The Master’s of Science in Business Analytics and Information Management (MSBAIM) program at Purdue University’s Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business has named SIL International the inaugural winner of its Partner of the Year Award.
Since the partnership began in 2021, SIL International’s team of mentors have provided eight industry practicum projects that have led to eight poster presentations at INFORMS conferences, five conference paper proceedings and several awards. In 2022, SIL sponsored the challenge problem for the Daniels School’s national Purdue Data 4 Good Analytics Competition, which had 172 participants from 36 different universities.
“We have many wonderful program partners that we collaborate with every year, but the team at SIL International has consistently provided our MSBAIM students with some of the most challenging data science problems in language translation that impact lives across the globe,” says Matthew Lanham, a clinical assistant professor at the Daniels School and academic director of the MSBAIM program. “Their project mentors have gone above and beyond to help our students apply what they are learning in the classroom and showcase their knowledge, skills and abilities to employers.”
Joshua Nemecek, a data scientist at SIL International and a 2022-23 MSBAIM industry practicum mentor, says students appreciate the ability to work with a real customer on a real problem. “Every team we've worked with has come from diverse backgrounds, and inevitably members on the team connect their personal stories with the work,” he says. “It's good to be able to think about a challenging business problem, but it's a different thing when you can feel it too. It inspires students to be changemakers in the world with empathy."
Mrinmoy Dalal, a recent MSBAIM graduate who won 1st place at the INFORMS Business Analytics Poster Competition, says the partnership with SIL was an invaluable experience that enabled his team to push the boundaries of their knowledge and cultivate innovative solutions for a complex problem. “This collaborative endeavor not only allowed us to apply the theoretical concepts we had learned at Purdue, but also empowered us to embrace a holistic approach encompassing technical expertise, business acumen, and effective management strategies,” he says.
Jon Hirst, chief innovation officer of SIL International, says his organization has enjoyed its partnership with Purdue and looks forward to future collaborations. “I know that our whole team has benefited greatly from the collaboration,” he says. “But even more importantly is the opportunity to invest in Purdue students. They are an amazingly talented group."
