the Kick-Off introduced these prospective participants to the general rules of the competition and other students (in case they still needed team members).

Interested in participating in the MIS Case Competition? You still have until September 25th to register your team.

For those of you who couldn’t make the Kick-off, no worries! Here’s the information you missed!

 

On Thursday, September 19th from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM, OPIM Innovate hosted its first data analytics workshop for the upcoming Hanover Image Analytics Challenge. This first workshop, run by Adjunct Professor Ryan O’Connor was “Intro to Data Analytics.” As in the workshop’s name, O’Connor briefed students on the concept of data analytics, presented examples of real-time data collection, and introduced data analysis and visualization tools such as Splunk, Tableau, and Python. There were 40 students in attendance, making this first workshop an incredible success.

As part of the workshop, and to gauge students based on their skillsets and level of interest given certain topics, O’Connor asked everyone to participate in a Splunk demo. After visiting a URL, they were able to answer multiple-choice questions such as “What interests you the most about Big Data?” and see their results in real-time. From responses to questions like the former, as well as from proficiency-based ratings, O’Connor was able to assess potential topics to be covered. He, for example, asked students if they would be interested in learning more about the tools they were more unfamiliar with. This gave students the ability to help shape their own learning.

As stated by O’Connor at the onset of the workshop, there are “tons of options out there” with regard to solutions for the Hanover Challenge. “We’re working with Hanover to give you an experience where you can get exposure to data analytics while working on a real business solution,” Tara Watrous, the project coordinator for the Hanover Challenge, further explained when she introduced the Challenge to students. It is meant to be flexible and open-ended–many proposals can be valuable to the company. However, as stated by O’Connor, “Some of the most challenging problems will be in data cleaning and preparation.” Students must learn how to reap valuable data before analyzing it. The Hanover-sponsored workshops will assist them with both.

While anyone can participate in the Hanover Image Analytics Challenge (and gain at least $100 for doing so), it is also available as a 1-credit elective (OPIM 4895-033). If you are interested in participating in the Hanover Image Analytics Challenge for credit, please fill out an Add/Drop Request Form as soon as possible. For it to be approved, you must have it signed by your advisor and Jonathan Moore. The window of opportunity is closing, so now is your chance!

 

 

 

On September 18th from 6-7 PM, 35 students from all academic backgrounds came to celebrate the onset of the Hanover Image Analytics Challenge at the Homer Babbidge Library. There, they were briefed on the rules of the Challenge, the roles to be assigned to each team member, and the schedule of events. Leading the Kick-Off was MIS Program Director and OPIM Innovate founder Jonathan Moore, who kindly summarized the information in a PowerPoint.

Did you miss the Kick-Off? No worries! Here’s the info you need to catch up!

 

 

While anyone can participate in the Hanover Image Analytics Challenge (and gain at least $100 for doing so), it is also available as a 1-credit elective (OPIM 4895-033). If you are interested in participating in the Hanover Image Analytics Challenge for credit, please fill out an Add/Drop Request Form as soon as possible. For it to be approved, you must have it signed by your advisor and Jonathan Moore. The window of opportunity is closing, so now is your chance!

On Friday, September 13th, the OPIM Department hosted its semi-annual Management Information Systems (MIS) Meet and Greet. The event was for students studying MIS, interested in the MIS major, or participating in the Analytics minor. It was a perfect opportunity to learn more about the OPIM Department and OPIM Innovate. There was also ice cream for everyone who attended.

At the Meet and Greet, which was hosted in the Gladstein Research Lab, many emerging technologies were out for display and available to use. This prompted many business-undecided and MIS majors to explore the different tools that may be available to them in their future career paths.

Other than testing out the tech and grabbing some goodies, the MIS Meet and Greet became a place for insightful conversation between MIS majors, Innovate lab technicians, and other students. As stated by Sarah Fletcher (MIS ’22), “I had a lot of fun talking to the OPIM Innovate workers about 3D printing and hydroponics.”

This message also rang true for Vaughn Nengle (Physics ’20), who just recently became an Innovate lab technician with a focus on the 3D printing track. “I was happy to test my knowledge and show others how to work the 3D printing equipment. Even though I could only provide a quick demo, it felt great knowing that I could help cultivate another person’s interest in 3D printing.”

We thank everyone for coming to the Meet and Greet. We hope you had a great time!

On Tuesday, September 10th, the Information Management Association (IMA) and Student Health and Wellness hosted a pet therapy event in the School of Business. There, volunteers from Tails of Joy, a nonprofit pet therapy organization in Avon, CT, brought in their friendly pups to help students unwind from their busy schedules. Every hour, a new dog would come in to interact with the students, giving everyone the opportunity to de-stress with more than one furry friend. Seneca, displayed on the left, was one of the many therapy dogs that came to visit.

According to IMA President Victoria Trautman, providing students with the opportunity to take a moment of self-care was a truly enlightening experience. “We often disregard our needs when there is so much expected of us,” she said. “Just seeing everyone so recharged after a few moments of downtime proves that taking care of ourselves should always be our first priority.” As for the student experience, Riley Wolcheski, a freshman Ecology and Evolutionary Biology major, said that the pet therapy event brightened her day. “When I got here, I instantly felt better. I had a rough day–I’ve been having a stressful week–but just petting the dog was enough.”

We thank Student Health and Wellness, as well as the pups from Tails of Joy, for allowing IMA to put this together.

On Wednesday, September 11th, the Operations and Information Management Department hosted a Careers in Analytics panel, sponsored by Hanover Insurance. At the panel, professionals from various career fields and levels of experience came to speak with students regarding the impact data analytics has on their individual industries. The lineup consisted of Craig Calvert (Associate Professor, OPIM Department) and UConn graduates Zaineb Haroon (DTLP Specialist, United Technologies), Mahiza Dalal (Business Tech Analyst, Deloitte), and Nofel Khan (ETL Specialist, Marcum LLP). Joining these panelists were also Derek Winkler, Associate Vice President of Data Science, and Kevin Pray, Vice President of Innovation, from Hanover Insurance.

Throughout the Careers in Analytics panel, the general consensus among all speakers was that analytics has revolutionized business processes. Good data has the ability to drive business decisions, create the foundation for valuable discussions, and guide professionals during times of uncertainty. Data especially works well with a guiding question or business problem, which is where analytics professionals come into play. “At the end of the day,” said Derek Winkler, “you need to see what the ultimate business impact is.” Otherwise, the data collected and observed may be useless.

As for the scope of data analytics, both Zaineb Haroon and Craig Calvert gave valuable insight with regard to career expectations and opportunities. “You’re going to learn a lot [when you start working],” said Zaineb Haroon. “Every company has their own practices and their own tools–I would just keep an open mind.” Calvert, to continue the discussion, made it a point to emphasize that “[data] is everywhere” and that successful data analysis can be done with even the most basic tooling. “Especially with data visualization, every time you touch Excel and make charts, you’re presenting data in some format,” he said. Mahiza Dalal, however, still suggested students learn how to use Splunk, Qlik Sense, user behavior analytics tools, and Tableau to expand their analytics skillset.

To close the panel discussion, Derek Winkler and Jonathan Moore introduced the audience to the Hanover Image Analytics Challenge. The challenge, which can be pursued through a one-credit course or as an extracurricular project, presents students with the opportunity to attend free analytics workshops and get paid. All a student has to do is build an interdisciplinary team of four and present their final solution to the Hanover team on November 20th.

For more information on the Hanover Image Analytics Challenge, please attend the kick-off on September 18th or visit the Image Analytics Challenge homepage.