Miami is fast becoming the tech hub of the Americas. Between 2017 and 2021, Florida added 119,000 jobs in the tech and e-commerce industries. In 2020 alone, Miami startups raised close to US$1 billion in venture funding. The next year, Google pumped US$31 billion in the form of economic activity for hundreds of thousands of Florida businesses.
At the heart of this growing tech start-up landscape lies the University of Miami. “The University of Miami is located in one of the fastest growing tech hubs in America,” notes Brian Breslin, Director of the Launch Pad (the entrepreneurship centre at the University of Miami) and founder of Florida’s largest tech and startup community Refresh Miami. “This opens up a number of opportunities for students not found in other parts of the country.”
The university offers a Master of Science in Data Science (MSDS) that equips students with the knowledge, skills and experience needed to grab these opportunities. It is founded on computer science, mathematics, statistics, and data visualisation techniques. Core courses focus on statistics and machine learning, with opportunities to explore solutions to domain-specific problems.
What set this programme apart, however, are its resources to launch tech startups, industry connections and networking opportunities with tech leaders in many fields and disciplines. Students can add deep content knowledge to specialised applications, such as communications, architecture, and marine sciences – a truly interdisciplinary approach that ensures that graduates are able to take up the role of data scientist in any organisation.
IBM is providing the University of Miami’s students unlimited access to its expansive lineup of technological tools through cloud accounts. Source: University of Miami
“The University of Miami has wonderful academic resources, faculty, and a good learning environment,” says current student Kai-Wen Lee.
The University of Miami is a private research university with more than 17,000 students from around the world. Home to 12 schools, nearly 350 majors and programmes, and US$324 million in research and sponsored programme expenditures annually, it is one of the US’s top research universities.
This means students like Lee have a vibrant and diverse academic community within and beyond campus. With the MSDS providing interdisciplinary connections and experiential learning opportunities across all aspects of data science and computing, they’re never short of industry connections and encouragement for their entrepreneurship.
On top of that, all students can choose to complete an internship as part of their programme. This can take place in the summer at some of the most prestigious companies in the world. Current students are interning in data science positions at the likes of The Walt Disney Company, ArcGIS, Phizzle Inc, StarTech, World Fuel Services, and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.
Over at The Launch Pad, students can get help to start, build, and scale their startup business. “The Launch Pad offers students, staff, and alums coaching and mentoring on their startups for free. Founded in 2008, The Launch Pad works with hundreds of entrepreneurs each year to help them start, grow, and scale their businesses. The Launch Pad’s extensive alumni and mentor network of over 6,000 entrepreneurs help accelerate Hurricane startups,” Breslin says.
In 2021, The Launch Pad helped one student and two recent graduates of the university create Precision Ecology. Using drone technology with state-of-the-art sensors, the startup collects survey-grade aerial data and creates digital …….