Bob Lewandowski
Bob Lewandowski, who teaches IT management in the Mendoza College of Business, will work with students of Notre Dame's Entrepreneurship Master's Program this year in a Data Analytics course that involves real data from the State of Indiana and culminates in a presentation to state officials.
After teaching as an adjunct professor, Lewandowski was hired to teach in Mendoza’s management department in 2007. After he collaborated with other experts to create a predictive analytics course for undergraduates using SAP tools, ESTEEM leaders asked him to redevelop the program’s analytics course with that market-leading software. Lewandowski, who has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s degree in educational technology with an emphasis on information technology from Purdue University, came to Notre Dame to work in the Office of Information Technology. He had also worked at the Purdue Research Center and the St. Joseph County Public Library and was an information system technician in the U.S. Navy Reserve while working at Notre Dame.
“Data analytics is all about getting data and assessing it and doing analysis, doing visualizations, pulling items out of it that you can use to make decisions,” Lewandowski says. State officials, who lack sufficient staff to analyze the high volume of statewide data, are working with ESTEEM students who will analyze the data as part of the course. Students will visit Indianapolis early in the semester, and state officials will visit Notre Dame at the end to receive a paper and hear a presentation from the class.
“It’s going to be an interesting course for them,” he says. “ESTEEM is a great opportunity for students with all kinds of different backgrounds to come and share their experiences in a collaborative environment and work together toward a common goal.”