Success Stories

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Jacqueline Chong

MDS Vancouver, Class of 2022

Mar 08 / 2023

While pursuing her undergraduate degree in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Jacqueline Chong was studying about global politics through the lens of major theories. It was during this time that a question kept on cropping up for her: why these major theories were not backed up quantitatively?

Christopher Alexander

MDS Vancouver, Class of 2022

Sep 14 / 2022

What fascinated most about data science for Christopher Alexander was its ability to provide actionable insight to the businesses.

Welcome the MDS Class of 2023

Sep 07 / 2022

This month we welcomed the latest cohorts of the MDS Vancouver, MDS Okanagan and MDS Computational Linguistics program. Unlike last year where we welcomed them virtually, this year it was a pleasure to see all of them in-person. Let us meet the latest crop of MDS Vancouver, Okanagan and MDS-CL students.

Gautham - Master of Data Science Vancouver

Gautham Pughazhendhi

MDS Vancouver, Class of 2022

Aug 22 / 2022

As Gautham Pughazhendhi was completing his bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from Anna University, he worked on a machine learning project that sparked his interest in data science.

Ruben De la Garza Macias

MDS Vancouver, Class of 2022

Jul 15 / 2022

It was during his time as a SaaS implementation consultant that made Rubén De la Garza Macías realize how much he loved analyzing and working with data

Saisree Gownipalli Ramanaiah

MDS Okanagan, Class of 2022

Jul 15 / 2022

Saisree has always has a strong desire to optimize any situation. Even as a child, she was always seeking answers.

Nihal D’Souza

MDS Computational Linguistics, Class of 2022

Jul 14 / 2022

It was Nihal D’Souza’s fascination with the advancements in human-machine interaction through natural language that sparked his interest in the field of computational linguistics. In particular, the application of machine translation, sentiment analysis, and computational morphology.

Gavin Grochowski

MDS Okanagan, Class of 2022

Jul 12 / 2022

Before Gavin Grochowski began considering a career in data science, he was thriving as a showband musician on cruise ships embarking on international voyages. But, like so many others, Gavin’s life changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saffrin Granby

MDS Computational Linguistics, Class of 2022

Jul 12 / 2022

Before joining the UBC Master of Data Science (MDS) Computational Linguistics program, Saffrin Granby was finishing her Bachelor of Science in Cognitive Systems at UBC where she specialized in Computer Science. In addition, during her undergraduate degree, Granby was working at the CANARY lab at UBC where she worked on using linguistic features to detect the presence of Alzheimer’s disease.

Nico Van den Hooff

MDS Vancouver, Class of 2022

Jul 12 / 2022

While working at KPMG, Nico Van den Hooff was working on a project where he utilized data analytics and data visualization techniques which introduced him to the world of data science.

Student Success Stories

Teng Li

MDS Okanagan, Class of 2025

Nov 14 / 2025

When Teng Li noticed the increased popularity of large language models like ChatGPT, it got her to thinking. Originally from China, Li had a background in computer science and computer vision, and had been working as a Machine Learning Engineer for four years before considering a return to university.

Nijiati Abulizi

MDS Okanagan, Class of 2024

May 15 / 2025

Attending UBC Okanagan’s Master of Data Science (MDS) Program was an easy decision for Nijiati Abulizi, who had completed both his Bachelor’s and first Master’s degrees at UBC Okanagan.

Sara Hall

MDS Okanagan, Class of 2022

Mar 07 / 2025

For Sara Hall, its was during her undergraduate degree in neuroscience at the University of Calgary where she was first introduced to the power and potential of extracting knowledge from data.

Introducing the UBC MDS Class of 2025

Sep 18 / 2024

Last month, we welcomed in the latest cohort of UBC Master of Data Science (MDS) Vancouver, Okanagan and Computational Linguistics students.

Lili Tang

MDS Okanagan, Class of 2023

Mar 08 / 2024

Lili Tang professional ambition to transition her career to Quantamental analysis lead her to UBC’s Master of Data Science (MDS) Okanagan program.

