A graduate of the Naveen Jindal School of Management recently received a patent for work on his company’s AI platform.
Sameer Ranjan, MS’20, was awarded a patent for a program on MayaMaya.us, a platform that helps students and others learn which career areas fit their interests and personalities, providing specific advice and actions to help them select compatible educational and career paths. It also helps professionals track and improve their leadership and management skills.
“The idea came when the high school son of one of our company founders was having difficulty choosing a college major,” said Ranjan, chief technology officer and director of data analytics for Catenate, and a graduate of the Jindal School’s Master’s in Business Analytics (STEM) flex program. “Our research shows that 80% of students have had that same difficulty, and it costs $10,000 to change a major once you are in school. Because an individual’s personality changes over time, our program tracks their personality continuously.”
MayaMaya also helps professionals in the hiring process, providing them with a better understanding of individuals that helps them to be better managers.
Prior to filing the patent application in June 2021, Ranjan and his team did extensive research for a year, followed by another year of working out how it could be used and other details. This is Ranjan’s first patent, and he has four additional applications under review.
“As a student, Sameer was a member of the Business Analytics Leadership Council,” said Dr. William (Bill) Hefley, program director, MS Business Analytics cohort program. “He is a leader who gave back to others through his mentorship and service. He was also a skilled competitor, going after the business plan and startup competitions.”
Learning leadership skills and the ability to work with others were both a big part of Ranjan’s experience at the Jindal School.
“The business analytics program gave me anything I asked and more,” he said. “I received scholarships, made friends, and everyone was supportive. They helped me understand the business side and the human aspect. Everyone wants to be a data scientist, but you also should learn how to conduct yourself.”
Working with others, communicating, and collaborating are important tenants of what a successful data scientist or data analyst does, Hefley said. “Business analytics is not a solo sport. You have to work with the business or the community to understand their problems, and, very often, you have to interact with other teams to gather and prepare data. You also will need to communicate the results in business terms to business people.”
Ranjan is the second JSOM master’s in business analytics graduate to receive a patent. Vijayan Nagarajan, MS’17, who is now a senior data scientist and manager at Amazon Web Services, has received nine.
Among the largest programs at JSOM, the three formats of the business analytics degree (Flex, Cohort and Online) have continued to grow since their launch in 2014.
“For example, our MS BA Cohort program has had a ten-fold increase in students through the pandemic,” Hefley said. “Our MS BA students are highly sought after for internships and jobs, with high percentages having full time positions after leaving JSOM with salaries averaging in the $90,000-$100,000 range and topping out around $200,000 a year.”
