At Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, our students put their classroom knowledge into action by participating in real-world experiences. This spring, Carey students demonstrated their skills on the national and global stages, presenting their business solutions at the INFORMS Analytics+ Conference and taking first place at the CFA Financial Career Accelerator in China.
INFORMS Analytics+ Conference
The INFORMS Analytics+ Conference is a practitioner-focused event that brings together more than 700 academics and industry professionals to explore the latest advances in analytics and AI for solving real-world business challenges. One of the major highlights of the conference is the competitive student poster session, which accepts only a select number of high-quality submissions each year.
All eight students from Carey’s Business Analytics program had their posters submitted and selected. The students, mentored by Academic Program Director and Professor Naser Nikandish and Associate Professor Mohammad Yazdi, each chose a project focusing on high-impact solutions through analytical rigor and practical relevance. The eight students who presented their posters are: Joanne Qingqing Jiang, Louise Ju-Yin Lee, Jia Liang, Yijun Shen, Andrea Jianing Yan, Ziyao Friedrich Wang, Wenze Zhao, and Xuanye Zhu.
“The INFORMS Analytics+ Conference was a tremendous success for our students and for the Carey community overall,” said Nikandish. “Witnessing our students present their posters with professionalism, confidence, and genuine passion was incredibly rewarding.”
Beyond the poster sessions, students actively networked with industry professionals, faculty, and their peers. And prior to the event, the students met with the Career & Life Design team to sharpen their networking skills and conduct practice presentation sessions to perfect their delivery.
INFORMS also hosts the Early Career Professional Network, a professional development and networking workshop for business analytics students. Each school can nominate up to two students. Students are selected based on their resumés and application materials. This year, both Carey students nominated were selected. This marks the first time Carey students have been selected for ECPN, a milestone that reflects the growing reputation of the Business Analytics program and its students.
Lee, who was selected to participate in the ECPN, presented her poster, “Investing in Communities for a Stronger Tomorrow: Data-Driven Health Solutions,” in collaboration with Community Hospitality Healthcare Services. Her project used descriptive and prescriptive analytics to strategically allocate federal tax credits to medically underserved areas.
Jiang presented her poster “Optimized Credit Risk Prediction Using Advanced Modeling,” focusing on how machine learning models can identify and improve credit default prediction. By analyzing payment behaviors and customer profiles, Jiang identified key predictors like delay patterns, fluctuations in bill payments, and repayment score.
“Preparing this poster allowed me to apply a wide range of skills I’ve learned throughout the program. From data analysis and machine learning to Python programming and data visualization, the technical knowledge I gained across multiple courses came together to support this project. Equally important were the business communication skills I developed, which helped me explain complex results in a clear, structured, and accessible way,” said Jiang.
By participating in this conference, our students not only gained valuable insights and industry connections, but they also reinforced Carey’s commitment to relentless advancement and unwavering humanity.
2025 CFA Financial Career Accelerator
A team of four Carey Finance students and one student from the National University of Singapore won first place at the 2025 CFA Financial Career Accelerator in Beijing, China. Out of more than 300 teams in the initial rounds, 22 teams were selected as finalists to present in China. This is the second year a Carey team has participated in this global competition.
Led by Faculty Advisors Senior Lecturer Xiaohua Hu and Professor Xian Sun, the Carey team named Cross Pacific consisted of: Corinne Jiayi Li, Wenliang Lin, Hanbin Luo, Xinyan Rong, and Jinmu Song. The team impressed a panel of industry and government experts with their research, clear delivery, and sharp responses.
The team presented the topic, “Personalized Investment Solution for the Chinese Retired Demographic,” and introduced a solution of the three-layer framework, which combines global best practices with China’s specific market conditions. The first layer adjusted the target-date pension fund concept to suit local market volatility by gradually reducing equity exposure. The second layer applied efficient frontier optimization adjusted to China’s regulatory constraints, creating a stable and conservative portfolio mainly focused on bonds and cash. And the third layer used the analytic hierarchy process to rank five retirement goals, offering truly personalized investment suggestions.
“The finance program played a key role in preparing us for this competition, especially through the courses that combine technical tools with real-world applications,” said Song. “The courses trained us to handle financial data, build models, and interpret results independently. We were able to quickly learn and apply LSTM and ARIMA techniques–despite never having worked with them before–and successfully integrate them into our project under a tight timeline.”
The competition also included a Best Personal Contribution Award, which was awarded to Li, recognizing her performance and insight during the competition.
Carey’s continued involvement with the CFA Challenges underscores the growing international opportunities available to Carey students.
