The Smith School of Business is opening a new Customer Analytics Centre in Goodes Hall this February to provide new research opportunities for students and faculty.

The centre, which was announced on Jan. 12 through the Queen’s Gazette, was created using a $2.2 million donation from Scotiabank. The centre will be dedicated to the bank in recognition of its pledge.

The funding will be used to support research in customer analytics for postdoctoral fellow and graduate students at Smith. 

Research topics will include personnel performance monitoring and incentive optimization, valuation of risk taken by the traders, social media and network effect on customer behaviour, customer lifetime value models for the banking industry and customized pricing and bundling.

The Centre will be led by Yuri Levin, Chaired Professor of Operations Management and Director of the Master of Management Analytics program, and Mikhail Nediak, Associate Professor and Toller Family Fellow of Operations Management. Faculty members from the Queen’s School of Computing and other departments in the Smith School of Business will also be involved in the project.

Levin said there will also be internship opportunities for Smith’s PhD, Masters of Science, Master of Management Analytics and MBA students. The number of student opportunities (postdoctoral, internships and case competitions) is still being finalized.

The Centre officially opens on Feb. 22 in the East Wing of Goodes Hall off of the atrium, and is expected to be operational shortly after opening, according to Levin.

.@Scotiabank Centre for Customer Analytics to deliver a re-imagined customer experience https://t.co/aZSevoF2Mn pic.twitter.com/E3LthPnPbj

— Scotiabank News (@ScotiabankNews) January 12, 2016

“Queen’s and Smith have had a long standing relationship with Scotiabank,” Levin told The Journal via email, “based on Smith’s faculty expertise in the area of analytics, Scotiabank chose Smith as an academic partner.”

Smith professors and students with Scotiabank personnel will collaborate on research, which Levin said is mutually beneficial to both parties. 

“Scotiabank gets access to faculty thought leaders and student researchers in the area of analytics to develop applied research that they can use to create innovative customer solutions. Smith gets access to a leading industry partner, including proprietary data sets from Scotiabank and deep practical insight from its experts,” he wrote.

The Centre will primarily provide opportunities for Smith students, but Levin said there may be opportunities for students from other programs going forward.