MSiA Alumni Spotlight: Rich Schweighart

Welcome to MSiA’s Alumni Spotlight series! Each month, we will feature a different alum, introducing you to the amazing work they’ve done with analytics since they left Northwestern’s Master of Science in Analytics, and to the myriad of ways they’ve found to apply what they learned during the program. Since our first cohort graduated in 2013, alumni have been successfully placed and thrived in companies from Facebook to NASA—97% of graduates received offers within one month of graduation, with positions from consulting to digital strategy analysis.

After graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Richard Schweighart worked for four years for United Technology Aerospace Systems as a design engineer. Though it was not his first experience with utilizing data analysis in industry (he worked with Motorola through the student-run Office for Technological Consulting Resources and Gulfstream Aerospace), it did set him on a path that would eventually lead him to Northwestern’s Master of Science in Analytics program. MSiA attracted Rich not only because of his interest in data-driven processes and simulation, but also due to his drive for experience-based learning and industry application.

It was at one of MSiA’s Thursday Networking Events that Rich met a representative from his current employer, Interactive Health. Analytics is a new and much-desired application in the healthcare field, helping groups like Interactive to create custom wellness strategies for their clients.

Here’s what Rich has to say about his experience:

McCormick News Article