IOE Faculty Launch New Data Analytics Workshop
Inspired by the growing need for data analytics expertise, the Industrial and Operations Engineering (IOE) Department recently launched a course aimed at industry professionals.
Inspired by the growing need for data analytics expertise, the Industrial and Operations Engineering (IOE) Department recently launched a course aimed at industry professionals. This offering in a critical area for industries will position IOE in a competitive market.
“Data analytics helps people and organizations make better decisions. Our program aims to help engineers, managers, and others stay at the cutting edge so they can make informed data-driven decisions,” said IOE Professor Eunshin Byon, who led the creation of this new offering.
The newly launched course, ‘Introduction to Data Analytics,’ started from a partnership between Hyundai America Technical Center, Inc. (HATCI) and the University of Michigan to impart the knowledge of Data Analytics to working professionals from different fields in HATCI.
Participants have diverse educational backgrounds and professional experiences, making it essential to design the course content holistically – covering a wide array of topics starting from the basics of data management and descriptive analytics to the implementation of more advanced predictive models using statistics and machine learning with Python.
“Our goal is to ensure that each member of the workshop leaves with a sufficient depth of knowledge across these concepts to start having an impact in their job function and satisfaction right away,” said IOE Professor Luis Garcia-Guzman, a co-instructor for the course. “This introductory class will serve as the foundation for building more advanced offerings in the areas of data analytics for those who want to continue to build their expertise to tackle real-world challenges participants deal with at work.”
“It’s been exciting to work on this initiative, knowing the importance of data and business analytics in so many industries,” said Byon. “Many of them have no, or limited, knowledge and skills in data analytics, so it’s gratifying to see their skills grow quickly over time.”
The journey so far has been promising, said IOE Department Chair Brain Denton, who is seeking to continue the department’s development of professional education offerings.
“The impact for organizations could be tremendous,” said Denton. “We plan to expand our efforts in professional education over time to help meet the needs of industry professionals.”