CORMSIS Postgraduate students making a difference in industry
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 Operational Research analyst in the Ministry of Justice.
Fellow OR specialist Harry Garnish advised British Cycling where they 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).
Industrial liaison officers Dr Ian Rowley and Gillian Groom welcome enquiries from people who can offer a challenging project for a postgraduate student to tackle. For more details including contact details visit our Summer Project webpage .
Summer Project Facts
Our students spend three months using advanced analytical techniques to analyse business problems and opportunities for organisations large and small
The sponsoring organisations define the problem to be studied and get involved in selecting the best student for the summer project
Over two-thirds of our projects each year are from sponsors who have worked with our students on one or more previous occasions
Contact us before the end of April to how our students can work with your organisation this summer.