Victoria Martin started out as an undergraduate in nuclear engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, but changed her trajectory while working for Siemens Healthineers during her last two years of school.

“Even though my engineering degree was helpful, it seemed more of a complement to the analytical work they wanted me to do,” Martin says. “They wanted to make predictions based on data they had.”

As Martin dabbled in analytics, she was intrigued. A coworker at Siemens told her about the Master of Science in Business Analytics program at the Haslam College of Business, and she decided to apply. During her time in the program, Martin spent a summer interning at Boeing in Seattle, Washington.

“It was a wonderful experience,” says Martin. “I worked on problems that had a direct impact, and I got to watch something that I did as a test become a tool they relied on every day.”

Following her graduation in December 2017, Martin moved to Boston and stepped into a data scientist role at Philips Lifeline, a medical alert device manufacturer and service provider.

“Our devices are activated when users have fallen and need help,” Martin says. “For the first time, we are setting them up as Internet of Things devices, so they’ll send us reports every few days.”

Martin designed the process for the devices, translating their binary code into non-binary data that is stored in an accessible location for other teams.

“It’s the first time the company has really gotten to see how the devices are being used and notice patterns ­— for example, are people who are staying home all the time more likely to fall?”

This data allows Martin and other analysts to glean a variety of insights.

Since she joined Philips Lifeline, Martin has founded three other projects and received free range to execute them.

“One is automating and analyzing audio transcriptions — seeing when people call, what are they satisfied with or not, and how that affects their relationship with us,” she says.

Her other favorite project is automating social media analytics, trying to better understand the company’s web presence and how they can become a top player in the field by analyzing online interactions with customers.

Martin says the MSBA program provided her with the experience and opportunities she needed to succeed in business analytics.

“When I’m sitting in a meeting with leadership and they’re pitching ideas, I can easily challenge them in ways they could do better, because that’s how we were challenged by the faculty,” she says. “And while the program itself was great, nothing could replace my time at Boeing: the opportunity to apply what I’d learned in an impactful way at a real company.”