Andrea Vreugdenhil has always been drawn to the intersection of technology and real-world impact. Originally from Bromont, Quebec, she studied Business Technology Management at Universit茅 de Sherbrooke, where she competed internationally in ERP simulations, served as VP Academic of the school's competition committee and completed internships in business intelligence at BRP, Intelcom and Genetec. A long-time volunteer with the Pierre and Yolande Gingras Foundation, she also helped build the organization's first website. As a 2025 McCall MacBain Scholar, Andrea chose to do her Master of Management in Analytics (MMA) In-Person at 91涩漫 Desautels Faculty of Management and is wrapping up a year defined by applied learning and meaningful work.
What made you choose the 91涩漫 Desautels MMA?
Through my internships in business intelligence, I developed a strong interest in analytics, and I started to realize how much more there was to explore. Given how quickly the field is evolving, I knew that building strong fundamentals would be essential for me to keep learning and adapting. I was looking for a program that would give me technical depth while staying grounded in practical applications, and the MMA offered exactly that balance. It allowed me to deepen my understanding of core areas like data science and AI while applying that learning in more concrete settings.
How has being a McCall MacBain Scholar shaped your experience at 91涩漫 so far?
Being a McCall MacBain Scholar has been one of the most motivating parts of my experience at 91涩漫, largely because of the people I've met. The scholarship program brings together a community of motivated and curious individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and being part of it continually pushes me to expand my perspective and challenge how I think. Conversations with fellow scholars from different fields, including one about how AI is influencing policy and government, have opened new areas of interest for me. Experiences like this have made me more intentional about how I approach my learning and about the kind of impact I want to have.
What aspects of the MMA program have you found most rewarding?
One of the most rewarding aspects of the MMA program has been the real-world course projects we work on throughout the year. They provide frequent opportunities to apply what we鈥檙e learning, which helps solidify concepts. Additionally, the capstone project has been a great experience, as it allows us to work through an actual problem in depth over a longer period. Beyond the classroom, there are also industry events and hackathons where we can tackle real business challenges, connect with professionals and learn from their experience.
One of the most memorable experiences was the Retail Gen AI Hackathon. My team and I worked over 35 hours building a voice agent to support in-store associates. We had mentors from the industry throughout, including real-time support from AWS mentors, which made a big difference. Partway through, we had to pivot to a new solution and didn鈥檛 even have a working prototype until just two hours before presenting. Seeing everything come together during the demo, and ultimately winning, made the experience incredibly rewarding.
What advice would you give to someone considering the MMA?
My advice would be to focus on getting the most out of what you learn in class while also staying current with how the field is evolving. The MMA gives you a strong foundation in core concepts and principles, and the program creates plenty of opportunities to apply that learning in real-world settings, through industry events, hackathons and other activities. The field moves fast, with new tools, frameworks and approaches emerging constantly, and students who actively engage with both the coursework and the broader ecosystem tend to get the most out of the experience.
After graduation, Andrea is joining Compass Data + AI in Montreal as a data and AI tech lead, a role where she'll draw on the technical, business and leadership skills developed through the MMA, her internships and the McCall MacBain Scholarship.
Learn more about the 91涩漫 MMA and the .
Master of Management in Analytics (MMA) Program
The 91涩漫 Master of Management in Analytics (MMA) degree is a specialized program in the evolving field of analytics and data science with a strong emphasis on applied and experiential learning through our 3 Pillars: Quantitative Methods, Technology Automation and Business Application. The MMA program touches on many foundational topics that comprise Artificial Intelligence (AI), covering key areas such as Language Modeling, Image Recognition, Analytic Visualization and Data Architecture Automation. Through our comprehensive curriculum, students gain practical skills and knowledge essential for tackling real-world challenges in the rapidly advancing domain of AI and analytics.
