Transforming Services Through Data and Design

I am passionate about service research and design and have found the MDI program to be perfect in helping me deepen my knowledge and skills in forward-looking research and design to help organizations achieve current and future business goals.

Before embarking on his Master of Digital Innovation (MDI), Chikwado Eneja, an international student from Nigeria, obtained an impressive resume of work experience. “I led digital transformation projects focusing mostly on healthcare and logistics. Some of these projects helped promote healthcare delivery in my country’s military, as well as logistics and maintenance planning for the Navy,” he says, “I also have research experience, playing active roles in designing custom tools for data collection and analysis.” In addition, Chikwado has experience serving as a technical writer for a United Nations–recognized Digital Public Goods software company.

Chikwado completed his MDI Internship with Davis Pier Consulting. “At Davis Pier, I have been part of teams conducting discovery and proactive research for service design,” he says, “I have conducted secondary data analysis, research planning, jurisdictional scan, and research synthesis using behavioural research techniques like the COM-B model.”

“One of my accomplishments includes playing a role in the writing of a proposal for user experience modernization research for a provincial government in Canada,” he says, “The project will help the government gain detailed insights into the challenges facing childcare and early years services and lead to a service design project to improve user experience by solving identified challenges. This will be the first time the company has won a project from the province, having made five earlier attempts.”

The caliber of students we have worked with through the MDI program has been exceptional – and Chikwado is a great example of that. The way he shows up – eager to take on challenges and learn, genuinely grateful for the experience, and exceptionally bright and talented – made him an asset to our team. The skills he has possessed through his previous experience and education combined with his core values made him an absolute pleasure to work with and be around.

Katie Newcombe, Director of Organizational Development at Davis Pier Consulting, discussed her team’s experience with Chikwado. “He was able to seamlessly integrate with our team and take on meaningful work that had a true impact on our clients. He did an incredible job jumping into complex data analysis that would have taken significant focus from our team to complete,” she says, “This included cleaning up the data, data management, identification of gaps, and requesting additional information and insights from our client.”

“He pulled together his analysis into a final presentation that allowed the client to gain insight into their program that they previously did not have – his ability to take complex information and present it in a way that resonated was exceptional." 

Katie feels Chikwado’s prior work experience better equipped him for the role. “Chikwado’s previous experience allowed him to hit the ground running. He understands how to show up as a professional, the value of true collaboration with teammates, and when to ask questions versus when to just try on his own," she says, “He showed up as a professional from day one – we often forgot that he was a co-op student! His experience with data analysis and research allowed the activities he took on to come easily to him – he felt prepared and confident to dive into the work and did so effectively and efficiently.”

“All our team feels very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Chikwado through the MDI co-op program.”

Chikwado reflected on his experience with the organization. “I consider myself incredibly lucky to have my work experience at Davis Pier. I was supported in the kindest way possible, integrated into a great team to do important work,” he says, “The firm has a multi-layered mentorship system that supports team members with professional and personal development guidance. I have been given opportunities to bring my experience and learning into projects as well as creative freedom to explore new ideas. Davis Pier is a high-trust, collaborative, and collectively supportive organization.”

Chikwado noted that he not only had an exceptional internship, but also a great experience at Dalhousie as a whole. “I’d like to particularly thank Professors Rita Orji and Andreou Pantelis, who have made remarkable impacts on my academic journey at Dal.”

Learn more about the Master of Digital Innovation Internship