Using data to make businesses more efficient

DRIVEN BY DATA

Through its Data + Decisions Destination Area, Virginia Tech inventively interweaves data science into its curriculum. Meet a faculty member using data in novel and world-changing ways.

To Professor Lara Khansa, data is an unmatched tool for progress. She’s applied data to improve everything from hospital emergency room staffing and surgical procedures to catching cyberloafing employees who are using workplace computers for nonwork purposes.

Khansa’s research not only informs industries and employers, it also arms the next generations of Virginia Tech business graduates for some of the world’s most critically needed, high-demand jobs. As Pamplin’s associate dean for undergraduate programs, Khansa works with colleagues to ensure that business analytics, innovation and entrepreneurship, and sustainable global prosperity are the foundation for student academic experiences.

In Pamplin’s top-ranked online master of information technology program, Khansa also teaches students to assess and improve the quality of healthcare processes as well as patient care and safety.

“Data analytics has become embedded in life. It’s at the center of all business areas,” she said. “We are educating students who can transform data into valuable insights and actions. Our students will graduate with the business acumen and data capabilities not only to monetize data, but also to make the right decisions.”

— Written by Marya Barlow