Today (April 14, 2025), Lara Kretschmer defended her master thesis Value-added Analysis of Electricity Price Forecasts via Battery-based Energy Arbitrage.
Lara received her bachelor's degree in mathematics and a graduate certificate in data science and business analytics from UNC Charlotte in May 2024. Right after that, she came to our department to pursue the master of science degree in engineering management.
She set a record by finishing our MSEM program in just one year, with a thesis.
She set this record while playing NCAA Division I volleyball!
Lara is a student athlete, born and raised in Germany. In 2020, she was recruited to UNC Charlotte on the athletics scholarship to play volleyball. In the 2024-25 season, also her 5th and last season at Charlotte, she served as a co-captain of our volleyball team. She was also named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.
From her weekly reports, I can see many weeks of 70+ hours. Every week, she spent countless hours in the gym, for workouts, practices, and games. Sometimes she had to travel to other states to play, adding another 10 to 20 hours on the road. On the academic side, I told all my BigDEAL students to take the most challenging courses on campus. Lara is of no exception.
Lara is a straight-A student.
I must be the luckiest professor in the world. I don't know what else I should dream of.
Well, I wish she can continue pursuing her PhD, but Lara wanted to play volleyball. She plans to join a semi-pro volleyball team in Germany, while taking a day-time job in the industry.
Update 10/3/2025:
After graduation, Lara went back to Germany. She is a forecaster and demand planner at Delta Dore Rademacher, while she continues playing her favorite sports, volleyball, at a local semi-pro team.
Lara visited me today with a hard-copy of her thesis.
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