Benjamín Castro
I was born and raised in Bogotá D.C., Colombia. After graduating high school, I moved to the U.S.A to begin my bachelor program in Computer Engineering. Towards the end of my program, I began diving deeper into data engineering and machine learning, which quickly became my new learning passions. After working as a software engineer for a couple of years, I decided to pursue my passion for learning about data science and machine learning but focused on business process optimization.
"The world of data is immense and requires skills of kinds, not only technical".
Define your experience in MBD in one word.
Eye-opening.
Why did you choose to study this program at IE?
Desire to understand how to apply data technologies and machine learning to optimizing businesses.
What has been your favorite memory of your experience?
Hearing directly from industry experts during Global Immersion Week in Amsterdam.
What were some of the main challenges you encountered on your way? How did your master’s program and IE help you through these challenges?
I'm not sure I understand this question - challenges in what way?
How did you manage to balance your academic workload with your professional responsibilities?
Having a very strict routine and making sure I spent around two hours each day reviewing learning material.
What is networking like in MBDSPT?
It's very challenging because of the nature of the program. Definitely this was one of the things I cannot recommend from this specific program.
How did IE support you in finding a job after completing the program?
One personal challenge I experienced was that I got married while doing the program, so at one point things got very busy :) I remember I took an exam the morning of my wedding. Traveling to Europe also presented a challenge but at the same time was a nice opportunity.
How applicable were the skills you learned in the program to your current role or industry?
The skills of collaborating with diverse group of people to solve real business problems continues to be very relevant.
In what ways do you think the program has changed your life professionally and personally?
Personally, it opened my mind to a world of possibilities and showed me that there are many different ways to solve/approach any given problem. Professionally, it has allowed me to make an impact in my organization beyond my role as an engineer by thinking about the larger business problems that are being solved.