An important part of the Master of Management Analytics program is the development of communication skills, being able to present complex information to others. During the early part of the second half of the program our students are given the opportunity to use these skills as they present their work so far on their practicum projects to their peers and faculty.

A key part of the program

The Management Analytics Practicum runs throughout the program and is an opportunity for the students to engage with a real-world business problem. Working in teams of three or four they devise an analytical approach to solving a managerial issue, present a design for the analytical data set and model development, then execute and present results.

The presentations begin

Each team took the stage to present the outline for their project in five minutes, before taking questions from the audience. The presentations covered how they will approach the managerial problem they have been set. While all of the projects offered a similar level of complexity, the questions they were to solve were unique, so it was an opportunity for the students to learn more about what their classmates will be working on.

Linking theory to the real-world

During the first half of the program students had been exploring the different sources of data, and the models and tools that can be used to extract insight. In the second half they start to execute their proposals and put these skills into practice. In the classroom they switch the focus to how analytics can be used to inform managerial decisions. The skills and knowledge developed during this part of the program will be invaluable during the latter stages of the practicum where they report on the outcomes of their projects. Graduates of this program will be equipped with the skills to carry out technical analysis of data and communicate findings to both technical and non-technical colleagues to help shape business decisions - the practicum is a great way to develop skills in these areas.

The Student View

The practicum presentation put many of our students to the test, providing them with a valuable experience on their journey towards their final goal of becoming data science experts. Here's a glimpse into some of our students' thoughts through the process. 

"I felt I was presenting my work in-front of my client in an actual consulting job. The presentations were interesting as each project is very different from the other and the content was so innovative. It also intrigued my job search to broaden the job exploration." - Jad Krisht

"Practicum Presentations gave us a great glimpse of the variety of analytical projects undertaken by different companies in various industries. It is intriguing to understand the breadth of use cases that we as MMA students can tackle." - Snigdha Chaturvedi

"The practicum presentation gave us the opportunity to showcase our work from the first sprint to colleagues and other hosts."- Hawa Latuke