Newman University data analytics students are making their mark on one of the world’s leading multi-industry companies, Textron Aviation.
Marcelo Casenove, director of special missions aftermarket support at Textron Aviation, earned his Master of Business Administration in international business from Newman in 2013 and is elated that for the first time this summer, he was able to help bring three Newman students to the company for internships.
Casenove explains that there’s a growing need at Textron for data analytics —the process of analyzing raw data for insights and trends, which allows the business to make informed decisions — so the internships are a win-win for both the company and the students.
Faculty recommended the students, and they “hit the nail on the head” according to Casenove. These students include Kayla Garvert and Daniel Villagrana, who are interning with Textron Aviation Parts and Distribution (commercial branch). Their work requires them to gather business intelligence data and use existing programs and data sourcing platforms to develop predictability models based on geography, customer type and market opportunities.
“The people here are amazing and help you all the way through,” Villagrana said. “The main goal is to get a learning experience, so many times they will not support you by giving you the answer but they will give you an idea. Ricky Boyer (a fellow data analyst) is quite good at this by answering my questions with more questions.”
Villagrana said he is grateful to be at Textron, working and learning the ropes of a day-in-the-life of a data analyst.
“It’s been a blast ever since I started,” Villagrana added. “I hope to continue learning both from the team and on my own by realizing my mistakes and being able to overcome them.”
Garvert says the internship is not only an outstanding learning experience, but also it’s “exactly the atmosphere I was hoping to find in a future career.”
“The work may be challenging, yes, but the people I work with make every second of it worthwhile,” Garvert said. “Additionally, how many people get to say they flew a plane as part of an internship?”
Because both Villagrana and Garvert work with experts who assist them in overcoming obstacles when dealing with projects involving complex data mining, their internships are providing them with invaluable experience.
“They seem quite challenged these days, and very excited to explore the real world of data analytics and assist our leadership to make sound business decisions in the near future,” Casenove says.
The third Newman intern is Julia Myers, a rising senior in business data analytics. She started her work as a defense aftermarket data analytics intern in January 2021. Her role involves a lot of data wrangling, validation and building reports, as well as coding in SQL to combine data from military operators worldwide.
“I have loved my internship experience,” Myers says. “I have amazing co-workers who have been super helpful and patient in helping me learn as I work on the job. My main task has been programming a Power BI App for our team, and it has been a challenging but great opportunity. I have learned so much about how the business works and how to work well and communicate in a professional environment, as well as grown my knowledge of data analytics.”
Casenove is proud of the Newman interns’ tenacity, hard work and team participation in endeavors that will help Textron to increase market share and customer-tailored solutions.
“Needless to say, what I see from these students is exactly what I hope that people get out of college – a helpful formation not only professionally and academically, but certainly from the humanistic standpoint,” Casenove says. “It’s a privilege and honor to have them around here.”
Because of this, he hopes the students will have the chance to continue their internships next summer or do a co-op experience with Textron during the school year.
“A lot of the things they are doing right now will impact some of the business decisions our leaders will make throughout the year,” Casenove says.
Pride for Newman
While Casenove has three alma maters, the only one he’s chosen to contribute to is Newman, and that’s because he feels his time in the university’s MBA program provided him with a dynamic educational experience.
He would do a lot of his homework and studying on airplanes because his job required him to travel back and forth from Europe at the time. Whenever he returned from an overseas trip before a big exam, he’d go to the campus chapel to collect his thoughts and pray for guidance.
“I’m a man of faith, and Newman provided that passage through a very important part of my life,” Casenove says.
He’s currently wrapping up his stint as president of the National Alumni Board of Directors and will join the Newman Board of Trustees this fall — a real honor for Casenove.
“The mission of Newman is my mission in life, which is serving others not just professionally, but emotionally and spiritually in every way I can.”
