Program:
Master of Science in Business Analytics
Student Name:
Monika Lodha
Graduating Class:
Class of 2018
Undergraduate Alma Mater:
Bachelor of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, India
About Monika:
I am a graduate student at McCombs School of Business with the class of 2018, pursuing Master of Science in Business Analytics. I have a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and two years of professional experience with HSBC as a Business Analyst. My work experience so far has been quite diverse which includes working as an event manager, cofounding an educational consultancy startup, and as a part-time tutor teaching math to high school students, all of which eventually helped in improving my technical, organizational, leadership and marketing skills. People who know me the best describe me as a good dancer and I enjoy doing the same during leisure.
Proudest Accomplishment:
In any professional job I have ever worked in, I have always demonstrated the ability to deliver to the responsibilities shouldered upon me. While working with HSBC, I was given the responsibility to migrate a very crucial project to a visualization tool called QlikView. The huge cost associated with buying the license for having access to the data report was limiting the net productivity and was leading to a delay of the project deliverables by few months. During this course, I built an innovative tool within QlikView at no cost thus making the data report available to all business partners across the entire commercial banking analytics, and realizing its significance, it is now proposed to be deployed in other analytics teams within the firm. This was undoubtedly one of the most rewarding and proudest moments in my life as it earned me great appreciation from top leaders of the firm.
Why did you choose the MSBA Program?
My 2 year long experience with HSBC as a business analyst helped me understand the importance of not just doing the “right project” but to doing the “project right” through apt decisions. Having introduced to many data analysis tools made me realize the huge scope that analytics offered for business development along with its broad spectrum of applicability. But, I found myself lacking a foundation that would help me dive in and explore the analytics domain. MSBA at UT is exhilarating with its hands-on learning, highly competitive and collaborative setting in each of the courses with people from vivid backgrounds. In a short duration, we get to adapt and tackle the real-world situations, equip ourselves with required analytics skill-sets and make ourselves industry ready as analytics professionals. This really drove me to MSBA at UT.
What are you most looking forward to in your program?
My journey so far at UT has been very stimulating and has engaged me constantly into learning something new since the start. I feel fortunate to be amidst such a highly qualified cohort and am looking forward to learn from the analytical talents that each one of them has to offer. I am eagerly waiting for the upcoming corporate events that are aimed at making us familiar with corporate culture and network with some of the stalwarts and technical connoisseurs in analytics. I am keen at making the best out of the industry capstone project which would give me a quintessential exposure to the use and significance of analytics in business development while understanding the dynamics within the process.
More on Texas MS Student Spotlight:
Texas MS #StudentSpotlight is a new feature showcasing the talent, background, and aspirations of the McCombs Master of Science Program students! Learn more about the Texas Master of Science in Business Analytics on our homepage.
Current Texas MS students interested in appearing in our student spotlight should contact their Program Coordinator regarding access to the Student Spotlight Survey.