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The University of Southampton
Mathematical Sciences

Postgraduate students making a difference in industry

Published: 7 April 2014
Project prize winners 2013

The achievements of talented postgraduate students in Management and Mathematics who spent a summer working in industry have been recognised at a ceremony at the University of Southampton. Nine have won awards for their successful three month projects at their end of their masters degrees in Operational Research (OR) or Business Analytics and Management Sciences (BAMS).

MSc Operational Research graduate Adam Booker worked with National Express developing an analytical system to evaluate some of its routes and come up with improvements. He enrolled on the programme as a career move from scientific research. "I think the masters has excellent value through its diversity. It provides strong foundations for many career paths in different industries," he says. Adam, who won the Boeing prize, now works as an OR analyst in the Ministry of Justice.

Fellow OR specialist Harry Garnish advised British Cycling where it should site future cycle facilities such as BMX tracks, velodromes and road circuits. He had previously studied a BSc in Computational Mathematics at Reading. He says: "The highlight of the MSc for me was working hard with like-minded people solving real-life problems through case studies. Harry has now been employed by ORH Ltd, the operational research company he worked for in the project.

Yu-Cun Chu from Taiwan worked with the AA to build a simulation model to come up with the best ways to schedule mobile repair staff for the company's new home emergency service. Yu-Cun, who had previous taken a masters in Advanced Marketing Management at Lancaster valued the opportunity to develop skills in quantitative analysis. Simon Jones, Manager of Business Optimisation at the AA says: "It was a challenge to produce results in just three months but we were impressed at his solutions."

Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, Professor Judith Petts spoke at the ceremony. "Many of our partnerships with external companies are very long lived. Projects such as these enhance the student experience as they can apply the science they have learned in practical ways and develop valuable transferable skills," she says.

Other prizewinners were Kyryl Boltenko (Business Solent), Etwutosi Chigbogu Ezeh (UHS NHS Foundation Trust), Zeya Rui (RNLI), Themeesha Minoli Peiris (University Hospital Bristol) and Kunze Peng (University of Southampton). 

The More for Less event
Welcome from Judith Petts
Delegates find out more about simulation for improving business
RNLI and Discovery Yachts
Summer 2013 project prizewinners and their company sponsors
Project prize winners
An opportunity for businesses to discuss analytics with leading academics
Discussion opportunities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Industrial liaison officer Dr Ian Rowley welcomes enquiries from people who can offer a challenging project for a postgraduate student to tackle.

 

Photo of Adam Booker
I left a job as a research scientist to embark on the MSc, as Operational Research appealed to me as the perfect way to combine mathematics and creative problem solving in a less isolated environment, with exciting prospects.
Adam BookerMSc Operational Research
Photo of Harry Garnish
I can now very easily relate real world problems to mathematical models and know how to solve things in a mathematical way.
Harry GarnishMSc Operational Research
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