New Data Science specialization to launch in Fall 2017

The explosion of available information and data in recent years has led to a high demand for data scientists, who are experts at analyzing and interpreting vast amounts of data and deriving insights from it. In 2012 Harvard Business Review named data scientist the sexiest job of the 21^st century. More recently, data scientist was ranked No. 1 on Glassdoor.com’s list of 25 best jobs in America for 2016.

The University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) is helping to meet the demand for skilled professionals in the rapidly growing data science sector with its new Data Science specialization within the Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) degree program, effective Fall 2017. The Faculty of Science’s (FSci) existing comprehensive Computer Science program (with co-op option) is ranked among the top 20 in Canada (No.13) by Maclean’s magazine (May 2016) and No. 5 in Ontario.

“Data scientists are highly sought-after in a variety of industries, including health care, finance and business consultancy,” said Dr. Faisal Qureshi, Associate Professor and Director, Computer Science Undergraduate Program. “Students who graduate from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology’s Computer Science program with a Data Science specialization will have a solid understanding of computer science. They will also be equipped with the knowledge, skills and tools that will prepare them for success in the highly lucrative and desirable data science job market–and they will be in high demand in both government and private sectors.”

The new Data Science specialization complements the existing Digital Media specialization, improving both the depth and the breadth of the Computer Science program.

Data Science specialization students will develop problem-solving, critical, analytical, computational and communication skills that will enable them to explore and interpret large quantities of data.

Specific learning outcomes:

• Develop a solid understanding of the theoretical foundation of data science.
• Achieve a strong command over programming and computational tools to effectively handle data with volume and complexity.
• Gain working knowledge of a range of algorithms, methods and systems for performing data analysis on real-life data sets.
• Attain a good understanding of the applications of data science across a variety of domains.
• Learn fundamentals of interactive visual analytics.
• Acquire critical and problem-solving skills to extract knowledge and understanding from large volumes data.

More information about the university’s Computer Science program, including the new Data Science specialization, is available on the Faculty of Science website.