MTSU represented among finalists for Nashville Technology Council awards

Middle Tennessee State University is represented among the finalists in three categories for the 11th annual Nashville Technology Council Awards.

Luis Lange, an Information Systems and Analytics graduate student, is up for Student of the Year; Charlie Apigian, co-director of MTSU’s Data Science Institute, is a finalist for Data Scientist of the Year; and the Women in STEM (WISTEM) Center is up for the Diversity and Inclusion Initiative of the Year.

Dr. Charlie Apigian

Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross

Winners will be revealed at the awards ceremony Jan. 23 at the Wildhorse Saloon in downtown Nashville. More information is available at https://technologycouncil.com/ntcawards.

The NTC says the event is “dedicated to connecting, uniting, developing and promoting Middle Tennessee’s rich community of developers and technology entrepreneurs, enthusiasts and institutions with awards in 14 categories. We accept nominations to recognize outstanding doers, movers and shakers.”

At MTSU, Apigian helps direct the Data Science Institute, which launched in spring 2018. Its mission is to promote funded interdisciplinary research and develop public and private collaborations around the emerging field of “big data.”

Last year, NTC recognized Apigian as its Community Leader of the Year.

The WISTEM Center celebrated its 10th anniversary this fall.

The brainchild of longtime MTSU chemistry professor and director Judith Iriarte-Gross, the center’s mission is to enable the campus and community to realize the intellectual potential and utilize the expertise of women in the STEM disciplines.

MTSU’s Department of Computer Information Systems and Analytics in the Jennings A. Jones College of Business offers a bachelor’s of business administration in information systems; a master’s in information systems with concentrations in business intelligence and analytics, IT project management, information system security and assurance, and general information systems; a minor in information systems; and an accelerated bachelor’s and master’s program.

— Jimmy Hart (Jimmy.Hart@mtsu.edu)