How big data is creating big opportunities for students

Subjects like Applied Mathematics have been taught for decades.

But in more recent years, we've seen the emergence of Data Science as a subject for anyone who loves maths and its application.

It's all about 'big data'.

Big data is the name for extremely large data sets that can be analysed by computers to reveal patterns, trends, and associations.

Companies gain value and insights from big data analytics. Increasingly, it feeds today's advanced analytics endeavours such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Data Science can be used to address business problems we wouldn't have been able to tackle years ago.

Studying Data Science

Maths and Data Science have led ECU graduates Kira Cooper and Luke Bacich down very different paths.

When Kira left high school, she wasn't sure what to do but studied business and finance and realised it wasn't for her.

Ten years later, Kira decided to go back to uni to study something she enjoyed. She had loved maths at school and a tutor advised her to combine it with data science.

Now, Kira is in BHP's grad program, working in the mining analytics team. Her highlight to date has been travelling to Singapore for a graduate hackathon.

Luke started out as a boilermaker fabricating equipment for mining companies. But he also wanted to see where his passion for maths could take him.

After graduating, Luke completed the grad program at Bankwest. He moved on to other roles, using his data and maths skills to supercharge marketing campaigns and build models for responsible money lending.

ECU Maths and Data Science graduate Luke Bacich.

How to get into Data Science

Both Kira and Luke say that combining maths and data science gave them a good mix of critical thinking, problem solving and practical skills.

They both studied a Bachelor of Science degree at ECU, majoring in Mathematics and Data Science.

It's a 3-year course full-time or longer part-time and can be studied at ECU's Joondalup Campus.