What's Happening

Academic Director – Chair Professor Lancelot F. James
Lancelot F. James | LinkedIn

I am a researcher in mathematical statistics, a Professor, and therefore a perpetual student. As the Director of the HKUST MSc in Business Analytics program, I have the privilege of attending classes to observe and support our students' progress. It is a rewarding experience to witness their growth and offer them encouragement. Allow me to share "another" glimpse of what our program teaches our students on a given day (yesterday), with the hope of inspiring others to join as students (part/full-time) and encouraging companies to participate in this remarkable journey.

Yesterday I attended Day 2 of our Data Analytics tools workshop on Data Warehousing Tools taught by Prof. Khai San Banh with the help of PC (Pucheng). Then I and Marcela Barrios León snuck into Prof. Chris Doran's management consulting class (MGMT5760) where we were able to catch an engaging student presentation and then watch as Prof. Doran masterfully took apart each of their ppt slides and gave the class sage advice on how to present that same material (their hard analytical work) in the most effective manner, all with a smile, a bit of humor and with genuine care.

So, on one day the students are learning concepts such as data virtualization, learning about cutting edge tools, and their roles in the data ecosystem, in particular Zetaris and Snowflake taught by Prof. Khai San Banh. She is one of our Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA Program alumni, and also happens to be CEO of Sprint Milestone and therefore advises corporate clients, and governments, on all aspects of analytics. The students also got to test drive Snowflake under the guidance of PC. On that same day they are being taught masterfully aspects of the McKinsey & Company 7 Step Problem Solving process by our resident consulting guru Prof. Chris Doran. (Prof Joon Nak Choi supplements this course by adding some more BA specific elements). To add, Prof. Doran teaches in our top flight HKUST MBA and our consistently number 1 ranked Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA Program. I asked him personally to teach for us because I wanted the best. I am most grateful to both Khai San and Chris for generously sharing their years of expertise with our students.