Personal Statement (Nadeem Qureshi, Master of Applied Science in Software Engineering)

Inherent liking for quantitative sciences, analytical methods and building solutions along with my
curiosity around how these impact real-life situations triggered my interest in Software Engineering.

The undergraduate program in Computer Science Engineering that I pursue currently at the highly
reputed Indian institution, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS) in Dubai campus has,
undoubtedly, created a strong analytical foundation. BITS provides stimulating-encouraging academic
environment blended with phenomenal industry exposure.

I believe that I have been focused over the past years preparing myself for a Master’s program in
Software Engineering at highly-reputed international universities, such as McMaster university. My
preferred option will be Security, Privacy and Data Analytics. In addition to the aforementioned option, I
am also interested in Software Quality.

Over the course of my various internships at companies like Johnson Controls and Sonata Software, I
had worked in a multitude of projects that tested my mettle in Data Analytics and Software Engineering.

Here is a sample of my most recent work at Johnson Controls:

• Worked on a solo project building the first ever Johnson Controls in-Market Sales Dashboard for
the GCC region using Tableau. This would help different levels of management to review and act
promptly to address sales deficits, B2B customer issues and sales force performance.
• Established methodology and prepared sales forecast for the year 2020 for the MENA region,
using Time-Series trend analysis on R. This would help prepare CXOs at the regional level to
address market supply chain and distribution for the following year.
• Crafted performance repots as well as Sales Tracking Analysis report for the MENA region using
Microsoft Excel and MySQL.
• Analyzed data coming in from all countries in the MENA region and developed various
dashboards based on business requirements using Tableau.

My role at Sonata Software Inc involved the following:

• Developed an application using C-Sharp and VB.NET to automate the process of resizing Azure
virtual machines (VMs) depending on client requirements and monthly usage which proved
instrumental for the company in implementing various cost cutting measures.
• Wrote a detailed documentation about the functioning of the application should further
changes be required.

Prior to the start of my internship, I have carefully prepared myself by opting for Data Analytics and
Software engineering related courses and projects at my engineering school. I have also equipped
myself well in tools such as Python, R, Tableau, MySQL among others and have taken courses on
Predictive Analytics, for example:
 • Creating a ‘Statistical Credit Scorecard’ using predictive analytics for retail unsecured loan
lenders;
• Building a Stock Price Predictive Model using the Autoregressive integrated Moving Average
Model (ARIMA) by analyzing security price trends over the previous 5 fiscal years;
• Developing a ‘Pokedex’ application that stores large quantities of data in the cloud and retrieves
all required details about a selected category which required extensive usage of MySQL.

Furthermore, I have completed multiple online courses on relevant subjects such as the following:

• Business Analytics from Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania (via Coursera)
covering Customer Analytics, People Analytics, Accounting and Operations Analytics.
• Introduction to Python from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (via Coursera)
• I had also served as the Data Analytics lead for the Association of computing Machinery (ACM)
student chapter, at BITS PILANI Dubai.

This summarizes my interest and efforts to set myself on a learning journey in Software Engineering and
build a career.

My short-term career goal, say within 2-3 years after Masters, is to build upon the technical and social
skills by enhancing my appreciation of wider aspects of business, as it unfolds in real-life. My preferred
area of work, after Masters’, would be in management consulting around Business Intelligence and Data
Analytics. This, I believe would leverage the learning and exposures gathered at engineering and Data
Science program.

An initial grounding in analytics consulting, straddling various industry sectors and rich interactions with
senior consulting professionals and client C-levels is expected to prepare me well for the longer term.
My mid-term goal, say up to 6-8 years post Masters’, based on my present assessment, is to grow into
operational leadership roles in the consulting domain by strengthening my understanding of business,
possibly through a formal business management program. I would want to work in global consulting
firms and associate with client across geographies. A consulting environment also helps in remaining
updated on contemporary business and technology developments.

Today, all businesses including financial services, telecommunications, media, retail and healthcare are
ever increasingly using data driven decisions aided by tremendous data created through diverse sources
such as mobile platforms, social media, shopping trends and increasingly almost all business activities in
the digital world. Yet, there is a considerable amount of sensitivity and responsibility around data-
privacy and compliance. Having acquired a good foundation of computer science through the rigorous
undergraduate program and a multitude of MOOCs, and internship experience focused on the same, I
feel confident to take up graduate studies. I wish to raise my understanding of the nuances of this field
and use this knowledge to build further career.

The Master of Applied Science in Software Engineering at McMaster is undoubtedly an exceptional

I believe the Master of Applied Science in Software Engineering at McMaster will be an important step
for my development and help shape me grow towards my goals.