What will I learn? Course objectives

Experiential learning and skill acquisition

The class has three sections that build on each other.

  • The first section focuses on process automation.  You will learn the fundamentals of coding in Excel using state-of-the-art IDE technologies: Visual Studio and Visual Studio Tools for Office.
  • The second section deals with Business Intelligence techniques.  You will automate the creation of dynamic SQL queries that retrieve and process business information residing in remote enterprise databases ( a logical next step if you have taken COMM3220).
  • The third section is about Financial Engineering. You will build a robotrader, a software that manages a $50mil portfolio of stock and options in turbulent financial markets and hedges financial risks by buying and selling securities in real time.  By participating in the yearly McIntire Hedge Tournament you will be able to tell to your employer an exciting story about how you and your team designed and developed technologies to solve a challenging business problem.

While the Tournament is an exciting endeavor, it is also a means to achieve broad educational goals. Comm4230 teaches you how to use Information Technology to automate and support decision making in business. Taking this class will help you to (1) think computationally, i.e., understand in concrete and specific terms how information technology solves business problems, and (2) develop hands-on skills in current and widely-used tools for process automation, business intelligence, and financial engineering.