After completing his degree, Kirk Richardson ’17 M.S. spent several months expanding the programming skills used in his thesis and practiced during his internship as a data analyst and loan officer at a CDFI in Missoula, Montana. Three months after graduation, he began working as a software engineer at a company specializing in building apps for startups.

Since then, Richardson has worked on several large web and mobile apps for clients in a variety of industries, including music ticketing, social media, fundraising, and online retail. He cites the technical and problem-solving skills gained during the quantitative track of the master’s program as instrumental in allowing him to break into a new industry.