Supply chain students at SCOPA Symposium.
SCOPA symposium highlights big data

On February 25, the Olin Supply Chain and Operations Association (SCOPA) held its second annual symposium at Knight Center. Seven Olin alumni and industry experts from Deloitte, Accenture, Equifax, Express Scripts, and BJC Healthcare joined a mixed group of 33 students in the MBA and Master of Supply Chain and Customer Analytics programs to discuss the topic of ‘Big Data Analytics in Supply Chain & Operations.’

The topics that we discussed included the definition of big data in various industries, types of big data, the IT implementation and human resources support, the use of big data in real-world business and lastly, the soft and technical skills students need to learn before going into the advanced data analytics field. The discussion was very inspiring. We were not only able to gain industry insights first hand, but some of us also discovered career opportunities and even potential business opportunities among participating companies and students’ employers.

Panelists speak at the 2016 SCOPA symposium.

Panelists speak at the 2016 SCOPA Symposium.

The symposium was very successful. Both the students and the panelists believed that it was a great learning opportunity. After the event, the panelists from Deloitte explicitly expressed that they would love to come back next year to meet more students and provide more learning and networking opportunities. Events like these makes them even more interested in our talent here at Olin.

Last but not least, I want to express my special thanks to Mark Schlafly, Karen Heise and Lisa Hebert from the Weston Career Center and Sally Michael from the Management Communication Center. The event would not have been this successful without their huge support. At the beginning of the preparation stage, we experienced some difficulty inviting the right industry experts. Karen and Sally even generously shared their personal contacts to help SCOPA with the event. This is a great example of the collaboration among WCC, MCC, and student organizations. Olin is really a place where everyone truly cares about your success. You know you could always get genuine support from this close-knit community.

Moving forward, SCOPA plans to maintain and expand its network with companies. We hope to host another symposium in the Fall semester when most students are looking for internship/full-time opportunities, and organize more Lunch & Learn opportunities.

Guest blogger: Joyce Song, MBA ’17

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