Each year, our MSc Business Analytics students complete a project in partnership with an external organisation which forms the basis of their Term 3 dissertation. These student projects are undertaken in collaboration with organisations at various stages of growth, including those looking to scale their business.
In this blog, we catch up with Alex Matthews, Senior Software Developer at BatFast, a sports technology business aiming to drive participation in sports worldwide. This year, the company worked with two UCL School of Management students over a four-month period following a recommendation from their current CEO, Runish Gudhka, who is also a UCL alumnus. Alex tells us all about the student projects and the ways in which our students’ fresh perspectives on their data supported the company’s wider objectives and goals.
Who are BatFast?
Through various connected propositions, we harness the power of the internet, machine learning, mixed reality, and deep technology to develop futuristic sports experiences that aim to transform how sports are experienced and played. BatFast actively works with partners to help create sports-themed activations and infrastructure that attract and retain diverse audiences – be it a beginner or a seasoned professional. With a relentless pursuit to innovate and build like-minded communities around the world, we are creating a revolution to drive participation in sports globally.
What problem or question was investigated through the student consulting projects?
This year we worked with two students. They were tasked to help analyse the big data we collect from our range of sport simulators in the UK and beyond. Our simulators record a significant number of usage and customer performance statistics. This includes every ball we deliver (to date more than 45 million deliveries), scoring data and machine information.
Our technology is deployed across a range of clients in different business areas (ranging from entertainment to elite training). The first project was to analyse the data, looking for patterns in usage to help identify trends that we can use to better understand system performance over time.
One application of our simulators is within the cricket competitive socialising space. We have a database of many different cricket deliveries, and players hit these with the aim of scoring points. The second project was to analyse the current scoring data, classify how players perform against each delivery and use this to create an adaptive game mode logic that responds to how effectively players are scoring. Creating a truly level playing field requiring minimal input from the players themselves.
How did you initially assess the problem and did this change over the duration of the projects?
Although we have been collecting good quality data for a few years, we realised that we would benefit from getting a fresh perspective to help us analyse it effectively. Our CEO, Runish Gudhka, is a former UCL alumnus and he put us in touch with the programme.
Over the course of the four-month projects, the students asked some really insightful questions that helped us to refine our data, identify future areas of interest, and think about multiple different solutions that we may not have considered otherwise.
What value has the project brought to your organisation?
Both projects have brought tangible benefits we aim to use in the field in the immediate future.
The first project produced a detailed analysis of how our simulators are utilised by different clients. It also yielded some good recommendations, which we hope to implement and refine into another project next year.
The second project gave us an excellent insight into how customers are performing when playing on our simulators. Through this, we hope to formulate an exciting new game mode for people to enjoy, which will be termed ‘Intelligent Gameplay’ or similar.
How was your overall experience working with UCL school of management students?
It was a pleasure working with everyone at UCL, and once again we had two dedicated students who have delivered real value for the business. There is always a diverse range of backgrounds and ideas, which are invaluable for complementing our in-house expertise. Thanks must go to Ankit and Jonny for their hard work and fresh mindset, and we look forward to next year’s projects starting soon.
would you like to work with us?
If you would like to find out more about our MSc Business Analytics student projects, please reach out to Tracey Phillipson, view our webpage, or register your interest.