Student Spotlight: Y. K. Tan

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Y. K. Tan was born and raised in Singapore, where he served in the military, and graduated with a B.S. in Quantitative Finance at the National University of Singapore. He is also a Georgia Tech alumnus as he is a graduate of the OMS Analytics program.

Y. K. is currently an expatriate in Melbourne, Australia, working as a Risk Analyst in the global energy and renewables industry. In between Singapore and Melbourne, he was working as a Quantitative Analyst for 5 years in Paris, France.

He loves working with computers because it allows creativity and expression without the need to conform to societal norms. Computer Science for him is a means to conceptualize, develop, innovate, and then finally solve practical issues we face in the world today such as sustainable living and education accessibility amongst others.

Y. K. was inspired to enroll in OMSCS for many reasons. One reason is that, since he already completed many required courses for his OMS Analytics degree, it reduced the required number of credits for his OMSCS degree, which lessened some barriers for him. Thus, he could not see himself completing a Computer Science master’s degree anywhere else. Moreover, “the support and the connection developed through the diverse range of people I met in the OMSA and OMSCS Study Slacks encouraged me to go even further.” By virtue of its location, “local schools simply do not have the leverage to draw such an international community.” Also, the aspect he loves most about OMSCS is the flexibility it provides as he can create his own schedule and study whenever is best for him.

The support and the connection developed through the diverse range of people I met in the OMSA and OMSCS Study Slacks encouraged me to go even further.

Additionally, the capability to study remotely is a huge advantage, as Y. K. often travels in between business meetings, or goes back to Singapore to visit his family, friends, and the OMSCS Singapore Chapter (which he gives a big shout out to!). Indeed, in summer, Melbourne and Sydney are exactly 24 hours away from the AOE time zone that OMSCS often uses, which means he could submit assignments due for Sunday, on Monday night!

So, what about after graduation? Perhaps becoming a triple Jacket and gaining a degree in OMS Cybersecurity? “Perhaps after retirement,” says Y.K., but what he will do immediately after graduation is “travel around Australia and Southeast Asia. It’s something that I have really regretted not doing because of my personal, study, and work obligations.” As for research, since he worked in both Europe and Australia and is a connoisseur of wine, he aspires to create predictive analytics to forecast demand on wines, using ML algorithms to understand wine demand, production, and pricing.