Do What Matters

We often talk about data and how to convert the silos data into useful information using analytic solutions. In this tough economic environment, it is worth noting that some of the best jobs of today and beyond are related to data and statistics but they are least known to our growing army of new graduates. As a leader, we have a huge responsibility to get the information out and help new graduates or our unemployed citizens prepare for these opportunities. Actuarial science is one such area which is not well known for good reason. First, it is not a mainstream undergrad and grad course in most of our universities. Second, the term actuarial itself is not commonly associated to the occupations that we are familiar with. However current studies by some career and job website showed that Actuarial is the area full of potential job opportunity with plenty of growth and high paying salary. What is Actuarial science? - It is the discipline that applies mathematical and statistical method...

Some of the grad students approached me during last couple of weeks about MS thesis or project ideas. Ideas keep coming 24x7, so I will list here, feel free to discuss or comment.  Software Engineering Projects: Mobile/web trends category: Price match alert app - A consumer web/mobile app that does low price match for a given item# and sends alert to subscribed email/SMS. Sounds simple? Well, the system has to match the item to the correctly classified category and run a web crawler against the web and other promotion data. Typically a retail store offers 30 days low price match or beat guarantee to the consumer on big ticket items such as appliances, large screen TVs or furniture.  Loan/Rent/Swap stuffs with your Facebook/Linkedin connections - Say, you have a lawn mower that you have no use now as you moved from single family house to a condo. The app will allow user to broadcast the offer to their connections and transaction will happen between trusted people. ...