A St. Clair College graduate is making a big impact on health care in the Ottawa area, which she credits to her studies in St. Clair's Data Analytics for Business program.
Arya Krishna came from India to study in Windsor, graduating at the top of her class in 2025.
"She was an exceptional student who maintained a perfect 4.0 CGPA throughout the program," said John Ulakovich, the program coordinator and Professor of Data Analytics.
Krishna said she chose the course for the curriculum, but really enjoyed the structured learning environment and instructors.
"The teachers were very supportive. They wanted us to grow and learn, and they were very committed to their teaching as well," Krishna said. "I was happy that I chose St. Clair College."
"Beyond her academic excellence, she demonstrated remarkable discipline, intellectual curiosity, and a strong commitment to applying data science to meaningful, real-world challenges," said Prof. Ulakovich. "As a peer tutor, she supported her classmates and contributed positively to our learning community."
Krishna also found that the things she was learning directly applied to what would become her first job out of school.
"Everything was covered, like supply chains, health care, everything related to data, and also core concepts," she said. "Thankfully, I knew all the things that I needed to know as a data scientist."
Three months after graduating, Krishna landed a job as a data scientist for the County of Renfrew, where she uses data to help identify service gaps and create operational efficiencies for the region's paramedic service.
"There's a lot of responsibility, because I'm dealing with deputy chiefs of the paramedic service," Krishna said. "I'm learning a lot. I'm using many of the things that I learned in my courses at St. Clair, especially the one related to health care analytics."
Her main roles include analyzing 9-1-1 ambulance call data to assist and improve operations, logistics and patient welfare.
"They always want to reduce the response time so they can reach the patients faster. They also want to optimize the logistics and the purchases they make so things don't expire and create wastage," said Krishna, whose data is also submitted to the ministry.
Krishna analyzes call volume data and categorizes low and high priority calls, creates heat maps and data visualizations, and reports her findings to the deputy chiefs, which aid the County with resource optimization and ambulance placement.
"It's informed decision-making that only happens when they get insights out of the data," she said.
Krishna says working hard at the craft and staying committed to studying was the recipe for her immediate success.
"Every time, it was paying off for me. If I'm talking to the students, I'd say make sure you cover everything that is being taught because it's all useful for your future," she said.
Prof. Ulakovich says Krishna's journey is a powerful example of how hard work and dedication translate into real impact.
"We are incredibly proud to see graduates like her applying the skills developed in our Data Analytics program to drive data-informed decision-making and strengthen communities across Ontario," he said.