Hsu Ken Ooi
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What he does:
- The best explanation he always ends up telling people is imagine a grocery store. Imagine that you are able to track the paths through the aisles that customers in the stores take, the items they look at, pick up, put down, and put in their carts. All this information is available to websites. He is a consultant that helps corporations understand how people are using their website, how it is performing, and how changes to the site affect their business.
Math on the job:
- The web analytics field is a relatively young field and is rapidly developing. For whatever reason, no one has really applied even a basic understanding of statistics or mathematics to the field, which is something Ken hopes to change.
- What Ken always tells people is, regardless of occupation, it is valuable to study mathematics, even if you never see an integral again. Mathematics teaches you how to problem solve and to think. One can only benefit from that.
Ken's background:
- Ken received a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Statistics, from the University of Washington, Spring 2006.
- Ken hated mathematics growing up. He never spent any time trying to study and learn it properly. If he didn't get it right away, he gave up.
- When he got to college, he really struggled with first and second quarter calculus. It was when he started to take multivariable calculus, and he was so fed up with doing poorly, that he sought the help of his instructor. He would visit with her weekly to go over homework and answer questions. He found that he loved it. Suddenly, things started to make sense and he actually savored the challenge of understanding concepts that were not obvious. It was after this class that he decided to switch from his intended major of computer science to math. In retrospect, he owes a lot to his former calculus professor for answering the most elementary math questions without judgement and in an easy to understand manner.
- The ultimate challenge of mathematics was what drew him eventually to major in math. He found he could lose himself in the study of math for hours.
Advice for students:
- Rather than ask yourself what can you do with a math degree, ask what can't one do? Employers love math degrees, and having one demonstrates that you are intelligent, capable of problem solving, and a strong learner. These are qualities that apply to all jobs.