Students and Alumni

UBC MDS attracts bright minds from a wide range of backgrounds. Find out more about our students and alumni read about what they were doing prior to joining the program, their experience during the program, and their journey ahead.

Vancouver

Alumni

Employment Status 6 and 12 Months After Graduation

Employment Positions

Data Science Consultant/Contractor Software Engineer
Software Developer/Data Engineer Research and Innovation Intern
Data Scientist Machine Learning Engineer
Data Management Engineer Consultant
Data Manager Technical Business Analyst
Data Engineer Analyst
Data Analyst Faculty, Operations Management
Research Analyst Application Architect
Faculty/Data Analyst in Residence Artificial Intelligence Industry Analyst Intern
Computational Biologist Business Intelligence Engineer
Senior Data Analyst Data Intelligence Platform Analyst
Business Insights Analyst Quantitative Analyst
Manager Finance and Strategy Fraud Modeler
Machine Learning Developer Senior Data Scientist
Director of Data and Technology Specialist of the Department of Analysis and Strategy
Predictive Analyst Machine Learning Developer
Simulation Manager Director, Compensation Data and Research
Associate Director of Marketing Analytics Manager, Visualization and Support
Investigative Trading Analyst Senior Policy Analyst
Knowledge Engineer BI Analyst
AI Engineer Pricing and Cost Analyst

Job Location

Alumni Incomes

Top Industries Worked In

* Based on MDS Vancouver alumni survey responses 6 months and 1 year after graduation since the class of 2017.

Students

Previous Degree

Where Students Come From

Previous Degree Level

Gender Identification

Years Since Last Degree

Class Size

* Based on all MDS Vancouver cohorts since the class of 2017. Data with less than 5 students will not appear.

Okanagan

Alumni

Employment Status 6 and 12 Months After Graduation

Employment Positions

Senior Analytics Specialist Data Analyst, Enterprise Business Intelligence Team
Data Science Research Assistant Data Developer
Public Health Epidemiologist Data Analyst
Research Analyst Data visualization analyst
Senior Data Scientist Director Industry AI
Quality Assurance Engineer Machine Learning engineer
Director, Research and Data Science Data Scientist & Engineer
Data Scientist  

Job Location

Alumni Incomes

Top Industries Worked In

* Based on MDS Okanagan alumni survey responses 6 months and 1 year after graduation since the class of 2019.

Students

Previous degree

Geography

Previous Degree Level

Years Since Last Degree

Gender Identification

Class Size

* Based on all MDS Okanagan cohorts since the class of 2019. Data with less than 5 students will not appear.

Computational Linguistics

Alumni

Employment Status 6 Months After Graduation

Employment Positions

Data Analyst Developer
Agile Developer Data Scientist
Machine Learning Engineer - Speech Recognition Applied Data Scientist III
Software Developer Data Science Intern
Business intelligence developer NLP/Deep Learning Engineer
Language Engineer Machine Learning Engineer
NLU Language Consultant Data Engineer
NLP Machine Learning Engineer AI Developer
Data Extraction Developer Marketing Data Scientist
NLP Data Scientist Software Engineer - NLP/NLU
Computational Linguist Senior Data Analyst
Senior AI Engineer Prompt Engineer

Job Location

Alumni Incomes

Top Industries Worked In

* Based on MDS Computational Linguistics alumni survey responses 6 months after graduation since the class of 2020.

Students

Previous Degree

Geography

Previous degree

Years Since Last Degree

Gender Identification

Class Size

* Based on all MDS Computational Linguistics cohorts since the class of 2020. Data with less than 5 students will not appear.

Student and Alumni Profiles

All

Class of 2023

Master of Data Science Okanagan Ricky Heinrich

Ricky Heinrich

"I appreciated the fact that the UBC MDS program did not require a statistics or computer science undergrad, but rather accepted interdisciplinary backgrounds. This meant not only I could apply, but my peers were sure to come from varied and interesting backgrounds."

