Realizing New Opportunities

Liz gained the skills to work on various types of data across industries. She found that she could expand her horizons. Specifically, opportunities to work in environmental science, public safety, renewable energy, or fire and emergency services opened up with her knowledge and credentials. After taking the Geospatial Intelligence Seminar taught by a professor who worked at Booz Allen Hamilton, Liz realized a new category of jobs was available to her. At her current company, she applies her geospatial data analysis and cartography skills. Liz works in different capacities within projects for clients in these industries.

Continue reading...

Here’s a recap of what’s in the news in and around the UMBC campus.

This news recap is brought to you by UMBC’s Division of Professional Studies, offering a broad array of professionally-focused master’s degree and certificate programs that address industry needs while anticipating future opportunities.

New Cybersecurity Start-Up Launches

A new start-up cybersecurity company, Cyves, was launched recently by UMBC’s George Karabatis, associate professor of information systems, and Ahmed AlEroud M.S. ‘12, information systems, Ph.D. ‘14, information systems. TEDCO, an organization created by the Maryland State Legislature to support tech entrepreneurship, and InnovativeTech Ventures, led by Gerard Eldering, generated the funding through a grant and investments.

Continue to read...

If you’re reading this post, you may have already read dozens of articles about data science jobs, data scientists, programming languages, jobs, industries, and everything there is to know about the field. You might have already taken an online course or two and started wrangling and cleaning whatever data you can get your hands on. Moreover, you may even have a pathway planned to become a data analyst, engineer, modeler, or scientist. If that’s the case, then there isn’t much more to know about the field, except getting experience in it. Still, here are a few new details you may not have predicted about data science jobs as of March 2018.

Data Science Jobs are not Industry Specific

If you’ve only looked for data science jobs in the high tech or startup industry, you may be selling yourself short. Almost every industry sector is looking for new hires with data science skills. That includes, finance and insurance, manufacturing, public administration, healthcare, transportation, trade and more. Companies seeking new employees with data science skills are looking to fill positions as business intelligence analysts, software developers, database administrators, computer systems analysts, marking managers, sales engineers, financial quantitative analysts, as well as for other analytics focused roles.

If you’ve been eyeing a product management role at a new startup, or a data engineer position at a big consultancy or sub-contractor, don’t limit yourself. Look at the types of companies popular in your region and expand your search to include positions in different industries.

Getting Trained

Being properly trained in data science is an important first step to getting a job in the field. Generally speaking, you can get a degree, take trainings, or be self-taught. Many cutting edge data science jobs have been built by self-taught ninjas and gurus. You will always find opportunities for talented, unguided learners who take classes like MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) and complete projects on their own time. Alternatively, bootcamps offer opportunities to complete projects, network with professionals and they may have relationships with companies in the field. It all depends on your goals and the experience you want. At UMBC, we offer degrees, certificates, non-credit training and real world experience from industry professionals in Data Science to help you on your career path.

According to Burning Glass data, among over 6,000 jobs in the data science field, 3,248 requested a bachelor’s degree and 2,179 requested a master’s degree. Just under 900 requested a doctoral degree. A degree might require the biggest investment, but the average salary for these jobs is $120K per year.

Online learning opens the door to education for many people. But, it’s not for everyone. To decide if online learning is a viable option for you, let’s look at a few key things about it.

The Facts of Online Learning

Online learning offers students high-quality instruction even if they can’t attend courses face-to-face due to their busy work, family, or travel schedules. Courses taught in this manner offer flexibility in that students don’t have to travel to attend class. Additionally, most online courses take place without fixed class hours. Free of those limitations, students have the means to overcome geographic distance and can balance busy work and family schedules with their coursework.

Another feature of online learning is that it helps promote engagement. Online classes involve a lot of reading, writing, and practical application. This offers students a great opportunity to work collaboratively with other peers, as well as network. Students learn from each other and often share their current work experiences in the virtual classroom. Additionally, students have time to process their thoughts and ideas before they share them with their instructor or classmates.

Online learning environments truly cultivate an interactive environment.  Many social barriers are eliminated online. For instance, many students who remain quiet in a physical class often become active participants in an online course.