Welcome the MDS Class of 2024

Sep 18 / 2023

Earlier this month, the latest cohorts of MDS Vancouver and Computational Linguistics gathered at Sage Restaurant on UBC's Point Grey campus while the latest cohort of MDS Okanagan met up at the UBC Okanagan campus for various orientation events.

Master of Data Science Okanagan Vimal Singh

Vimaljeet Singh

MDS Okanagan, Class of 2023

Aug 16 / 2023

Aside from learning data science in the Okanagan, Vimaljeet Singh was attracted to the UBC MDS Okanagan program because of its accelerated format, professional degree offering, and small cohort size.

Ricky Heinrich

MDS Okanagan, Class of 2023

Jul 12 / 2023

While pursuing their Bachelor of Science in Physical Science (and a minor in business) from the University of Alberta, Ricky Heinrich found the courses they enjoyed the most involved data. When told that the work they were doing sounded like data science, a friend sent them a link to UBC’s Master of Data Science (MDS) program.

Welcome the MDS Class of 2023

Sep 07 / 2022

Saisree Gownipalli Ramanaiah

MDS Okanagan, Class of 2022

Jul 15 / 2022

Saisree has always has a strong desire to optimize any situation. Even as a child, she was always seeking answers.

Gavin Grochowski

MDS Okanagan, Class of 2022

Jul 12 / 2022

Rain Shen

MDS Okanagan, Class of 2021

Jul 14 / 2021

As a quality assurance coordinator with a major manufacturing company specializing in geosynthetic and medical products, Rain Shen often poured through historical data that was not easy to decipher, nor easy to process.

Nathan Smith

MDS Okanagan, Class of 2021

Jul 14 / 2021

As a senior water resources engineer, Nathan Smith has been working with data his entire career.

Prior to joining UBCO’s Master of Data Science program, Smith plied his trade at an engineering consulting firm, first collecting stream flow data in the BC Coastal Mountains before moving onto data analysis and modelling, along with managing data collection programs.

Samuel Vélez

MDS Okanagan, Class of 2021

Jun 30 / 2021

For Samuel Vélez, three years of working in finance opened his eyes to how data can shape the future of industries and companies.

“The data-driven organizations are the ones pushing ahead, making the most out of the huge amounts of data available today,” explained Vélez. “I wanted to be part of that and help as much as I could.”

MDS Teams Place One and Two in ESDC Hackathon

Two other MDS teams place in top 6 out of 14 teams

Mar 18 / 2021

Recently, the UBC Master of Data Science (MDS) program partnered with Simon Fraser University (SFU) and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to host a three-day online hackathon entitled “Integrity Hackathon: Canadian Companies Deep Dive”.

During this competition, UBC and SFU student teams of programmers and data analysts were tasked to solve a real-world challenge and present their solutions to ESDC employees. A total 14 teams made of 3-5 members competed (seven from UBC and seven from SFU).

Welcome (Virtually) the MDS Class of 2021

Sep 11 / 2020

Earlier this month, we welcomed the latest cohorts for the MDS Vancouver, Okanagan and Computational Linguistics programs.

Students joined us from across the globe and several time zones over Zoom as they got to know each other and the MDS team.

While the COVID-19 outbreak has forced the MDS program to move temporarily online, we are still happy to welcome our fifth! MDS Vancouver cohort, the third MDS Okanagan cohort and the second MDS Computational Linguistics cohort.

Let’s get to know the MDS Class of 2021.

Kaitlyn Hobbs

MDS Okanagan, Class of 2020

Sep 09 / 2020

It was during her undergraduate studies where Kaitlyn Hobbs developed a true appreciation for data science. While completing her biochemistry degree, Hobbs often found herself favouring dry labs involving statistical analysis and introductory programming. After completing her thesis in comparing biome classification software efficacy, Hobbs thought it only natural to follow her interests and pursue formal data science learning.

