Matthew Coelho Completes Internship In Halifax

April 23, 2014

Student Matthew Coelho has just completed his co‐op internship at the Dalhousie Risk Analytics Lab in Halifax, Nova Scotia, co‐sponsored by The Bermuda Foundation For Insurance Studies and Nova Ltd.

Mr. Coelho graduated from Mount Saint Agnes Academy in 2010 and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Informatics degree majoring in Software Systems at Dalhousie University. Informatics is a blending of traditional computer science studies with an emphasis on real world experience, project management and communication skills.

In thanking BFIS and Nova, he said, “Working in the lab gave me a first hand experience with the re/insurance process and also let me get my hands on some next‐gen and bleeding edge technologies that I would not have had the opportunity to utilize as an undergraduate computer science student. This internship experience also gave me a first step into the world of Big Data which is an emerging tool that businesses are starting to utilize.

“Without this experience I would not have had the opportunity to get this introduction nor would have I been able to gain some new skills and experience in the computer science field.”

Left to right: Michael Fisher, Matthew Coelho and Sandra DeSilva

MF, Matthew Coelho, SDS

“During the internship, Mr. Coelho co‐authored a paper with the Director of the Dalhousie University Risk Analytics Lab, Dr. Rau‐Chaplin titled, ‘eXsight: An Analytical Framework for Quantifying Financial Loss in the Aftermath of Catastrophic Events’.

Michael Fisher, BFIS Chairman said, “We had already been in contact with Dr. Rau‐Chaplin [through one of our BFIS alumns who was working for him] regarding the possibility of summer internships for computer science students, so this gives us the opportunity to see how their programmes work. We are delighted to sponsor Matthew as we feel his work is highly relevant to the insurance sector.”

Sandra De‐Silva, Managing Director and Chief Software Architect of Nova said, “Matthew has worked at Nova for the past two summers and is a very impressive young man, and Nova is proud to be a co‐sponsor of his final internship.”

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Comments (9)

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  1. PBanks says:

    Congrats to Matthew, intelligent guy with a bright future.

    • Redo says:

      Congrats! This is how it’s done folks! You want a job? Go get yourself educated and qualified for one. If you don’t, companies will have no choice but to look outside our tiny unqualified workforce to fill their positions…otherwise, they shut down or leave. Fact.
      Well done young man!

      • Portia says:

        Oh please. Such a narrow statement clearly ignores the other social factors that come into play in these situations, such as the fact that 1) many children of privilege are afforded opportunities and education that are not within the reach of the average Bermudian student and 2) many companies simply do not want to hire Bermudians, even if they DO have the requisite skills and experience, they prefer to hire from abroad. It happens very often here.

        • haha says:

          Then get up and try again if they don’t hire you, you probably gave up de first try! SMH If you set your mind to it you can achieve whatever you want! Real talk.

        • Toodle-oo says:

          And what about all the scholarships that are denied to those wicked children of privilege and given to others because of political correctness even when they’re grades are not as good ? Forget about them or are you too focused on the privilege thing to know what’s going on elsewhere ?

        • Duckling says:

          Oh please – how can you make such a statement about children of privilege – do you know his family? Well I do and they came from very simple means. His mother went to Government Schools and going on to University was simply out of the question. They raised their children with good values and were not afraid to correct their children should they step out of line. His parents made sure that he studied in order to get where he is today – they wanted him to achieve what they were not able to have and to earn it the old fashion way – with pure and simple hard work.

          • Matthew says:

            Duckling has it right. I owe everything to my parents and my success has nothing to do with affluence, but simply self-learning and hard work. The upbringing provided by my parents was simple: If you want to be successful, put in the work and the effort.

  2. PointGirl says:

    Well done, Matthew. You’re a brilliant example of what hard work and focus can accomplish. What a great role model to all young people in Bermuda.

  3. BETTTY TRUMP says:

    Well done, and many Congratulations to you !!