Kennesaw State University is doubling down on its innovative offerings for students interested in big data careers — through a partnership with GE Digital, the university will connect students to real-life machine learning projects in the newly-minted Ph.D. in Analytics and Data Science. This program follows the success of KSU’s Applied Statistics Masters program.
The new graduate program is the first-of-its-kind in the country and aims to train students to identify problems and translate complex data into solutions. The four-year program includes courses in statistical modeling, machine learning, programming, optimization and text analytics. The GE Digital partnership will allow students to tackle real business problems, both bringing attention to local talent and providing value for the enterprise.
“We have chosen to partner with the Ph.D. in Analytics and Data Science at KSU because the students and associated faculty have the demonstrated ability to integrate leading edge research in data science with practical application to real business problems,” Girish Modgil, Sr. Director Data & Analytics at GE Digital, said in a statement.
With machine learning and artificial intelligence taking over many industries, from transportation to marketing, data scientists are in more demand than ever. KSU’s existing Applied Statistics graduate program has a 100 percent career placement, with applicants getting jobs in both the tech sector and in academia.
“Collaborative research engagements like the projects with GE Digital are mutually beneficial — the collaborative partner gets access to cutting-edge analytical research and our students have an opportunity to work on real-world, practical problems,” says Jennifer Lewis Priestley, associate dean of the KSU Graduate College.
For example, Ph.D. students will work with Computer Science faculty member, Mingon Kang, to improve the GE customer experience through improved predictive maintenance modeling and explore cutting-edge machine learning algorithms and data science tech.
“Research that has relevance and application are foundational to a 21st Century graduate education,” says Priestley. “At KSU, our Ph.D. students in Analytics and Data Science work closely with the business community locally and with private sector collaborative partners nationally to address real-world challenges that have evolved as a result of the data-driven economic ecosystem.”
Featured image via Kennesaw State University
