Page 13 - UD Messenger Vol. 23 No. 1

MBA student Matt Kay has opened the new East Coast Float Spa, and his clients feel like they are floating on air.
Kay’s spa offers therapeutic floating, in which each client enters a tub of water containing more than 1,000 pounds of Epsom salts. This dense mixture allows the client to float effortlessly in the water, inducing a state of deep meditative relaxation and alleviating physical discomfort.
Kay discovered therapeutic floating as a natural pain reliever and alternative to painkillers after a serious car accident left him with chronic pain.
Now, Kay helps others to access the physical and mental benefits of floating, known scientifically as restricted environmental stimulation theory or REST.
Opened in September in West Chester, Pennsylvania, the East Coast Float Spa features three “float rooms” and is one of fewer than 15 spas in the country with such facilities.
“This is an environment that removes all of the noise and distraction from the world,” Kay said. “You achieve a level
of relaxation physiologically that you can’t in any other way. This can help
heal physical pain as well as really be beneficial for mental health.”
Kay worked with UD’s Horn Program in Entrepreneurship to create his business, participating in the Startup eXperience and VentureOn programs and utilizing media resources at the Venture Development Center to create promotional videos and print material.
Now that the East Coast Float Spa is in action, Kay feels the proudest of his work when he receives positive feedback from clients.
“Being able to really help people is what I’m most passionate about and what interests me the most,” he said. “That’s why we do this.” z
— Sunny Rosen, AS14
Floating on Air: Matt Kay, BE15M
New PhD program pioneers ‘Big Data’ solutions
The University of Delaware’s new PhD program in Financial Services Analytics (FSAN) has gotten off to a strong start.
The unique program, a collaborative effort between JPMorgan Chase & Co., the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics and the College of Engineering, teaches students to become experts at researching and analyzing large swaths of electronic information, known as “big data” in the business world.
“I love how UD was able to merge finance, data mining, statistics and other areas to create the FSAN program,” said Leonardo De La Rosa Angarita, a current FSAN student. “This is also reflected in the diversity of the students. We come from different fields, and it is wonderful how we are able to complement each other in so many different ways.”
Long Chen, another FSAN PhD student, said, “After I joined the program, I expected to learn about a broad range of disciplines to fill my toolkit, and that is
exactly what we are doing—taking courses from the areas of finance, statistics and computer science. Although the program just started, I can tell we are heading in the right direction.”
Bintong Chen, Director of the FSAN program, said that students are trained as researchers and professionals who play key roles in interdisciplinary teams, applying their knowledge and skills to convert vast
amounts of data into meaningful information for businesses and consumers.
Bintong Chen added that the first semester put students’ skills to the test, “due to the intensity and breadth of the core classes designed for the program, ranging from very technical subjects, such as machine learning and data mining, to very business-oriented topics about financial institutions.”
Students are interacting with JPMorgan’s Corporate and Investment Bank during the spring semester to identify topics for their research projects and potential summer internships.
“I always wondered what would happen if engineers and economists would speak the same language, if professors would be more open to the world outside the walls of their offices and if industry would get more interested in what we study in our classrooms,” said Eriselda Danaj, another student in the program. “It is challenging and I love it.” z
— Sunny Rosen, AS14
OUR STUDENTS
Volume 23, Number 1 • 2015 11
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF MATT KAY