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Science in Physical Science from University of Alberta 
Program: MDS Okanagan, Class of 2023

I realized that my favourite parts of my courses as well as my work experience were the data parts: gathering data, analyzing it, getting insights, visualizing trends and results … I liked my analytical chemistry courses the best, where we needed to replicate experiments with ...

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Master of Data Science Computational Linguistics Kai Maurin-Jones Headshot

Kai Maurin-Jones

“The content covered in the program is specifically chosen by staff to be not just what is fundamental and necessary to the field, but also exactly what is most sought-after in-industry at the moment”

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Arts – Language and Intercultural Relations, French & Language and Cognition from Toronto Metropolitan University
Program: MDS Computational Linguistics, Class of 2023

I’ve always been a very analytical person, and though I came from a qualitative background I wanted to fulfill the part of me that was curious about the quantitative side of things. Combining my interest ...

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Master of Data Science Okanagan Lili Tang

Lili Tang

“The MDS program at UBC offers an accelerated 10-month curriculum that covers all stages of the data science value chain, providing me with a comprehensive skill set in a relatively short period of time. Moreover, the program's structure allows me to quickly return to the workforce after completing my studies.”

Previous Degree: Master of International Business, International Trade and Investment and Financing Management from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics 
Program: MDS Okanagan, Class of 2023

In today's era, the advancements in computer technology have opened new possibilities for data analysis, leading to the growing significance of quantitative analysis in the financial industry. With a ...

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Michelle Yun, Master of Data Science in Computational Linguistics

Michelle Yun

“I was intrigued by the MDS Computational program because it offered me the chance to step out of my comfort zone and gain new skills in coding and working with data.” 

Previous Degree: Bachelor's in Speech Science from the University of British Columbia   
Program: MDS Computational Linguistics, Class of 2023

While I’d initially planned on pursuing a masters in speech-language pathology, I was intrigued by the MDS Computational Linguistics program because it offered me the chance to step out of my comfort zone and gain new skills in coding and working with data ...

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Master of Data Science Vancouver Nabi profile

Nabi Zadeh

“MDS is a transformative and comprehensive program that will equip you with a solid foundation in data science and the necessary skills to thrive in the industry. It is intense and requires dedication and commitment to the classes and labs.”

Previous Degree: Master of Business Administration, Marketing from the University of Tehran      
Program: MDS Vancouver, Class of 2023   

As a data-driven marketer, I implemented marketing and analytics strategies and tactics to interact with users and evaluate their engagement with digital products. Simultaneously, I expanded my skills and understanding of business administration by pursuing an ...

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Meiyu Zheng, Master of Data Science in Computational Linguistics

Meiyu Zheng

“This program stands out due to its unique blend of data science and NLP courses, serving as a quick refresher and bridges the knowledge gap for students like me who completed their bachelor's degrees years ago and are transitioning from non-STEM fields.”

Previous Degree: Bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from Zhejiang University
Program: MDS Computational Linguistics, Class of 2023

I love learning and teaching languages and I’ve also always been passionate about leveraging data to solve business problems at work. This has led me to realize that computational linguistics is the perfect crossroads of these interests.

About Meiyu ...

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Master of Data Science Lauren Zung Capstone Project

Lauren Zung

“There is something in MDS for everyone, regardless of where you’re starting from. Some of us were engineers or programmers before the program, while others have backgrounds in STEM, arts, business, all walks of life. At the end of the day, we all brought something different to the table and are now trained technical professionals.”

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Science in Behavioural Neuroscience from the University of British Columbia      
Program: MDS Vancouver, Class of 2023   
 

During my undergrad, I signed up for a programming course on a whim and ended up really enjoying it. I decided to take more electives over the years in data structures and algorithms, statistical modeling, database design, and applied machine ...

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Class of 2022

Christopher Alexander Master of Data Science Vancouver

Christopher Alexander

"The program is intensive. But by the end of the 10-months, you will be confident to face any challenge thrown at you in the real world."

