Eric brings with him a wealth of experience in analytics and data science, having worked as an Enterprise Data Scientist with Thomson Reuters and as Director of Quantitative Data Science with a China Fintech start-up with 4 million users.
One of the newest addition to the NUS-ISS Analytics & Intelligent Systems team, it was his belief in the importance of skills that brought him into teaching.
"At this stage of my career, I am excited to pass on the skills and experience that I've garnered over the years to graduates entering the industry," said Eric.
INNOVATE@ISS spoke with Eric to find out more.
1. Please tell us about your professional background
I have twenty years' of experience in the financial sector and the start-up sector. My interests are diverse -across sentiment analysis, financial markets and the Fintech sector. Some companies that I've worked for include banks, like Credit Suisse, DBS and Standard Chartered Bank, as well as a major oil company. I also had a stint in a China start-up in social media investing.
2. Could you share more about the modules/courses which you teach at NUS-ISS?
Some of the Master of Technology (MTech) courses that I teach are in new media and sentiment mining, customer analytics and supply chain analytics. I also teach courses under our Executive Education Programmes, such as predictive analytics and blockchain. These are topics that I have some work experiences in, having developed a patented sentiment analysis system for China, and also having worked on some Proof of Concepts (PoC) for customer analytics.
3. Why did you choose to teach at NUS-ISS?
NUS-ISS stands out in that it is practice-oriented and equips graduates with skill sets that are in demand in the industry. These are things that I identify with and I understand that importance of upgrading oneself in this digital age. Having been in the financial industry for so long, I understand the industry volatility with job cuts and restructuring. This is something I hope to help ISS prepare themselves for.
4. What do you enjoy most about your work?
It is to help graduates stay relevant in the industries that they are in, and seeing them apply the skills they learn in their jobs. It is immensely gratifying when students come back to give thanks for what they have learnt.
5. How do you keep up with the industry?
I attend conferences and seminars to keep up with the industry, and also have speaking engagements for conferences. For example, I have spoken in a couple of Strata Data conferences, and will be speaking on Artificial Intelligence at a financial summit in April. I also find it useful to read widely - nowadays there's a lot of information on the internet.
6. What are your favourite activities when you are not working?
Just plain relaxing at home. I enjoy just going for a walk in the park and spending time with my family.
7. Tell us something about yourself that very few people know.
I ascribe to skills, in particular this verse from the bible "Do you see a man skilful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men". It's something I use to encourage students in NUS-ISS to aim high.
For more information on NUS-ISS Analytics & Intelligent Systems courses, click here