In late 2018, we shared profiles of some of the students in our MBA/MSDS dual degree (Winfred Hills / Marcelo de Costa Sousa / Karen Li / Ashish Singh). Today, we catch up with Data Science Club President, Ab Boxley ’19, to talk more about the Data Science Club and how it supports students career goals.
Ab is originally from King, North Carolina, and he spent his summer working for Deloitte. His favorite thing about Charlottesville? Its proximity to mountains. Check out Ab’s answers below!:
What is the Data Science Club?
The Data Science Club (DSC) exists to support all Darden students interested in pursuing data science as a part of their professional experience. DSC operates on three pillars, ordered by precedence: 1) Education and training; 2) Careers and 3) Relationship with the broader Data Science community at UVA.
Our three pillars really drive the events we offer, and our programming ranges from technical trainings to tutoring sessons to speakers.
What do you have planned in the coming months?
We have several events on the calendar. In late February, we will offer Python or R training in partnership with the Darden Technology Club. We will also be hosting a Decision Analysis tutoring session for First Year students in late February.
In April, we will host a speaker event featuring Erik Breuhaus (’14), Co-Founder and CFO of threat intelligence company CounterFlow. And later that month, we will offer a training in Tableau to help students get ready for their summer internships.
Any advice for prospective students who are interested in Data Science?
Get comfortable-ish with Python or R: Python is probably the future but R has a great interface via RStudio. Do some online survey courses and try your hand at building some models. The best way to learn is by doing, and experimentation is important to developing your understanding these tools.
