Intern Update: Lucas Youtsey

Lucas Youtsey

Analytics & Technology, College of Business, Influence, and Information Analysis

Cerner - Business Apprentice

My internship is unique because I work with a team that has both software developers and pure business associates, so I get the opportunity to work as a middle ground between the two groups. This has benefitted me by learning to work with a variety of different types of people while also taking valuable lessons from both. I have managed to refine my communication and project management skills, as well as developing myself in a professional environment with new software to meet many different needs.

My co-op experience at Cerner has definitely been an original experience. I began the first few weeks by doing mandated corporate training. This included basic things such as always wearing my ID and displaying it with the picture facing outward or to make sure that I am always swiping into the building. This was followed by training that was more centered around what my team was doing. I learned that my primary purpose is to serve as a Segway between two different programs as Cerner transitions. Cerner has been using MyBI to do data analysis and reporting, but this is limited by so many things. These include, but are not limited to, the speed of the program, the capacity of data that it can process, and visualizations that it can create.

To counter these problems, I have been working on learning how to use Power BI. This is similar to the program Tableau, which we use at Rockhurst, but does have its differences. Though the end result is similar, it is written in a completely different programming language. Power BI is written in DAX, so it has been difficult to translate the previous information into a language I am familiar with, then translating it into yet another. I am in an interesting position because nobody else on my team is necessarily an “expert” on Power BI. I have got the opportunity to go through these growing pains with the rest of my team.

My team is made up of half business analysts and half software developers, so it is also very interesting to be the place that both of those groups meet. I enjoy being able to relate to both sides and forge relationships with all groups of people. My lead, Kim, has done a good job of outlining exactly what I need to do and an outlet for anything I need to get it done. I enjoy that she has a laid-back attitude as long as I continue to work hard and update her on my progress. The project I am working on is recreating the same dashboards that are currently in My BI to Power BI, and this project will be seen by the executive for each team.