Shivank Sharma Risk Analytics – Data Science Consultant, Deloitte UK

MEng in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, 2018

I was interested in Electronics Engineering and Southampton’s Electronics and Computer Science department is consistently ranked among the best in the UK. Additionally, the choice of doing 2 years in Malaysia was a great benefit as well.

While it was definitely challenging, the wide range of learning opportunities has been fantastic and has equipped me with a variety of skills.

Why did you choose to come and study at University of Southampton Malaysia?

What are the highlights of studying in Malaysia?

The staff (teaching as well as non-teaching) made for an incredibly friendly learning environment, which was a big advantage in terms of building your base for a degree as complex as Electronics Engineering. Additionally, I had great classmates too whom I went on to work with on the final year project.

What are the highlights of studying in Southampton?

The highlights have been my internship with NEXUSS at the Marwell Zoo after the 3rd year, playing (& winning) for the University tennis team at the annual Varsity event and doing a summer exchange at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. In the final year, my classmates from the Malaysia campus and I went on to win the Best GDP prize for the Year 4 Electronics & Computer Science cohort which was a great way to end our degrees!

What other activities did you take advantage of while at University?

I spent my summer on exchange last year at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hong Kong through the Study Abroad program and had an amazing time.

What did you enjoy most about your course?

While it was definitely challenging, the wide range of learning opportunities has been fantastic and has equipped me with a variety of skills. Additionally, having a hands-on experience – due to the exceptional lab facilities on offer was a great benefit, aiding in better understanding of concepts.

What are your major responsibilities/duties in your current role?

I am a Data Science Consultant within Deloitte’s Risk Analytics practice, aligned to the Financial Services sector. I majorly work in using Data Science for Analytics for Retail and Commercial Banks.

What have been the highlights of your career to date?

I am currently working on a building a digital banking app for a big commercial bank and it’s been a great experience to be on such a project. Handling the data and analytics side of things has been made easier from the variety of skills I had acquired from university because of the wide range of modules our programme offers.

How did your time at Southampton help you to grow as a person and help you get to where you are now?

Studying in two countries has been a big positive in terms of the exposure and perspective you gain. Additionally, being a hands-on degree, EEE provides an exceptional skill set which give you a major advantage in terms of jobs. Additionally, our university’s career centre was an excellent resource for job applications - with the numerous workshops, career fairs and mock-interviews on offer from external companies.

What advice would you give to a student starting their degree at University of Southampton Malaysia?

To get the maximum out of it, the programme is led by the finest lecturers in the field so to take advantage of that and not hesitate to communicate with them. Also, have a career perspective in mind and find relevant internship opportunities in the summer to have a first-hand experience of how the respective industries work.

What tips would you give to current students looking to start a career in your sector?

Consulting in Data Analytics is very much in demand today because of the Big Data era. Our degree offers extremely useful modules like Machine Learning/Computational Finance which are extremely beneficial skills for this sector so make sure you take them! Our university’s career centre has various consulting/banking/engineering firms coming in for mock interviews/assessment centre, which is a great preparation for job applications, make sure you use them!