The Department of Statistics at Macquarie University has produced alumni who have succeeded in industry and research, both overseas and within Australia. Some comments are provided below:
From the Master of Applied Statistics program
Huiquan Bi, a Senior Research Scientist in the forest industry, conducts scientific research in forest ecology, silviculture, stand dynamics, forest mensuration, growth and yield modelling.
"The course broadened my statistical horizon and so I have become better equipped to deal with a wide range of statistical problems in my research."
Seong Woh Choo, Head of Research, NRMA Insurance Limited
"I regard the program highly, it prepares a person for work in industry. A large component of the program consists of practical applications, such as data management, which really make it stand out. Candidates who come in with a quest for knowledge and with a sense of curiosity about the subject matter will particularly benefit. I highly recommend the program."
Bettina Pon, a Data Warehouse Analyst/Developer with a large telecommunications company, analyses information from the billing system, develops reporting software applications and code for building the extraction transformation loading (ETL) of the Data Warehouse.
“The program consisted of courses in information management, multivariate analysis and statistical graphics which have given me the statistical tools required as an analyst in the telecommunications industry. A good basic foundation in the practical use of statistical software packages in all subjects is given to students.”
Mark McClatchey, Head of Quantitative Services, HSBC James Capel Australia Limited
"I felt that many courses in financial analysis lacked an adequate statistical base. The MAppStats solved this problem by providing a strong understanding of statistical theory and illustrated some important issues in practical applications. There were outstanding courses in statistical theory, time series and multivariate analysis which provided me with some powerful tools that are required as a quantitative analysis in the Australian stock market."
Michael Thompson has provided statistical consulting to the Government, the private sector and other organisations by offering advice on data analysis, sampling, questionnaire design and survey development.
“The course gave me a much better ability to be able to actually apply statistics to practical situations. This has opened up many more opportunities to do interesting work than otherwise would be available. There are many people who recognise the graduates of this course for their practical skills. There is a lack of people with such expertise in the economy and it is important that we continue to train more people in these important skills.”
Nora Bodkin, the Information Management Specialist at the NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages, is responsible for developing organisational performance measures as part of a management reporting system.
"The Master of Applied Statistics improves employment opportunities by providing a good balance of theoretical with practical learning. The information management component is particularly useful in the work that I do."
Peter Mackay, in his analytical roles at several major financial institutions, has had to assist internal customers to work through a range of solutions to business/marketing problems using data modelling, analytics and software to deploy the solution.
"It is one of the few courses offered in the evening, making it possible for working students to attend. It is applied and practical in nature, which is suitable for a marketplace seeking statistical expertise with a theoretical understanding but an emphasis on the application of techniques."
Nurmuliani, Lecturer in Agricultural Economics, University of Mataram, Lombok, Indonesia
"I found the course very practical with immediate applications to my work in Lombok, Indonesia. As a lecturer of agricultural economics I am now able to help other teachers with their analysis of field data by providing the models, using the statistical theory underlying the analytical work and by applying the appropriate information management techniques. A variety of statistical software packages is presented and students with some competency in the use of computers will find the program very stimulating."
An Honours Graduate
Chris Howden completed an honours degree in statistics at Macquarie University. As well as having being employed as tutor for Macquarie University statistics department, Chris works as a project based statistician.
"The only non-biological organisation I've worked for is the Bureau of Crime Statistics.
The biological organisations I've worked for include:
Biotrack lab, Macquarie University. I give statistical advice to postgraduate students, as well as setting up sampling designs and doing the analyses. I also develop project specific analyses. The most recent project I've been involved in was assessing the biological width of riparian (river) zones in the Pilliga forest in northwest NSW. …The problem is that in the Pilliga all the vegetation looks the same, so we sampled invertebrates along transects aligned perpendicular to the rivers. I then looked for differences in the invertebrate assemblages to show where the riparian zone existed.
I am also working for the Department of Land and Water Conservation. I have been hired to provide statistical support on a project conceptually similar to the one being conducted in the Snowy mountains which aims to get the Snowy River running again. However, my project involves every other major river in NSW. …the purpose being to identify the amount of environmental flow required to maintain a rivers’ natural biodiversity.
I have also been involved with a number of projects which have investigated how species evolve. Basically this was done by measuring body characteristics and using factor analysis to group specimens. These groupings were then compared to the specimens geographic distribution and molecular genetics.
And lastly I have been doing genetic linkage analyses on rare diseases with Dr. Jenny Donald of Macquarie uni and a major Sydney hospital.
And that's about it. Except of course the fantastic time I had at Macquarie Uni working as a tutor."
