Student Research Fellow - Prof. Yufan Lin - Tarkington Business Future Institute #738648073

Cal Poly Pomona Enterprises Employment Services

ANNOUNCEMENT OF POSITION VACANCY

• PositionTitle: StudentResearchFellow
• Department: TarkingtonBusinessFuturesInstitute College of Business Administration Cal Poly Pomona
• ReportsTo: ProfessorYufan"Frank"Lin,TarkingtonEndowedFacultyFellow

AbouttheTarkingtonBusinessFuturesInstitute

TheTarkingtonBusinessFuturesInstitute(TBFI)is athink-and-dotankhousedwithinCal PolyPomona's College of Business Administration.The Institute bridges rigorous faculty research with the business leaders, policymakers, and communities shaping Southern California's future through applied research, public engagement, strategic convenings, and multimedia communications.

StudentFellowsareintegral membersofthelnstitute'steam,working alongsideFaculty Fellowstotranslateresearchintomeaningfulpublicdialoguewhilehelpingbuildthe lnstitute's operational infrastructureand long-term capacity.

SUMMARY: TheStudentResearchFellowwillhelpdevelopthelnstitute'spublicAl-poweredmarket researchdashboard-a continuouslyevolvingplatformthatcombinesrealsurveyand economic datawithAl-generated synthetic researchtosupportforecasting,market analysis,andbusiness decision-making.

Buildinguponthe lnstitute's Neo Smart Livingresearch project-which integrated a 600-personconsumer surveywithduallargelanguage model(LLM) syntheticrespondents to conduct segmentation, pricing, and concept testing-the Fellow willhelp transform this methodology into a scalable research platform serving multiple regional businesses.

This fellowshipis intentionally interdisciplinary. Studentsare encouragedtoapply based ontheir strengths andinterests ineither software development orappliedmarket research. Prior experience inevery area is not expected.

SOME OF THE THINGS THAT YOU WILL GET TO DO (this is just a small sampling of work variety):

FellowshipTracks

BuildTrack{Engineering&AlDevelopment}

Studentsinterested in software engineering, analytics, andAldevelopment maycontribute by:

·DevelopingandmaintaininginteractiveStreamlitdashboards

·Buildingautomateddatapipelinessupportingdashboardupdates

·DesigningAl-generatedsyntheticrespondentworkflows

·Creatingcustomerpersonasandmarketsegments

·EngineeringpromptsformultipleLLMs

·IntegratingAPls(includingOpenRouterandrelated services)

·EvaluatingconsistencyandreliabilityacrossmultipleAlmodels

·Automatingingestionofpubliceconomicindicatorsandsurveydatasets

·Supportingdashboarddeployment,maintenance,anddocumentation

AnalyzeTrack{MarketResearch &BusinessAnalytics}

Studentsinterested inmarket research, marketinganalytics, andbusiness strategymay contribute by:

·Designingsurveysandinterviewguides

·Conductingsegmentation,targeting,positioning,andpricinganalyses

·ApplyingLLM-assistedcodingtoopen-endedcustomerfeedback

·Synthesizingquantitativeandqualitativefindings

·Preparingclient-readyreportsandbusinessrecommendations

·Supportingpresentationofresearchfindingstobusinesspartners

SharedResponsibilities

• Regardless of track, Fellows willcollaborate onthe lnstitute's public forecasting platform by:
• ·ComparingAl-generated synthetic datawithreal-world survey resultsto evaluate validity and reliability
• ·SupportingpublicationofregionalforecastingindicesandInstitute researchbriefs

·Participatinginmeetingswithlocalbusinessesandcommunitypartners

·Identifyingpotentialdatasourcesforfutureforecastingstudies

·Workingcollaborativelyacrossengineeringandresearchteams

·Contributingideasforimprovingtheforecastingplatformandresearchmethodology

LearningOutcomes

ResearchFellowswillgainpracticalexperiencein

·Applied artificialintelligenceandLLMworkflows

·Marketresearchandconsumeranalytics

·Surveydesign andbusinessforecasting

·Dashboarddevelopmentanddatavisualization

·Datastorytellingandexecutivecommunication

·Clientengagementandappliedconsulting

·Cross-functionalteamworkinaninterdisciplinaryresearchenvironmentStudentswillalso have opportunities to:

·Receiveone-on-onementorshipfromInstitutefacultyandresearchers

·Buildaportfoliofeaturingpubliclyreleasedforecastingproducts

·Expandprofessionalnetworksthroughindustryandcommunitypartnerships

·Exploreopportunitiesforconferencepresentationsandresearchco-authorship

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Applicantsmust

·BecurrentlyenrolledasanundergraduateorgraduatestudentatCalPolyPomona

·Bepursuingadegree inBusiness Administration,Computer InformationSystems, Computer Science, Data Analytics, Marketing, DigitalMarketing, Economics, Statistics, or a related discipline

·Demonstrateinitiativeandawillingnesstolearn

·Workeffectivelybothindependentlyandcollaborativelywithateam

·Communicate professionallyin written and verbalsettings Cross-disciplinary applicants are strongly encouraged to apply.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Preferencewillbegiventoapplicantswithexperienceinoneormoreofthefollowing.

·Pythonprogramming

·Streamlitordashboarddevelopment

·Pandasanddataanalysis

·Statisticalanalysisandsegmentationtechniques

·Surveyresearchmethods

·Promptengineering

·LargeLanguageModels(LLMs)

·APIintegration(e.g.,OpenRouter)

·Front-endapplicationdevelopment

·GitHuborversion control

·Applicantsareencouragedtodemonstrateprojectstheyhavebuilt.

TIME COMMITMENT

·10-15hoursper week

·Fall2026throughSpring2027

·Maximum of 20hours perweekinaccordance withUniversitystudent employment guidelines

APPLICATION PROCESS

Interestedstudentsshouldsubmit

·Resume

·Optional Portfolio of relevant work

Question regarding the position should be emailed to: [email protected]

CareerReadinessCompetencies

TheTarkington Business Futures Institute intentionally develops the NationalAssociation ofColleges andEmployers (NACE) CareerReadinessCompetencies throughmeaningful experiential learning.Student Fellows will strengthen competencies in:

·Career&Self-Development

·Communication

·CriticalThinking

·Equity&Inclusion

·Leadership

·Professionalism

·Teamwork

·Technology

CSU along with Cal Poly Pomona Enterprises strongly recommend faculty, staff, and students who are accessing campus facilities to be immunized against COVID-19 or declare an exemption from doing so. The systemwide policy can be found at COVID-19 Vaccination Interim Policy and any questions may be sent to [email protected].

Cal Poly Pomona Enterprises is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Cal Poly Pomona Enterprises may provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities and encourages both prospective and current employees to discuss potential accommodation with the employer.