Harry Garnish MSc Operational Research, 2013

Data Analyst at ORH Limited

Hi, I'm Harry Garnish and I studied MSc Operational Research within Mathematical Sciences at the University of Southampton.

I can now very easily relate real world problems to mathematical models and know how to solve things in a mathematical way.

Why did you choose to undertake your studies at the University of Southampton?

When I was doing my undergraduate degree in second year I was thinking about what I wanted to do after graduation. I decided that I wanted to continue education but a PhD was too much. I wanted to do a one year’s taught master’s programme. A friend recommended Operational Research to me, which led me to look on the internet, and I began to get really passionate about this course. Then I researched universities and their courses and found that Southampton had the most mathematically focused course so I went for that as it linked more to my undergraduate degree.

What have you enjoyed about Southampton?

I have mostly enjoyed the people. I was working with dedicated, hardworking and likeminded people. Working on case studies with them meant they were very good quality.

What do you feel you have achieved from the course?

I can now very easily relate real world problems to mathematical models and know how to solve things in a mathematical way. Data plays a big part in solving real world problems and the quality of your solution depends on quality of data you have.

What are your future career plans?

Currently I am working as data analyst for an Operational Research company called ORH Limited which is based in Reading. They are a management consultancy for emergency services and so I am learning lots of skills from this. Gradually I am making my way up the career ladder after starting with lots of data analysis, and now I am starting to do modelling. I will hopefully carry on that trend to soon lead management programmes and eventually become a consultant.

Were you involved in any clubs and societies?

I was very involved with the Ballroom Dancing Society and chose to put a lot of time into that alongside my studies. It was a very good society with lots of competitions; I personally went to four in a year and did very well. It was a lot of fun and I met some great people and dancers. I think Southampton is very strong on their clubs and societies; I’m sure there is data to prove this compared to other universities. It has a very nice green campus and the concourse is a great geographical location for clubs and societies.

Did you undertake any work placements?

My dissertation final project was a work placement, which I did a little differently as it was part time. Instead of working three months over the summer I worked for six months from June to December. I worked for ORH Limited, the company I work for now, and my project was on British cycling, particularly the location for British Cycling facilities. I had to find out the location of current facilities and then decide where they can best place new facilities in UK. One of the facilities I suggested was for a velodrome to be put in Southampton, but discussions on whether this is possible are still in progress.