The KNIME community comprises many remarkable members who are constantly contributing to everyone’s benefit. To thank them for all their major efforts, we have introduced the KNIME Distinguished Educator Award and are happy to announce the 1st recipient: Prof. Francisco Villarroel Ordenes.
The Contributor of the Month - Hall of Fame is evidence of the wide range of contributions to data science from the KNIME community. Of special note are educators at higher education institutions, high schools, and even corporations, who are teaching the next generation the data skills required in today’s world.
KNIME and the Educators Alliance team would like to highlight and recognize their tremendous teaching work.
The Distinguished Educator Award recognizes exceptional education experts and their continued support of KNIME and low-code tools in teaching. Awardees can pick how they’re recognized based on what fits best with their work: travel support for attending conferences or training, research and workflow support by KNIME data scientists, or a course development grant to collaborate on the design and implementation of new courses.
The award is open to all members of the Educators Alliance, and any community member can nominate an educator all year round.
1st Awardee: Prof. Francisco Villarroel Ordenes
We are happy to announce that the first recipient of the KNIME Distinguished Educator Award is Professor Francisco Villarroel Ordenes.
Prof. Villarroel has been a pivotal figure in the deeper integration of machine learning and marketing analytics in the last couple of years. His work with KNIME Analytics Platform has not only enhanced the academic realm, but also has provided practical solutions for marketing professionals.
Prof. Villarroel's journey with KNIME began during his PhD at Maastricht University and has since been a cornerstone of his teaching methodology, most recently at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome, Italy.
His role as an Associate Professor of Marketing and Director of the MSc. in Marketing has allowed him to influence the next generation of marketers with cutting-edge tools and approaches, leveraging the low-code nature of KNIME. His recent accolade, the Teaching Excellence Award from LUISS Guido Carli University, is a testament to his dedication and innovative teaching practices. It's not just his students in Italy who benefit from his expertise; Prof. Villarroel shares his knowledge in summer schools and workshops across the globe, including in Finland and Chile.
A collaboration between Prof. Villarroel and the KNIME team resulted in a repository of Machine Learning and Marketing case studies on the KNIME Community Hub. These studies demonstrate the practical application of machine learning algorithms to solve classic marketing problems, bridging the gap between theory and practice.
This work has been shared with the scientific community in a joint paper "Machine learning for marketing on the KNIME Hub: The development of a live repository for marketing applications," published in the Journal of Business Research (10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.08.036).
This paper not only highlights the versatility of KNIME as a tool, but also its accessibility for those who may not have a coding background. In contrast to other repositories, this one is actively developed, and more use cases have been added since the scientific article’s initial publication.
As the marketing landscape becomes increasingly data-driven, Prof. Villarroel and his colleagues’ contributions ensure that educators and practitioners have the resources to stay at the forefront of innovation. His work exemplifies the potential of machine learning in marketing and the power of collaborative efforts in advancing the field. Thank you Prof. Villarroel!
Explore new use cases for machine learning and marketing in the Meet Your Customers booklet, co-edited by Prof. Villarroel.