Tim McAliley enhances data analytics education with professional expertise

Teresa M Donnellan — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 16:43:29 +0000

Tim McAliley enhances data analytics education with professional expertise Teresa M Donnellan Fri, 01/17/2025 - 11:43

Tim McAliley has navigated a successful career in IT by staying agile and embracing continuous learning. Now, he’s teaching a course at George Mason University to connect data analytics engineering students with challenges set forth by local technology companies, facilitating their professional development alongside their academic growth.

McAliley's journey from the Marine Corps to academia is a testament to his diverse experiences and dedication to continuous learning. Currently an adjunct professor at George Mason University, McAliley teaches a graduate capstone course in the Master’s in Data Analytics Engineering program, where his extensive real-world experience significantly enhances his teaching.

McAliley's career began in the Marine Corps before he earned a degree in political science and military science from Florida State University (FSU), graduating in December 1994. In 1999, he transitioned into the information technology (IT) field, earning his Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer certification while working at FSU’s Center for Academic and Professional Development. This certification marked the beginning of a successful career in IT, which included roles in enterprise file storage, network printing, and cloud solutions. Since 2012, he has worked at Microsoft as a cloud solution architect. His role involves various aspects of cloud deployments, including Azure and hybrid solutions.

Tim McAliley

In addition to his professional career, McAliley has continued to pursue academic success, earning a master's degree in information management systems from Harvard Extension School in 2023 and enrolling in George Mason’s Information Technology doctoral program this spring. He began teaching the data analytics engineering graduate capstone course in fall 2024. Balancing his full-time job at Microsoft, his teaching responsibilities, and his doctoral studies is no small feat, but McAliley approaches it with the same determination that has characterized his entire career.

McAliley’s teaching philosophy is influenced by his professional experiences. He emphasizes the importance of practical experience and encourages his students to document their projects and skills on their LinkedIn profiles.

"Everything you are doing in this class needs to go on your resume somewhere," he advises his students. The course is designed to provide students with hands-on experience in data analytics, working on real-world projects for actual companies. His extensive background in IT and cloud solutions allows him to offer students valuable insights and guidance.

"I was able to bring in my job experience about how to handle a customer or handle project changes," he said. This practical knowledge helps students navigate the complexities of their projects and prepares them for the challenges they will face in their careers.

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Data Analytics Engineering

information technology

Adjunct Faculty

The future at Fuse: Data analytics

Teresa M Donnellan — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 19:50:50 +0000

The future at Fuse: Data analytics Teresa M Donnellan Mon, 02/13/2023 - 14:50

In This Story

James Baldo

Bernard Schmidt

Kenneth Comer

Mason Square is home to data analytics classes from several College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) departments. This makes it promising locale for George Mason University’s multidisciplinary Data Analytics Engineering Program. The Data Analytics Engineering master of science program is the second largest in CEC, with more than 700 students enrolled in classes across three Mason campuses. Currently, three sections of the capstone course DAEN 690 meet at Mason Square.

“Mason Square is a perfect place to hold courses, especially for individuals who are returning students or lifelong learning adults, who are government employees or contractors,” says interim program director Bernard Schmidt.

Starting with the Fall 2023 semester, Schmidt said the goal is to schedule as many sections of DAEN courses, including the capstone course, at Mason Square as is offered at the Fairfax Campus.

“This offers the greatest opportunity to not only maximize the utilization of Mason Square, but it also offers more course availability options as a way to encourage those returning students and lifelong learning adults located in Northern Virginia to apply to the DAEN program and enroll in DAEN program courses,” he says.

Students can earn an MS in Data Analytics Engineering or a certificate in Data Analytics. Both options require core classes in applied information technology, computer science, operations research, and statistics. The master’s further includes a capstone data analytics project and a concentration in a specialized technical area. Currently, students can choose from 13 different concentrations ranging from health data analytics to financial engineering.

Ken Comer, who teaches the core course OR 531 Analytics and Decision Analysis, says these students’ aim is to develop the types of tools that do the data analytic work for a client and consistently provide meaningful and useful results.

“The engineer designs. It's someone else who operates, so in order to get there, of course, the students have to learn the techniques that they're going to have [in order] to create as the engineer,” he says, citing the three techniques that can be embedded in a data analytic tool: optimization, simulation, and data analysis.

The study of data analytics is more than simply using data visualization tools, Comer says. He notes one problem with data science can be that the scientist gives the client copious insights into the client’s data, but the client may not actually feel helped in deciding.

“[Students] get a lot of tools in how to curate data, how to manipulate it, store it, move it around, secure it, and a variety of other things,” says Comer, “But this is the only class where they get to … learn how to create a useful product out of the data—something that would help somebody, that is important for somebody who has to make a decision.”

In his syllabus, Comer explains, “Every problem we will work will be focused on the allocation of resources or some other important decision that might be experienced in the course of business, industry, or government operations. Some examples are: If I’m offered additional resources, how much should I pay for them? What is the mix of production decisions that maximizes profit? What sequence should I use for a multi-step process? How much should I save to ensure an 80% chance of having a set sum at retirement?”

He further writes, “In order to receive proper credit, you will need to answer the question at hand. Your boss or your customer cannot be expected to search around your spreadsheet for the numerical answer.”

James Baldo, the program director currently on sabbatical, says he is excited that working students at Mason Square might be able to apply their newly acquired skills immediately in the workplace. “It's going to be a hub of industry partnerships down there with the university,” he predicts.

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College of Engineering and Computing

Data Analytics Engineering

Campus News

Teresa M. Donnellan

Tim McAliley enhances data analytics education with professional expertise

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The future at Fuse: Data analytics

In This Story

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