Finance and engineering mash-up for new major

A new, interdisciplinary academic program will combine courses in math, computer science, engineering and finance for Washington University in St. Louis students pursuing a career in financial engineering.

This major in financial engineering will be offered starting in fall of 2017. The program is a joint effort between the School of Engineering & Applied Science and Olin Business School.

Students must declare a first major in either school to add the second degree program. The financial engineering degree includes classwork from Olin and Engineering, incorporating the best practices from both schools to teach students about understanding, modeling and measuring financial risk, and how it affects global markets.

“This new double major is an exciting step in increasing educational collaboration,” said Aaron Bobick, dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science and the James M. McKelvey Professor.  “Systems engineering in particular provides the technical and analytic skills essential to impact increasingly complex financial markets and businesses.  Many of our alumni in these sectors have expressed their strong support of such a program.”

The combined courses will total 30 units and include classes such as Financial Accounting, Capital Markets and Investments, as well as Algorithms and Data Structures, Big Data and Machine Learning, and Financial Mathematics. The new second major is designed to prepare Washington University students for the emerging field of financial engineering.

“Students will receive a unique blend of engineering and business education,” said Kurt Dirks, interim dean of Olin Business School and the Bank of America Professor of Managerial Leadership. “Washington University is uniquely positioned to deliver such a program at a high level.”

This story was originally published on WashU’s The Source.