AREC 559 Class Works on Real-World Problem for American Express
Dec. 18, 2015
As the culmination to a semester's hard work, graduate students in AREC Gary Thompson's Advanced Applied Econometrics class (AREC 559) presented their analysis and findings to AmEx Vice President, Operational Risk Management Chuck Lyon on December 16th.
Each year since 2002, students in Thompson's class have generated data-driven solutions to real-world problems posed by AmEx staff. Students work in teams to analyze proprietary, very large data sets to answer the business problems posed by AmEx. Each year the class culminates in a formal business presentation to AmEx.
This year's problem was “What are the impacts of imposing global limits on not fulfilled card members?” The data set included two years of monthly account-level observations for all card members in Mexico. Learning how to effectively coordinate team work throughout the semester is a new experience for most students. Regular weekly lab sessions for oral presentations also provide students the opportunity to hone their visual and oral presentation skills.
Is all the hard work worthwhile? Most students think so. Many have found this capstone course an important step in landing that first job after graduation. AmEx also believes in the work the students do: they often hire the new grads and have supported some students financially. This longstanding, innovative private–public partnership is a unique win-win for all involved.
Photo by Gary Thompson. Left to right: Wenjun Wu, Chris Avery, Josh Albright, Georgina Felix, Niloy Krittika, Kyounga Song, Chuck Lyon, and Ashutosh Kumar.