Top 4 Reasons to Take your Chemical and Materials Engineering Career to the Next Level with Data Science
The worlds of data science and engineering are coming together to elevate how industries make decisions. For chemical and materials engineers, being familiar with concepts and ideas within data science could take your career to the next level. With the sophistication of data and the demand for data scientists rising across all industries, it only makes sense to become leaders in this new multidisciplinary field.
But don’t just take it from us. Assistant Professor Joshua Young, of the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) sat down and gave us all the inside information into what data science is, why it’s important for chemical and materials engineers, and what you can expect from NJIT’s NEW online certificate in data science for chemical and materials engineers.
What is data science?
“Data science is the use of methods and analysis to extract meaning from large amounts of data that couldn't be done by just eyeballing data. It's a technique to understand trends, perform analysis, and make predictions. These models are used to make predictions which can impact production and experiments. The key is to use predictive modeling based on existing data,” said Joshua Young, Assistant Professor at the Newark College of Engineering, who is one of the course developers for NJIT’s new online certificate in Data Science for Chemical and Materials Engineers.
“It really is seeping into almost every industry. Pharmaceutical, biomedical engineering, healthcare, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, and materials engineering.”
By combining math and statistics, advanced analytics, specialized programming, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning, experts in data science are able to uncover actionable insights hidden in an organization's data.
Why is learning Data Science important for chemical and materials engineers?
As a professional in the chemical or materials engineering (CME) fields, you may be wondering what data science has to do with your career. CME professionals deal with a large amount of complex data everyday. Having a background in data science allows you to take advantage of that data in the best way to make informative and strategic decisions. While many colleges offer data science courses, most are not directly geared toward engineers.
“There are existing data science classes at NJIT, but what we noticed when we were thinking about this course is that if someone from an engineering background is interested in data science, and they go and take a regular data science course, the types of projects and assignments aren’t geared toward an engineering background,” said Professor Young.
Professor Young said most data science classes focus more toward analyzing stocks or sports team stats. CME students don’t really learn how to see, extract, and interpret data analysis. If they do, it’s not geared towards what they should be learning about how to drive decisions with data in an engineering setting.
“The goal for creating this certificate was to take these data science techniques, and let the students work with data they are already familiar with or will see in the future…The labs are designed to be engineering focused. Now they will have hands-on experience for the future.”
Top 4 Reasons to Take your Chemical and Materials Engineering Career to the Next Level with Data Science
After you’ve completed your bachelors in chemical or materials engineering, and started working in a full time role, you may realize there is still much more to learn. Because data science is becoming more prevalent in the engineering field, you can help yourself stand out with a graduate certificate that will boost your knowledge and expertise. Check out these reasons why a certificate in data science for chemical and materials engineers could benefit you:
1) Professional development
Regardless of where you are in your career, there is always room for professional growth and development. When you decide to invest in yourself through professional development, you’re opening yourself up to improving your current skill set. You can then apply the new knowledge and skills you’ve learned to your current and future jobs.
Continuing your education journey by earning a certificate shows employers that you’re serious about your field, and are committed to becoming an expert. You’ll be adding value to yourself and your company while achieving personal goals inside and outside of engineering.
“The skills are transferable. Once you learn about a data science technique or machine algorithm, you can use those skills in other disciplines and fields,” said Professor Young.
Spending time devoted to professional development also improves your confidence and credibility moving forward. You’ll have access to training and courses taught by experts to help you feel comfortable with the materials. Upon completion, you’ll be ready to integrate these new skills into your everyday work life.
2) Cultivate career advancement
Having a background in data science can be a game changer when it comes to career advancement. Understanding data science is a very in-demand skill that employers find highly valuable. In the CME fields, if you come in with the knowledge and expertise of both engineering and data science, you’ll be saving the company from having to hire an additional data scientist.
“Every field is now hiring data scientists. But many of these data science professionals don’t have an engineering background. Now [with this certificate] CME professionals will have the data science skills the employer is looking for, and they won’t have to mold you,” explains Professor Young.
“There is a need for subject area specialists to have data science skills. These companies need people who have the background in what they do, in addition to understanding basic data science principles. Engineers with these skills are more marketable.”
With these new understandings and abilities, you’ll be on an upward trajectory in your professional journey. Whether that means taking on a role with more responsibilities, transition into a leadership position, or moving up within your current organization, a whole new rewarding challenge will be waiting for you.
3) Stay up-to-date on current trends and skills within the field of Data Science
Enrolling in the data science certificate program will introduce you to all of the new and current trends and skills within the field. With a focus on data mining and big data, you will use up-to-date trends to interpret the data and make critical problem solving decisions.
But, instead of just learning about them, you’ll have the chance to do hands-on assignments and really get a deep understanding of how to relate these principles to your own work. For example, you’ll learn how to manipulate, clean, and visualize data through exploratory data visualization and applied statistical models.
“These statistics form the basis for these machine learning models…Students will be introduced to various techniques and supervised machine learning. They will learn how to interact with databases with both Python and SQL and then how to explore the data and make basic predictions.”
4) Enhance your portfolio
Aside from elevating your skills and knowledge, earning an online graduate certificate in data science for CME will help to enhance your portfolio. The projects you complete in class are created with the idea of your portfolio in mind.
“The goal is to give the students a final product that is polished and can be given to employers. They can have a final deliverable that is completed by them from beginning to end. Employers love to see these types of projects.”
During interviews, you will have the ability to show actual data and tangible deliverables to employers. Having a visual in hand is a powerful tool to help show-not-tell what you’re capable of.
Professor Young also said that students will also be prepared to interview based on skills and techniques learned during the courses. But more importantly, students will achieve a new way of thinking about data and how to use it.
“We want students to be able to take what they learn and apply it to their career. It’s not meant for you to become a practicing software developer, but you now have the skills to look at and interpret data in an original way.”
Become a trained professional in data science at NJIT
The online graduate certificate in Data Science for Chemical and Materials Engineers enables you to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, statistics and mathematics. Starting this journey to improve your data science knowledge can help take your career to all new heights. Apply today to advance your skill set and climb the ladder of success.