Burak Demirtas

After my 2nd semester in UNH, I joined Yale University's Academic Analytics team as a Data Analyst and Business Intelligence Developer by Sep '23. I'm still working as a full time member of Yale.

During my master on Business Analytics, I was teaching as Teaching Assistant in Business Analytics lab classes and also, I was pursuing certification programs of both MIT and Datacamp to hone my skills. Finally I got the MIT's Data Science and Machine Learning (with Python) and Datacamp's Professional Data Analyst (with R) certifications.

I'm currently pursing my master's in Business Analytics which is heavily based on R programming, statistics, data analytics, data visualization, database management and data science. After my exceptional success in the first semester, I also became a Teaching Assistant for Business Analytics lab classes, and tutored R programming, statistics and advanced excel to both undergraduate and graduate students. Also I created the curriculum and teaching materials for all lab sessions for Fall "23 semester and new TAs are following that curriculum now.

During my time as a supplier product quality development engineer, my main responsibility revolved around ensuring timely delivery of parts that met our quality standards and design specifications. This role resembled a combination of technical auditing and project management. However, along the way, I discovered a strong inclination towards developing my skills in data analytics rather than solely focusing on engineering. The signs of my inner passion were evident. For instance, while using QlikSense to access quality and project data, I went beyond mere utilization and learned to create basic dashboards with it. Another one; my task was "reviewing the lessons learnt process" which was going on excels and ppts. I didn't stop just by reviewing it, but also, we created a return of experience database and application with PowerApps on TEAMS environment. The point is: I had zero experience with PowerApps, yet I knew MS Access and how to build an interface linked to data behind. I said "we can do it!", and we did it!

After years of blending engineering, data analysis, and programming, my heart became set on focusing solely on data analytics, programming, and data science. This conviction led me to make the boldest decision of my life—to move to the United States and pursue my dream of becoming a Data Scientist. 

I started to aerospace as continuous improvement expert. I have consulted six sigma projects and initiated lean applications, gave trainings and I was a part of lean transformation of Turkish Aerospace. I heavily relied on my statistical data analysis, SQL and data visualization skills and my six sigma expertise in this role to improve the processes with data-driven approach. That's where I truly learned reporting and dashboarding tools like SAP Crystal Reports and Microsoft Report Builder with MS SQL Server. I also used my MS Access and VBA skills to create a software to automize the work orders of my area. Also, I've created a "Quality Issues Tracking System" to analyze better the root causes of the quality problems.

In the digital transformation department, I worked with machine learning experts and that's where truly initiated my interest on Machine learning.

I was mainly responsible for new product launch coordination at Ford's product development team. This position provided me with opportunities to enhance my advanced Excel skills, including extensive use of VBA, and develop expertise in SQL and Oracle Database & IBM DB2 table structures used in our ERP (CMMS) and Engineering Release (WERS) systems. By writing thousands of lines of VBA code in MS Access, I successfully finalized our engineering change tracking system. Our innovative approach to engineering changes, facilitated by a smart system, enabled us to implement hundreds of parts each year with great success.

Also, I took my Six Sigma Green Belt and Black Belt trainings at FORD including Minitab trainings. That was my first real hands on experience on using statistical analysis on real world problems. 

Throughout my career, starting from undergraduate, I was always into data and analytics.  In my undergraduate years, I was running a WordPress blog. I used HTML and CSS, learnt a little bit PHP in those years. I have also honed my advanced Excel skills and learnt VBA for Excel macros which saved me in the future from a lot of routine tasks. Yet, my first serious programming experience was with MATLAB. After doing all my school projects with Matlab, I've done my last project on 'Creating the emission map of a public bus from one stop to another by using real time data gathered from the bus.' The study was also used in the Phd research after me.