Fall graduate Farzana Rahman says her time at Memorial University was an eye-opening experience, one where she worked with clients to solve real-world problems.
Ms. Rahman joined Memorial after receiving her bachelor of science degree in computer science and engineering from North South University in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
She moved to Canada to pursue a master of data science degree at Memorial.
“Together, the two degrees have shaped me into someone who can build software and make sense of the data behind it, and that combination has become the core of the work I love doing,” she said.
Looking back, Ms. Rahman says that choosing Memorial was one of the best decisions she’s ever made.
“I got a quick, comprehensive master’s with everything I needed, and I also found a community I didn’t expect. St. John’s is a small city where everyone seems to know everyone, and the people here are so warm, kind and helpful. It has truly been a blessing.”
Making milestones
During the course-based program, Ms. Rahman accepted a software developer internship with the Centre for Analytics, Informatics and Research (CAIR) in her second semester.
“For me, that was a huge milestone. It meant I could gain real, hands-on industry experience while I was still studying, which I believe is one of the most important things you can do before starting your career.”She says her supervisor, PhD student Syed Faruk, associate director Jacqueline French and the CAIR team were ”incredibly supportive, patient and generous with their guidance.”
What she’s most grateful for, though, is that they trusted her with real clients and important projects.
“That trust meant a lot to me, and I worked hard to live up to it.”
Client-focused solutions
Ms. Rahman worked with clients like Research Initiatives and Services, where she developed tools to help with document submission and to pull and organize data from documents into readable and accurate spreadsheets, reducing administrative burden.
Her second client was the Port of Argentia, a deep-water port in Placentia Bay that supports a steady flow of vessel traffic for industrial, energy and marine operations.
“Seeing real people use something I built . . . has been the most rewarding part of my entire degree.”
She built a new end-to-end system for planning ship docking, including all the front-end and back-end components.
The Port of Argentia now has a web portal and a way to store its data, with automated warnings about dock conflicts and a machine-learning component that predicts if a vessel might go over (or under) its intended stay.
“It’s a huge step up from the Excel-based system they were using before,” said Dr. Terrence Tricco, the program chair of the Master of Data Science Program. “I think this kind of real-world application is an amazing story to tell. Especially coming out of a capstone project from a course-based degree, like Farzana’s.
Brent Pomroy, the general manager at the Port of Argentia, says that Ms. Rahman took the time to understand the realities of their operations, including the manual processes they traditionally relied on.
“She worked with the data and resources we had available to develop a practical tool that is tailored to the port and can be onboarded into our operations right away,” he said. “Her work gives us a strong foundation to modernize our vessel call scheduling, reduce manual data entry and improve efficiency. We’re looking forward to continuing to explore the tool’s capabilities and applications within our operations.”
“Seeing real people use something I built, and hearing that it genuinely makes their jobs easier, has been the most rewarding part of my entire degree,” said Ms. Rahman.
Future plans
From the vibrant and lively city of Dhaka, Bangladesh, to St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ms. Rahman has used her lived experience and passion to make a positive impact.
Looking ahead, she says she plans to continue the work CAIR introduced her to.
“These projects showed me what I’m most passionate about: sitting down with people, understanding the problems they face in their daily work and building tools that make their lives easier and save them real time.”
Ms. Rahman also says she is looking forward to convocation and celebrating the milestone with the people who supported her along the way.
She will walk across the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre stage during her convocation ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 10 a.m.
If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a graduate student at Memorial University, apply today!
If you are a student or a community or a small- to medium-sized enterprise interested in working with CAIR, please connect with them at CAIR-support@mun.ca.
