Capstone Project in PGPDM – A key differentiator

The Postgraduate Program in Data Science and Machine Learning (PGPDM) is a 10-month program by the University of Chicago’s Graham School, the professional division of one of the top-ranked universities in the US; IBM, the global technology leader; and Jigsaw Academy, India’s top online school for analytics.

The program is a blend of data science, deep learning, business analytics, visualization and project management education with the application of advanced analytics models for artificial intelligence, deep learning and cognitive computing.

Capstone Project

A Capstone Project is that hands-on experience you gain through live work experience with the big companies that let you apply what you’ve learned to address a problem or a practical question. This is an integral part of any learning program, and the Postgraduate Program in Data Science and Machine Learning (PGPDM) by University of Chicago Graham School and Jigsaw Academy lay special focus on it.

The PGPDM has a rigorous curriculum which culminates in a real-time project featuring actual business problems which students will be expected to solve applying the analytics knowledge gained. The capstone project is a program requirement that’s designed to build this competency.

Student teams will identify a company with both a business problem and the resources needed to carry out the research process, and work with analytics industry research partners across levels and functions. Students will also additionally have access to proprietary and rare data from companies and work in a secure online lab to prepare the analysis report.

Here’s a link to an article written by one of our PGPDM students based on the capstone project he did, along with his team – Finding the best vacation spot… the analytics way…

Excerpts from the article:

It is summer and time to go out on a vacation trip. But where to…? Should I go that beach where my buddy had posted that awesome selfie? But she did mention that except for that pic, the beach was filled with plastic and food waste. Magic of photoshop to the rescue!!!

Is there a smarter way to know about a place, maybe from people who have been there already? But we know people, they could talk a thousand words and never mention a word about the plastic on that beach.

The only way is if I could somehow hear from a few thousand of them, I have a better chance of getting more accurate information. And rather than me talking to them why not make a computer listen to them and make it filter out the junk. Ok, we have cracked it. Have we really…?

So, that was the mission statement for our analytics project. As always in analytics, a series of questions ensued…

Click on the link to read the full piece.

Happy Reading!