The Online Learning Myth

A lot of people might think that online learning is easier than face-to-face.

Let’s Debunk the Myth

Continue reading

In honor of International Women’s Day (IWD), we wanted to share a list by Interesting Engineering of outstanding women in STEM who have made significant contributions in science, technology, engineering, and math.

International Women’s Day (March 8) is a day of global celebration. On this day, we honor the accomplishments and contributions women have made socially, economically, culturally and politically. People from around the world celebrate this day, which also serves as call to action for accelerating gender parity. IWD began over a century ago when over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland gathered for the first ever March 8 IWD. In 2018, we see the evidence of a collective enthusiasm to keep the light of this day burning brightly to remind us of the importance that women, from all around the world, bring to our great planet!

“The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist not to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.” Gloria Steinem, world-renowned feminist, journalist and activist.

A List of Notable Women in STEM:

Hypatia

She was a prolific polymath in Roman Alexandria. Hypathia spent her life working as a Greek mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher in what was then the Byzantine Empire. If you want to get to know her life story even more, check out the film Agora.

Marie Curie

Madam Curie opened up a whole new world to humankind through her pioneering research on radioactivity. She sacrificed greatly for her contributions, leading ultimately to her death. The first woman to earn a Nobel Prize, she blazed a trail for humanity. She then climbed even higher when she earned her second Nobel Prize, the first woman to ever do that in history, as well.

Rosalind Franklin

If it weren’t for the brilliant mind of Rosalind Franklin, Watson, Crick, and Wilkins, may not have discovered the double helix structure in 1962. Through her work with X-Ray diffraction images of DNA, humankind’s understanding of DNA structure revealed itself as did the molecular structures of RNA, viruses, coal, and graphite.

Continue reading about more brilliant women in STEM...

When it comes to a career in ISD, the ever-expanding global marketplace continues to fuel demand for qualified professionals. As businesses grow, so do needs. These needs start at the foundation of a company’s mission and extend to all connected with its goods and services.

Great Opportunity in ISD

The great news when it comes to embarking on a career in ISD? The field, with its mighty reach and needs, has a great job outlook. Are you searching for a career that is rewarding, insightful, and rooted in development at both a basic and expert level? If so, check out the stats we’ve uncovered. A browse through them will tell you that there’s great opportunity and purpose in a variety of positions. These positions include training and development manager, learning manager, and education director.

ISD professionals are also in demand in a variety of industries such as:

• Professional
• Scientific
• Technical services
• Educational services
• State, local, and private
• Finance
• Insurance
• Healthcare
• Social

Furthermore, the demand will continue to grow as long as people need training and education. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the projected growth for training and development managers from 2016-2026 is faster than average (10-14%). In fact, as a direct effect of today’s mobile workforce, rapidly changing technology and growing global market, businesses need to make performance improvement and training a top priority. Job prospects should be favorable due to the constant need for workplace training and education.

This is great news for training and development professionals who strive to bring the most innovative approaches and cutting-edge practices into their work.

Keep reading story...

Obtaining a graduate degree requires time, determination, and commitment. It also requires you make some choices because a multitude of options exist. Let’s flesh them out.

Earning advanced degrees such as master’s, doctoral, certificates, and non-credit training, can help you move forward in your career in different ways. No doubt, deciding which route to take can be overwhelming.

Is a Graduate Degree For You?

Let’s talk about a master’s degree. What is it, and what can it do for you? Well, whether you want to pursue a specialization in your field, advance beyond your current job, or discover a new area of study, a master’s degree could help you take that critical step towards success.

Graduate Degree Types

For starters, master’s degrees can be either research- or course-based. In research-based programs, students work independently on a research project of their choosing, with guidance from department faculty. Course-based graduate degree programs require more structured time in seminars and lectures, but also usually have a research component. Let’s further breakdown the categories of graduate programs by type of study. These categories include programs such as Master of Science (MSc, MS), Master of Arts (MA), Master’s of Professional Studies (MPS) and Executive Master’s. The MPS programs are geared for working professionals and address current industry needs. Also, they are typically applied, and offer flexible classes.

Continue Reading rest of story...