From oil driller to “data driller”
9 December 2020
After completing her PhD in engineering and working nearly five years in a then stable and robust oil and gas industry, Li Fengzi’s career was progressing steadily. But when a severe market downturn shook the sector, she came to the stark realisation that optimising technologies is crucial for companies to be future-ready. This began a quest for a good postgraduate programme in data science, one with a solid, well-organised curriculum structure, and extensive industry partnerships. She found what she was looking for in the NUS Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA).
A Transformative Journey
Fengzi’s career transformation from engineer to data scientist with the Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon reads like a fairy tale. Inspired by her MSBA senior who did his capstone project with BNY Mellon, she decided to seize her golden opportunity and applied for the same when her time came.
While interning, Fengzi learnt about emerging data science techniques, solving business challenges using Artificial Intelligence (AI), she also had the opportunity to delve deeper into the issue of fairness and ethics in AI at the BNY Mellon Asia Pacific Innovation Centre. Her stellar performance during the internship won her a spot among seven MSBA Outstanding Capstone Project awardees, and a full-time job offer with the bank. Projects are evaluated based on the business value they bring, technical soundness, and quality of the final presentation.
Career doors were not the only ones that opened to Fengzi. During her time as a graduate student, she also had the opportunity to understudy Associate Professor Jussi Keppo in the NUS Institute of Operations Research and Analytics (IORA) as a research assistant. This experience allowed her to gain exposure and apply her classroom knowledge to real-world data science projects. Modules such as deep learning and data analytics helped to establish a solid foundation, and equip her with problem-solving skillsets.
“This reminded me of my time as a PhD candidate. I relish the research environment in a university where progress is driven by curiosity and problem-solving.”
A day in the life of a data scientist
At BNY Mellon, Fengzi is part of a high-performance team that also consists of cross-functional members like User Interface/User Experience designers, full stack engineers, and product managers. As a data scientist, she runs different experimentations with AI, partnering with business and product managers to explore how AI can be applied to business ideas and opportunities. She also works closely with her engineering colleagues to integrate AI models into business applications and workflows.
Although working remotely from home at the moment, her team continues to accelerate the bank’s digital and innovation agenda that ultimately benefits clients and brings the financial services industry forward.
Looking back, Fengzi reflects that the knowledge gained from her MSBA experiences has really paid off in her career. “The MSBA programme has been a powerful stepping stone for me. The classroom learnings, capstone project and participating in competitions such as the 2020 NUS-EMC Innovation Challenge has empowered me to fulfil my career aspirations."
Other mention:
https://bizbeat.nus.edu.sg/community-news/article/from-oil-driller-to-data-driller/