Deep Dive Coding to Offer 10-Week Data Science Bootcamp to Prepare Students for this High-Paying Field

Data Science is a field where large amounts of complicated data is collected and then smartly analyzed to create actionable info. Most often, that actionable info is then used to improve the organization or tool that originally generated the data itself.

It’s an emerging field, but according to Cliff Lewis, the instructor for Deep Dive’s upcoming 10-week Data Science Bootcamp (applications are due on Feb. 1), every private business and public agency should be using data science to make better and more informed decisions within the next couple of years. According to a recent study, the need for data scientists is set to spike 28 percent in 2020 alone. 

“I would have to think hard to come up with an organization that would not benefit from data science,” he says.

In the public sector, Cliff says, data science can be used to improve everything from traffic to crime rates. When it comes to crime, for example, cities would collect data on high-crime areas and then analyze that data to make staffing and patrol decisions for the local police so that the right personnel were in the right spots at the right times.

Before coming to CNM Ingenuity, an arm of CNM that pursues new and accelerated approaches to education and economic development, Cliff worked in the private sector and says he helped a biomedical company use data science to better serve medical patients and the insurance companies that oversaw their coverage. More specifically, by monitoring data coming off smart devices worn by the patients, his company was able to predict whether the patients were going to need elevated care and eventually be transferred to a hospital.

Data science is becoming increasingly important in the sports world because teams are using the field to help with everything from recruiting to offensive strategy. Netflix uses data science to help recommend your next show, and we wouldn’t have self-driving cars or artificial intelligence without data science.

Because data science is changing how companies do business and cities manage their most important problems, employers are willing to pay generous salaries, even for entry-level positions. Starting data scientist salaries range from $75,000-$125,000 in the Albuquerque area and jump to an average of $140K nationally.

Going into the Data Science Bootcamp—which starts Feb. 24 and runs 10 weeks—Cliff says students will need a basic understanding of coding (in at least one language), some experience with math fields including probability and statistics, and an understanding of whatever field they plan to enter after graduating from the bootcamp (business, healthcare, energy, education, etc.).

In class, students will learn the basics of data science, but they’ll also learn other crucial skills like how to communicate about the data they’re analyzing.

“A lot of data scientists are good at what they’re doing when they’re by themselves but when they have to brief an executive that knows nothing, it’s hard for the data scientists to explain their work,” Cliff says. “In class we’ll work on things like data visualization which will help students learn how to actively communicate their work to the people that make the decisions.”

Because data science is a rapidly developing field, Cliff says adaptation will be another skill taught in the bootcamp.

“One of the most important things we’ll learn is how to come up to speed when needed,” Cliff says. “Students will learn how to shorten the learning curve whenever they come across something they’ve never done before. I’ve been doing this for 20 years and I’m constantly having to learn something new!” 

Learn more, including how to apply.