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Engineering, Computer Science from CMR Institute of Technology
Prior Experience: Data Scientist – Marlabs Inc.  
Program: MDS Vancouver, Class of 2022

I was working as a data scientist in India for a software firm based in New Jersey for about 2 years. The ability It holds to provide actionable insight to the businesses. It also helps me explore various industries and see ...

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Jacqueline Chong Master of Data Science Vancouver

Jacqueline Chong

"I believe this program has equipped me with the technical know-hows to embark on a project whenever I am called upon to do so, and be an effective conduit between data scientists / engineers and the project lead."

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Science in International Relations from the London School of Economics
Program: MDS Vancouver, Class of 2022

Several summer internship stints in the public service in Singapore made me realize that I have a knowledge gap in terms of effectively dealing with large swaths of data. As such, I felt that it was necessary to arm myself with the technical knowledge to solve ...

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Nihal D'Souza MDS Computational Linguistics

Nihal D’Souza

"The UBC MDS Computational Linguistics program was lucrative as it covered a breadth of topics from computer science, statistics, and linguistics within a relatively short time frame of 10 months, allowing me to go back into the industry as soon as possible."

Previous Degree: Bachelors of Computer Science and Engineering from The National Institute of Engineering
Program: MDS Computational Linguistics, Class of 2022

I was fascinated by the advancements in human-machine interaction through natural language and how this field was developing. Some of these advancements are the applications of machine translation, sentiment analysis, and computational ...

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Class of 2020

Rob Blumberg

Rob Blumberg

“There are so many smart and friendly people from different educational and cultural backgrounds in MDS, which makes learning and collaborating so much easier.”

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Science in Physics, McGill University
Previous Experience: Data Science Intern, BMO Financial Group
Program: MDS Vancouver, Class of 2020

It was around my third year of undergrad that I started hearing and learning more about data science. My first real encounter with data science came through my passion for soccer, as I discovered articles and blog posts explaining how ...

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Alistair Clark

Alistair Clark

“I chose the MDS program as a way to quickly build the skills and credibility I needed to transition into data science. I could have tried to build these skills while working at my previous company, but that would have taken longer and would have made it difficult to break into the job market.”

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, Queen's University in Kingston, ON
Prior Experience: Lead Product Developer and Head of Product, I Will Teach/GrowthLab and Management Consultant at Accenture Strategy
Program: MDS Vancouver, Class of 2020

At the startup I worked for prior to MDS, I was facing big questions around our product and market strategy. We had plenty of data from ...

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Cari Gostic

Cari Gostic

“I’m finishing the program with confidence that I can pick up on new platforms, languages, methodologies, and frameworks on the fly.”  

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Science in Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University
Previous Experience: Analyst, Consulting Team, Risk Management Solutions (RMS)
Program: MDS Vancouver, Class of 2020

I decided to pursue data science because it combines everything I like about research -- uncovering insights, the thrill of discovery, working with new and interesting data -- but is extensible across all ...

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Reiko Okamoto

Reiko Okamoto

“The MDS program concisely covers a broad range of topics in data science [and] I appreciated how the capstone project guaranteed industry experience.”

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia
Program: MDS Vancouver, Class of 2020

[During my Master’s of Science in Public Health], in one class, students were instructed to conduct a literature review on a topic related to public health. I don’t exactly remember why I decided to do this, but I chose to write about the challenges and ...

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Class of 2019

Carrie Cheung

Carrie Cheung

“The MDS program gave me the confidence to explain and reason through data-related decisions.”

Previous Degree:  Bachelor of Arts, Double Major in Computer Science and Psychology, University of British Columbia
Program:  MDS Vancouver, Class of 2019

When I looked at the [MDS] curriculum, it was a really good range of relevant topics that I could tell was carefully designed and curated to fit within a ten-month window and also included a capstone project. That timeline really appealed to me as ...

