Chicago Booth immerses you in a choice-rich environment. How have your interests, leadership experiences, and other passions influenced the choices in your life? (250 word minimum)

On February 13, 2014, I was nervous for two reasons: I was stuck in the library due to a snowstorm and I was scheduled to talk with the CIO of XXX about analytics. We met through mutual connections as I was pursuing my masters in business analytics. The CIO discussed how analytics was transforming every aspect of XXX’s business from engineering to compliance and how I was entering one of the most in demand job roles for the next decade. After the call, I trudged across campus with excitement and confidence knowing that I wanted a career on the front lines of data science.

In 2016, I was placed on my first analytics project at XXX. My team and I developed predictive models for a commercial aircraft engine manufacturer for their aftermarket leasing business line. Engine failures cost millions of dollars each year due to flight delays, passengers missing connections, and maintenance. We had over 1000 engine sensors available across five flight phases and trained our models using 4 years of data. One of the challenges with this endeavor was missing and incomplete data. We overcame this obstacle by only training on engines with consistent data across multiple months. We also harnessed external data from a NASA satellite that captures concentrations of particles in the atmosphere. As aircraft fly across the globe, we found engines deteriorate faster when flying within one region than others. I led development of the data cleaning and enhancement routines for all the engine parameters and the business documentation once the project ended. These models would likely prolong engine life by 1 additional year and reduce maintenance costs by $1,000,000 per engine.

Immediately after my first analytics project, I was asked to work on a project overseas in France with a major commercial aircraft manufacturer. My team and I developed predictive models that forecast critical pneumatic system failures for a commercial aircraft, which control air conditioning and pressurization of passenger cabin. I led development of the data preparation routines, model building, and model evaluation for accuracy and business impact. These models correctly flagged 86% of flights - before failure against a simulation of 50 aircraft, which would save the airline over $2,000,000 a year.

A year later, I was asked to attend a workshop in Abu Dhabi, UAE to discuss my experience on the previous two aircraft projects with one of XXX’s newer airline clients. I was asked to attend by XXX innovation executives who sell and lead XXX’s most innovative and technologically advanced engagements that IBM hopes will generate new revenue streams. I led a data workshop where I developed a data ecosystem diagram of the client’s data infrastructure to understand the availability and location of all the necessary data assets required to conduct analytics. The diagram was presented at the end of the workshop to the airline and XXX executives as outcomes of the workshop.

With XXX, I’ve had the opportunity to work with clients in the Middle East and Europe. The focus of the work is the same, but it’s been rewarding to develop my communication skills and apply my knowledge in different contexts. These experiences have fueled my passion for data science and its impacts globally.