Computational Finance at the Oregon Graduate Institute of
Science & Technology (OGI)
A Concentration in the MS Programs of
Computer Science & Engineering (CSE)
Electrical Engineering & Applied Physics (EEAP)
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20000 NW Walker Road, PO Box 91000, Portland, OR 97291-1000
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Program Overview
Today's technology has increased the level of technical pro-
ficiency required in the financial markets. At one time, for
example, spreadsheet skills and a good understanding of
financial instruments were all that were needed to build
practical derivative pricing tools. Today, leading edge
financial institutions routinely use advanced techniques
from engineering and computer science computers to create,
price, and manage risk for new instruments.
Computers of today are powerful enough to analyze and make
decisions based on real-time data (tick-by-tick). Further-
more, modern data analysis tools can consider many variables
simultaneously and capture complicated and often nonlinear
inter-dependencies between variables. This has opened up new
modeling possibilities for hedging, derivatives instruments,
and decision making.
At OGI, the demand within the financial industry for techni-
cally competent graduates that are well versed in state-of-
the-art analysis techniques is addressed by an intensive 12
month Computational Finance program. The program is offered
as a concentration in both the Computer Science & Egnineer-
ing (CSE), and Electrical Engineering & Applied Physics
(EEAP) departments. The program leads to a Master of Science
degree in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE track), or
in Electrical Engineering (EEAP track). Computational
Finance courses are also cross-listed in the Management of
Science & Technology (MST) program.
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The Computational Finance Program is:
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* An intensive 12 month track directed at training scen-
tists, engineers, and financial professionals in the theory
and practice of advanced quantitative financial analysis.
* An attractive alternative to a standard 2 year MBA, for
highly motivated and technically sophisticated students
who are considering a career in quantitative financial
analysis.
* A way of gaining a solid foundation in finance, cover-
ing material equivalent to 3 semesters of MBA level
finance and beyond, in only 3 quarters. Finance courses
are taken in parallel with demanding engineering and
computer science courses, and the program is not
recommended for students without mathematical skills
corresponding to an undergraduate degree in a scientific
or technical field.
* Based on a solid foundation in relevant data analysis and
signal processing techniques from Computer Science,
Electrical Engineering, and Statistics. These techniques
are utilized for modeling financial markets and developing
investment analysis, trading, and risk management systems.
* Geared towards adaptive and nonlinear signal processing
tools, like artificial neural networks.
* Strongly project oriented, using state-of-the-art com-
puting facilities and live/historical financial market data
provided by Dow Jones Telerate. Students are exposed to tools
and trading environments that reflect the modern facilities
at a typical Wall Street trading firm. Students are also
trained in using high level numerical, and analytical
packages, such as MatLab, Mathematica, SPlus, and Expo, for
analyzing and modeling financial time series.
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Admission Requirements
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Admission requirements are the same as the general require-
ments of the institution. GRE scores are required for the
12-month concentration in Computational Finance, although
they can be waived under certain circumstances.
A candidate must hold a bachelor's degree in computer sci-
ence, engineering, mathematics, statistics, one of the bio-
logical or physical sciences, finance, or one of the quanti-
tative social sciences.
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Contact Information
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For more information, contact
Program Information Admission Information
E-mail: CompFin at cse.ogi.edu Betty Shannon, Academic
WWW: Coordinator
http://www.cse.ogi.edu/CompFin/ Computer Science and
Engineering Department
Oregon Graduate Institute
of Science and Technology
P.O.Box 91000
Portland, OR 97291-1000
E-mail:
academic at cse.ogi.edu
Phone: (503) 690-1255
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