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Ayla Pearson

Ayla Pearson

“The MDS program was exactly what I wanted to be able to do with data, which is to turn data into meaningful actions and be able to create decisions from them.”

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Science, Chemistry – University of Victoria
Prior Experience: Resource Clerk, Province of British Columbia
Program: MDS Vancouver, Class of 2019

I've been looking for data science master's programs for months. Nothing really clicked and as soon as I read the MDS program description, it was exactly what I wanted to do and that is being able to use already collected data to ...

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Birinder Singh

Birinder Singh

“[MDS’] extensive and comprehensive curriculum was not being covered at any of the other programs within this short span of ten months.”

Previous Degree: Integrated MTech, Geophysical Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
Program: MDS Vancouver, Class of 2019

I was already curious and reading articles about the developments in machine learning and doing Kaggle competitions and some online courses. If I was only doing online courses, I would have missed a lot. MDS taught me what skills were important and how to connect ...

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Heather Van Tassel

Heather Van Tassel

“The years of knowledge and expertise that the MDS teachers have is priceless. Even if I did sit down and try to learn data science, I wouldn't know where to start or what to focus on.”

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Science, Integrated Science: Biochemistry and Neuroscience, University of British Columbia
Program: MDS Vancouver, Class of 2019

Even though at first I was skeptical about whether the MDS program would be worth the investment, and also extremely nervous about the intensity of the program, given my limited coding skills, I could not be happier with the knowledge ...

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Class of 2018

Jordan Dubchak

Jordan Dubchak

“Having the support of a very dedicated team of instructors along with the environment of your fellow students who have all such different backgrounds is my favorite thing of the program because you're learning so much not only from your instructors and your TA’S but also the people around you because they have different specialized skills.”

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Science - Biology, University of British Columbia
Program: MDS Vancouver, Class of 2018

I took my first computer science course in the last term of my undergraduate degree, which lead to a change in career path. The switch to data science began through self-learning, and my curiosity lead me to the MDS program. I was initially drawn to the program by the accelerated ...

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Ted Haley

Ted Haley

"Coming from a Civil Engineering background, I was initially unsure if the MDS program would benefit me. My uncertainty was quickly put at ease seeing more and more industries leveraging the benefits of Data Science. There is tremendous opportunity to use the skills learned in the MDS program and apply them to solve hard problems in traditionally low-tech industries."

Previous Degree: Bachelors of Applied Science in Civil Engineering, University of British Columbia
Prior Experience: RJC Engineers
Program:  MDS Vancouver, Class of 2018

I came to the UBC MDS program because I knew that I wanted to learn as much about Data Science as I could and I wanted to broaden my skill set. The UBC MDS program accomplished this by supplying students with world-class educators ...

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Class of 2020

Toshiko Shibano MDS Computational Linguistics

Toshiko Shibano

“If you are like me and enjoy devising solutions to real world problems, have a desire to transfer knowledge and skills from a previous job to the digitized world, or are passionate about language, this program is worth the money and time.”

Previous Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, University of British Columbia
Prior Experience: Executive Vice President, Senior Translator and Programmer, Simulingual Inc.
Program: MDS Computational Linguistics, Class of 2020

“If you are like me and enjoy devising solutions to real world problems, have a desire to transfer knowledge and skills from a previous job to the digitized world, or are ...

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Aaron Tian MDS Computational Linguistics

Aaron Tian

“The biggest benefit you get coming into this program is you get to work with a lot of people with different backgrounds, in terms of the fields they come from, and who tend to approach the same question from different angles.”

Previous Degree: Master of Science in Computational Finance, DePaul University
Program: MDS Computational Linguistics, Class of 2020

With MDS CL, the data science courses are very essential to becoming a computational linguist. The program gives us a solid foundation for us to use our linguistics skills and put them into practice.

About Aaron Tian

Originally from China, Aaron has a Master of Science ...

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