Swapil Paliwal

MDS Okanagan, Class of 2020

Sep 09 / 2020

An avid learner who enjoys working in interdisciplinary and diverse settings, Swapil Paliwal’s interest in the education field led him to a job within the analytics team at Apex Learning, an online education company in Seattle. His subsequent role as full-time Data Scientist exposed him to the enormous value, challenges, and applications of data analytics in multiple areas of the business.

Connor Lee

MDS Okanagan, Class of 2020

Sep 09 / 2020

For Connor Lee, it was a strong self-interest in data collection and analysis and an unrelenting desire to improve his technical abilities that led him to an important realization.

A Graduate’s Path: Mohsen Zardadi

The first MDS Okanagan graduate to get a job

Jul 10 / 2020

Students choose graduate studies for a number of reasons.

For some, their chosen profession requires it, while others want to change career paths or advance more quickly in their current roles. Many others want to conduct high-level research in an area close to their hearts or one that can change the world.

Learning MDS Remotely

Moving In-Person to Online - How the students adjusted to learning remotely

May 06 / 2020

In an ideal world, our MDS students would be learning in-person amongst their cohort but the COVID-19 outbreak has forced post-secondary institutions like UBC to move classes online. We spoke to a few of our MDS students from the Class of 2020 on how they’ve adjusted to learning data science online.

From Student to Healthcare Hero

MDS Okanagan student drops the books, dons medical gear amid COVID-19 outbreak

May 05 / 2020

Ngan Nguyen Lyle was studying for an upcoming data science quiz when she got the call.

Lyle, a Master of Data Science (MDS) student at UBC Okanagan and medical doctor, was being summoned to return to work to support Interior Health’s COVID-19 response team.

Teaching MDS Remotely

Moving In-Person to Online - How faculty adjusted to teaching remotely

Apr 29 / 2020

The COVID-19 outbreak has forced many institutions like UBC to move all classes online. The UBC Master of Data Science (MDS) program was no exception and has been teaching online since March 16.

To move to this new way of teaching, the MDS team used a variety of online tools like Collaborate Ultra and Zoom for lectures. Slack and GitHub to communicate with students and Canvas to administer exams.

We spoke to a few of our MDS teaching staff to see how they’ve adjusted to this new way of teaching and lessons learned.

Welcome to our 2019-20 cohorts

Sep 13 / 2019

Last week, we welcomed our next set of cohorts for MDS Vancouver and Okanagan as well as the very first cohort of the MDS Computational Linguistics program.

It is exciting to see the MDS program grow year-over-year. When the program began in 2016, we started with just 22 students, which then increased to 43 for year 2 and 70 students in year 3.

We are proud to see the program welcome 97 new students as the fourth cohort of MDS-Vancouver.

Here are some facts about MDS Vancouver - Cohort 4:

Employer Success Stories

Rocketbrew

Capstone Partner Profile

Aug 02 / 2024

Rocketbrew was founded by two MDS Vancouver alumnae back in 2021 and since that time, the company and its founders have given back to the program by becoming capstone partners.

Dialpad

Capstone Partner Profile

Oct 12 / 2021

For Dialpad, a provider of cloud-native business communications platform, you will find that the majority of its projects are data science-oriented. As a team with a lot of ongoing projects and responsibilities, Dialpad is constantly coming up with many interesting ideas but they often give way to projects that have higher priority. Wanting a way to test some of these ideas without the pressure of a product deadline led Dialpad to collaborate with the MDS program and become a capstone partner.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Capstone Partner Profile

Nov 26 / 2020

Vancouver Whitecaps FC is utilizing data science to inform decisions across several areas of Soccer Operations, including decisions about athletes’ physical preparation, injury prevention, return to sport, player identification/scouting, performance analysis, and opposition scouting.

GLENTEL Inc.

Capstone Partner Profile

Nov 25 / 2020

As a retail company, GLENTEL has a large amount of transactional data from sales, employee and customer details and opinions. The organization incorporated aspects of data science in reporting and building of data marts where traditional methods wouldn’t be able to handle the scope of the data. GLENTEL recently partnered with a team from UBC MDS program to develop a model to identify keywords in resumes which correlate with employee performance.