McKelvey Engineering offers graduate certificate in financial engineering
Certificate offered through Electrical & Systems Engineering, Olin Business School
Graduate students in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis can now earn a graduate certificate in financial engineering. While a second major in financial engineering is offered for undergraduates, this is the first graduate certificate in the specialty.
A collaboration between the McKelvey School of Engineering and the Olin Business School, the certificate program is administered by the Preston M. Green Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering and directed by Vladimir Kurenok, director of the second major in financial engineering program. Faculty from the master’s in electrical engineering, systems science & mathematics, and data analytics & statistics programs in McKelvey Engineering and Olin finance will teach the courses.
Financial engineering combines applied math, statistics, computer science, financial theory and economics to analyze the finance markets.
“We already have a second major in financial engineering that was established in 2017 between the Engineering and Olin schools,” said Vladimir Kurenok, director of the second major in financial engineering program. “It has been a successful joint project. The wish has been to expand this successful program to graduate students because many of them have expressed interest in having such a program.”
Todd Gormley, professor and chair of finance and academic director of global master of finance at Olin Business School, has been very supportive and was essential in creating the program, Kurenok said.
“The Olin Business School is excited to work with McKelvey Engineering to help create this opportunity for graduate students in McKelvey Engineering,” Gormley said. “There is strong demand from financial firms for individuals with the skillset needed to succeed in financial engineering, and this certificate is designed to help WashU students meet that need. We expect many students will benefit from the new program, and Olin continues to explore ways to deepen our collaboration with McKelvey Engineering on this front.”
Required courses for the certificate program include ESE 427 – Financial Mathematics; ESE 4261 – Statistical Methods for Data Analysis with Applications to Financial Engineering; and FIN 500Q – Quantitative Risk Management. Suggested electives include FIN 537 – Advanced Derivative Securities, and ESE 513 – Large Scale Optimization for Data Science. New and required classes will be offered at least once a year.
“Based on the success of similar graduate certificates, the partnership between McKelvey Engineering and Olin Business helps achieve the university’s goal of fostering greater collaboration among schools,” Kurenok said.
