{"id":128339,"date":"2022-05-04T14:35:01","date_gmt":"2022-05-04T18:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=128339"},"modified":"2022-05-09T11:34:38","modified_gmt":"2022-05-09T15:34:38","slug":"ucfs-first-ph-d-in-big-data-analytics-walks-the-commencement-stage-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucfs-first-ph-d-in-big-data-analytics-walks-the-commencement-stage-this-week\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF\u2019s First Ph.D. in Big Data Analytics Walks the Commencement Stage This Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Big data can reveal clues to solving big problems. Patrick (Phuong) Pho \u201918MS <\/strong>has used big data to develop models to prevent electricity theft and tampering. He also used it to predict major depressive disorder using genotyping data and he\u2019s used it to develop models that forecast wait times at Walt Disney World attractions.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been recognized for prizes for all three of these works and this week, he\u2019ll be adding one more feather in his cap \u2014 he becomes the first student to earn a Ph.D. in big data analytics from UCF\u2019s doctoral program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoyed my studies here as I learned a lot from the\u00a0experienced faculty and had many opportunities to collaborate with them on interesting projects and research,\u201d says Pho who is a native of Vietnam. \u201cI also gained valuable technical skill set by participating in many data analytics competitions hosted by the department and industrial partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pho and his team won first place in the OUC Meter Data Science Competition for his anti-theft model in 2020. In 2019 he landed a Microsoft scholarship to complete his genotyping research and in 2017 he took the top award in the Touring Plan Big Data Competition.<\/p>\n

His doctorate is Pho\u2019s second UCF degree. In 2018, he earned a master\u2019s degree in statistical computing with a track in data mining<\/a>. It\u2019s this program that first drew him to UCF.<\/p>\n

\u201cI chose UCF as it was one of a few institutes offering a Ph.D. program in big data analytics,\u201d he says. \u201cThe Department of Statistics and Data Science has been known for their established data mining program. Hence, I believed a Ph.D. program offered by the department would provide the quality education and equip me with in-demand skill set to become a critical thinker and a leading professional in data science field.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are currently more than 20 students in UCF\u2019s big data analytics Ph.D. program.<\/p>\n

Since arriving at UCF Pho has authored or co-authored four peer-reviewed journal articles about big data analytics and he presented at conferences.<\/p>\n

\u201cBig data has been a rising field in recent years,\u201d he says. \u201cWith the advent of technology, many big data-driven applications have made significant impact on human life. Examples include artificial intelligent systems capable of detecting credit card fraud, recommending entertaining contents and planning commuting route. A Ph.D. degree in big data analytics prepares me for many rewarding opportunities in various domains.\u201d<\/p>\n

After several years of schooling, often requiring hundreds of hours of work in the lab and teaching introduction and advanced statistics classes as a teaching assistant, Pho is taking a short break after commencement to spend some time with his family. Then, he\u2019ll be hitting the job market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Patrick (Phuong) Pho \u201918MS<\/strong> says the sky is the limit with a Ph.D. in big data analytics, which is used for everything from recommending local restaurants to accelerating medical research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":128340,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,23,24,27],"tags":[982,1004,14916,202],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-128339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","category-research","category-science-technology","category-student-life","tag-college-of-sciences","tag-commencement","tag-research","tag-alumni"],"yoast_head":"\nUCF\u2019s First Ph.D. in Big Data Analytics Walks the Commencement Stage This Week | University of Central Florida 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