College of Computing Continues to Deliver Customized Corporate Training

When Fusion Recruiting Labs, a tech company that builds employment tools to help customers accelerate hiring processes and increase the efficiency of HR recruitment campaigns, wanted to help their 77 staff members realize maximum benefit from its database systems, they contacted the Ying Wu College of Computing (YWCC) at NJIT.

Through YWCC, Fusion was connected with computer science professor Vincent Oria. Oria worked with Fusion’s management team to create a customized course that would provide Fusion staff with a deep knowledge of database technologies and tools that would help them better understand the capabilities of the company’s own PostGRES system, as well as provide them with the tools to use that system more effectively.

Seven staff members participated in Oria’s class, which quickly expanded to a longer course in order to give students additional time to learn the material and complete hands-on assignments covering database design, querying and R, a programming language widely used among statisticians and data miners.

Oria approached the development of his course material with a strong focus on the fundamentals and how those fundamentals can then be applied in specific systems.

“When I teach my NJIT students, I am neutral when it comes to any particular database system and software,” said Oria. “I want them to first learn the principles that underpin any system. With this course, even though Fusion uses a very specific database system, it was still important for the staff to have that same knowledge of the fundamentals first. Only after that we jumped into how those fundamentals operate within the Fusion database in order for them to better realize its full potential.”

Working from theory to query, Oria taught his students twice a week over mutiple weeks, giving them in-class and at-home assignments that helped them get acquainted with the class material. Few students had previous database experience, so writing queries and using a programming language was new to them. The response from students was overwhelmingly positive. They appreciated Oria’s approach to teaching the material and the small size of the class that made room for questions and different learning styles.

Zach Schultz is a digital marketing analyst at Fusion. His job is to optimize and monitor online marketing trends through the analysis of marketing data and tracking campaign performance. Fusion’s database is crucial to his work and the analytics he uses to help inform key business decisions. Schulz came into the class without previous database or coding experience beyond what he has learned on the job. He noted that his team had previously depended on only one staff member with SQL skills to access the database, which was a reason he was taking the class.

“I loved the class,” said Schultz. “It was able to provide me with the foundation that I was missing. Before, I would write database queries just because someone told me how I was supposed to write them. It is nice to know why I have to write things a certain way and also give me the ability to adjust queries on my own.”

Erin Borodunovich is also a digital marketing analyst at Fusion with years of previous database experience. She enjoyed Oria’s approach to the material and appreciated that, through Fusion’s relationship with YWCC, they were able to have an expert come onsite rather than having to leave the office and take additional time from her work. Even with her previous experience, she came away with new knowledge and a stronger understanding of the system she works with every day.

“Getting a glimpse of the information we can tie together is very exciting and helpful,” said Borodunovich. Dr. Oria was able to open my eyes to how our database was structured, and new ways to access the database through different programming languages, which is beneficial to the team in learning new platforms.”

YWCC has partnered with companies who are members of its Industrial Affiliates Program (IAP) for 4 years. IAP members benefit from a wide range of support and assistance from YWCC faculty and students, with IAP working closely with members to develop customized solutions to address a diverse array of needs, challenges and opportunities. IAP member companies include Fortune 500 companies as well as smaller one that are leaders in their industry and embrace innovations in computing and technology as central to continued business growth and success.

“YWCC greatly values our relationship with our IAP member companies and work with them continuously to take on important business objectives, whether in the shape of a specific computing project or, in this instance, a training or course,” said Craig Gotsman, YWCC’s dean. “As one of the leading computing colleges in the region, we enjoy being able to share the wealth of expertise and experience we have on campus with our members to help them with whatever their computing needs may be.”