• Ceremonies saw hundreds of WBS students receive their degree
  • Alumna Yifan also celebrated winning an award for her research
  • Graduate Surabhi has gained a position with IBM Design Studios
  • WBS Dean Andy Lockett congratulates our latest graduates

At our recent Winter graduation ceremony, we caught up with two MSc alumni to see what they have been up to since completing their studies with Warwick Business School.

Dissertation success
Yifan Cao, who is graduating with an MSc Business Analytics, rounded off her Masters with an award-winning dissertation project. She won first prize in the Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC) Masters Research Dissertation Programme, for her dissertation entitled “An Application of Multinominal Logit Modelling in E-fulfilment Demand Management”, which was sponsored by Sainsbury’s.

The CDRC is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and consists of researchers at Leeds, UCL, Liverpool and Oxford. The Master Research Dissertation Programme links retailers with students nationally who conduct analytic research on retail data. This year, Yifan competed against 17 other projects to scoop the top prize.

 

Speaking about Yifan’s award, Guy Lansley from CDRC commented: “Generally, all the projects this year were really good so it was a particular achievement.”

The award also resulted in prize money of £500, however the biggest reward for Yifan was what she learned during the process. She said: “Taking the project with Sainsbury’s has been a great challenge and yet the best decision I have made. It taught me a very valuable lesson, that efforts can really pay off. The whole experience not only strengthened my resume, but also enhanced my technical and soft skills.

“Having won the reward was a great surprise. I am very grateful for being chosen as first place and I would never have been able to achieve this without the full support from both my academic supervisor Arne Strauss and industrial Supervisor Matthew Pratt. I am lucky to have been given this great opportunity, and I am glad that I did not disappoint the people whom put faith in me.”

Related course: MSc Business Analytics

Yifan conducted her research as part of her MSc Business Analytics, which teaches students how to gain insights from large data sets through the use of statistical methods, optimisation techniques and predictive models, and apply these to business problems.

Arne Strauss, Course Director of MSc Business Analytics, and Yifan’s Dissertation supervisor, said: “Yifan produced excellent work on a challenging topic; the estimation of a choice model as complex as this is not trivial. She overcame major technical obstacles, and provided the retailer with valuable insights.

Read more about Yifan's reasearch here.

Learning from some of the best minds in Information Systems theory
Also graduating with a WBS Masters this week is Surabhi Deshpande, who studied MSc Information Systems Management & Innovation (now known as MSc Management of Information Systems & Digital Innovation), and now works at IBM Design Studios as an Associate.

Before taking up her new role in November, Surabhi was kind enough to visit our latest MSc Management of Information Systems & Digital Innovation students to share her insights into the programme and life at WBS, and advice on finding their dream role after graduation.

Related course: MSc Management of Information Systems & Digital Innovation

Looking back over her time at WBS, Surabhi said: “I got to learn from some of the best minds in Information Systems theory and also hear guest lectures from IBM, Rolls Royce and KPMG. The best part about the course is the way it is structured – every module has group projects where we got to implement and apply the academics concepts to real case studies in the field. The group projects were challenging and interesting and offered great opportunities to try out different time, people and project management techniques in practise.”

If you are thinking about applying for our MSc Management of Information Systems Management & Digital Innovation course, you can read Surabhi’s full blog post here. In her blog she shares the best things about the course, life on campus, and how to get the best out of your time here at Warwick Business School.

Congratulations to all of our graduates
The Graduation Ceremonies on Thursday 18 January saw hundreds of WBS students receive their degree certificates, in the colourful surrounding of the Butterworth Hall.

Professor Andy Lockett, Dean of Warwick Business School, said: “Many congratulations to the latest graduates of Warwick Business School, you should all be tremendously proud of your achievement. I am delighted to welcome you into the global WBS alumni community, of which you will be valued lifelong members.

Whatever your plans are for the future, we wish you luck, and hope that you are leaving WBS with happy memories, and the drive and determination to achieve your goals.”

Warwick Business School’s MSc Business Analytics course has been ranked seventh in the world in a new QS World University Ranking. Find out more about all of the Masters courses we offer.