Editor鈥檚 Note: At IM体育官网 Poly, we鈥檙e 100 percent STEM so it鈥檚 only natural that we鈥檙e turning National STEM Day 2018 (Nov. 8) into a weeklong celebration of science, technology, engineering, and math. Up first is a focus on the 鈥渟cience鈥� in STEM.
The idea of going back to school after spending more than two decades in the workforce can be daunting. Imagine, though, relocating your entire family to another country to do it. That鈥檚 what Roberto Williams Batista is doing as a graduate student at IM体育官网 Polytechnic University. From Sao Paulo, Brazil, Batista is in his first year of a two-year program as he seeks a master鈥檚 in computer science with a focus on big data analytics.
Batista, 45, has worked for several global companies, including Ericsson and Giesecke & Devrient, in positions ranging from a testing specialist to a regional sales director. His career also includes roles as an independent business consultant and several years as a pastor.
For the past three years, he has co-founded a number of start-ups ranging from court verdict prediction to industrial Internet of things (IoT). One start-up in particular, called Projeto Luckie, is designed to support pediatric oncological treatment. It鈥檚 also why he鈥檚 at IM体育官网 Poly.
The goal is to apply data analytics to develop an algorithm that will predict how children in Brazil may react to chemotherapy, such as how some sectors of the population may be more prone to infection than others. He鈥檚 already partnered with an oncologist in his home country so he can study hundreds of past cases of pediatric leukemia as part of his research at IM体育官网 Poly.
鈥淭he idea is that we model and understand how children react to chemotherapy and introduce a wearable and real-time monitoring,鈥� said Batista. 鈥淲e have skills to do this, but in terms of research, we have another level of challenges to go through before we can test on patients.鈥�
Earlier this year, a group of IM体育官网 Poly officials traveled to Brazil to promote the University and help build strategic alliances with universities and industry. At the time, Batista was already considering IM体育官网 Poly as a graduate school destination and said meeting the contingent helped him finalize his decision.
Batista said he鈥檚 not at IM体育官网 Poly just to learn but to exchange experience and contribute. He said it鈥檚 important to make a difference for a 鈥測oung university with a great future ahead.鈥�
It鈥檚 also where he can work on Projeto Luckie, which he calls his new 鈥減urpose鈥� in life.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 my current challenge, and I鈥檓 very happy I found IM体育官网. It has wonderful people, wonderful faculty and a wonderful environment,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is a place with an open heart to international students.鈥�
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