Graduation Year (Graduate): December 2016
Internships: UnitedHealth Group
Now in his final semester of the Master’s of Science in Business Analytics program at the Haslam College of Business, Ryan Blanchette says he was originally attracted to it for several reasons. “I earned my undergraduate degree here at UT, so I knew how good the MSBA program was,” Blanchette says. “I also found the job placement rate and average starting salary very attractive.”
The most helpful aspects of the master’s program, to Blanchette, have included the emphases on attaining soft skills and business acumen. “I also appreciate the different types of software we’re exposed to,” he says.
During the 2015–2016 academic year, Blanchette served as a graduate teaching assistant for William Seaver, associate professor of statistics at Haslam. From May to August 2016, he interned with UnitedHealth Group in their technology development program. “I analyzed file loading errors through modeling in R and visualization in Tableau, which identified highly problematic clients and loading steps,” Blanchette says. “I also improved the department SharePoint site by redesigning the layout and appearance, creating an organizational chart, and adding plots with R to describe department performance.” Blanchette utilized his SQL software training at UnitedHealth, too, saving time for other analysts by maintaining project and client databases.
Starting in August, Blanchette has worked on a capstone project with Procter & Gamble, applying his analytics skill set. “I have strong interests in predictive modeling, machine learning and forecasting,” he says. He looks forward to pursuing those interests further as a 2016 MSBA graduate.
