Konstantin Bauman’s research – building novel machine learning models – sounds challenging. Then he provides more details.
For a recent experiment with the University of the People, a non-profit online higher education institution, Bauman developed systems that were able to assess a student’s overall course work, find weaknesses and then make specific study recommendations before the final exam. The experiment showed that students who received personalized tips received significantly higher grades than the students who received no guidelines or generalized ones.
It was a very simple algorithm but we really helped real people with their studies,” Bauman said. “I’m really proud of the results of these first experiments and now we’re looking at going to the next stage, not only telling students what to read but saying, ‘You should participate in this online discussion’ or ‘You should watch this video.’
Assistant Professor Bauman, who joined the Management Information Systems Department of Temple University’s Fox School of Business for the Fall 2017 semester, has undergraduate degrees in Mathematics and Data Mining and earned his Ph.D. in Geometry and Topology in 2012 from Moscow State University.
Before coming to the United States to work as a postdoctoral research scientist at New York University’s Stern School of Business, Bauman was in charge on machine learning research at Yandex LLC, “the Russian version of Google.” One of his projects there involved developing algorithms to determine which advertisements would be most appealing to users. Even a slight increase in the click-through-rate can mean millions of dollars for a business, he said.
Everything you do – any application you use or your clicks on a website — generates data,” said Bauman, who is teaching a course this semester on data mining. “A good business person should know how to get knowledge and insights from the data.
Many people don’t realize that machine learning and recommender systems are already making their lives easier, he said. It’s the technology behind email spam filters, Google’s top search results, Amazon product recommendations and Yelp restaurant suggestions. It is moving beyond algorithms identifying that someone who enjoyed the first book in the Harry Potter series should read the second one.
That’s something that’s most likely already on your radar. We should provide new recommendations or unexpected recommendations,” he said. “We have information coming at us from everywhere and trying to consume it all would be overwhelming so we need this advice.
Bauman’s current projects include creating algorithms to make better restaurant recommendations based on user input and further exploring how machine learning can help humans in their studies. He is collecting data from students in his current programming class with the hope of aiding future students.
Since it’s a first programming course for most of our students, the best approach would be to practice, practice a lot. We are developing a system where students can study online and take the provided learning activities in any order,” he said. “My idea is to find a way to recommend the ideal path so they don’t take all of the assignments, just the ones that will be beneficial to them. These recommendations should help students reach their learning goals in the most efficient and effective way.
Fox BBA MIS majors 
Like many entrepreneurs, Peter Hwang’s idea for what he hopes is the next big thing came to him when he spotted a hole in the market’s offerings: while traveling for work in NYC, he couldn’t find a quick way to find a good meal near his location without scrolling through unhelpful restaurant peer review sites.
Hwang is just one recent MIS graduate finding a need and filling it with a new business and, in some cases, new technology. Josh Meth, BBA MIS ’14, is working as a project manager at Ridge Spur Media, a company that develops digital strategies for businesses, while developing Auris, a new technology that can differentiate between sounds and act accordingly – i.e., if it detects glass breaking in a closed business, it can call 911 in case a burglary is in progress.
Ryan Oliveira, BBA MIS ’13, and Dave Dupell, BBA MIS ’14, have launched AtmosFi – 
At MIS, we did hands-on prototype work in class and learned to solicit feedback to get it to something that people love and like,” Dupell said. “(But) just understanding how to effectively lead a team and be part of a team are skills you develop in college and they’re very beneficial when you’re developing a company.” 
Dr. Ayabakan, who was previously an Assistant Professor at University of Baltimore and faculty fellow at the Schaefer Center for Public Policy, is researching healthcare by applying analytics to analyze very large data sets from hospitals. He will apply his analytics background and practical experience working with big data to teach the MIS department’s award winning GenEd Data Science course. 
Dr. Jung, who recently completed his dissertation, is examining the role of incentive structures in online and mobile forums using field experiments. Dr. Jung will apply his industry experience in the telecomm industry as well as research on social gaming and networks to teach Analytics to majors and minors across the Fox School.
Dr. Bauman, who was previously a research scientist at New York University, is a machine learning expert focusing on researching recommendation systems. Dr. Bauman will apply his extensive technical expertise including industry experience as a software engineer to teach programming. 
The Fox School of Business is excited to welcome 