Center for Research to Advance Fintech Announces Industry Fellows and First-Year Research Projects to Drive Fintech Sector Transformation

HOBOKEN, NJ and TROY, NY – Stevens Institute of Technology and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute today announced their first industry members, including Bank of America, and initial research projects for the Center for Research on Advancing Financial Technologies (CRAFT). An industry-university collaborative research center, supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, CRAFT underscores the nation’s strategic investment in addressing risks and challenges facing the high-tech financial services industry.

“CRAFT addresses the critical need for collaborative research and policy initiatives to guide and transform the fintech sector,” said Steve Yang, CRAFT co-director and associate professor at Stevens Institute of Technology’s School of Business. “We are very excited to announce our first member companies and associated organizations and the applied research we are conducting on their behalf for 2022-23. With speed, security, computational power, AI-enabled economics and new analytics systems becoming increasingly important to the success of the financial services industry, We ensure that our work will provide a competitive advantage.”

More than eleven member companies have joined CRAFT, which can be viewed CRAFT website.

“Greater collaboration between industry and academia is critical to advancing the shared needs of clients and the broader financial industry,” said Mike Purewal, Head of Global Markets Data Science at Bank of America and a member of CRAFT’s Advisory Board. “Technology is a fundamental part of business, which is why access to cutting-edge research and collaboration with leading institutions like CRAFT, Stevens and Rensselaer will help expand our thinking beyond traditional financial disciplines. As the industry embraces new technologies, we are able to work together to address specific challenges and techniques such as applying machine learning to finance, equity, risk and social responsibility.”

CRAFT has identified seven research initiatives to be completed from June 2022 to May 2023, including:

• Reasoning for fairness and explanation in economic decisions
• Explainable machine learning for credit risk analysis
• High-dimensional portfolio design and optimization using an explainable Ensemble learning framework
• Predictive learning from long financial text documents
• Risky business? Deep dive into DeFi
• Risk reduction in decentralized finance across platforms
• Fast Quantitative Methods for Financial Risk Management

Key to advancing CRAFT’s research initiatives is the Hanlon Financial Systems Center, which includes two financial analytics labs to support Stevens students in applying fintech solutions to real-world business problems. In addition, students involved in Stevens’ fintech-related bachelor’s and master’s programs collaborate with Rensselaer’s specialized master’s students studying Quantitative Finance and Risk Analytics to support CRAFT’s research.

“With the first set of industry-funded research projects underway, CRAFT is poised to have a significant impact on the future of the financial sector and the technological challenges it faces,” said Aparna Gupta, CRAFT co-director and professor at Rensselaer’s Lally School of Management. “CRAFT’s talented industry advisory board has been instrumental in setting CRAFT on a great trajectory that will result in exciting and consistent results.”

Visit the Stevens website to learn more about HANDICRAFTS and its current research.

Stevens Institute of Technology is a leading private research university located in Hoboken, New Jersey, overlooking the Manhattan skyline. Since our founding in 1870, technological innovation has been the hallmark of Stevens’ education and research. Within the university’s three schools and one college, 7,300 students and postgraduates work closely with the faculty in an interdisciplinary, student-centred, entrepreneurial environment. Academic and research programs spanning business, computing, engineering, the arts and other disciplines actively advance the frontiers of science and leverage technology to address our most pressing global challenges. As Stevens celebrates its 150th anniversary, the university continues to consistently rank among the nation’s leaders in career services, post-graduation salaries for alumni and return on tuition investment.

Founded in 1824, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is America’s first technological research university. Rensselaer encompasses five schools, 32 research centers, more than 145 academic programs, and a dynamic community of more than 7,600 students and more than 100,000 living alumni. Rensselaer faculty and alumni include more than 145 National Academy members, six members of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, six National Medal of Technology winners, five National Medal of Science winners, and one Nobel laureate in physics. With nearly 200 years of experience advancing scientific and technological knowledge, Rensselaer remains focused on meeting global challenges with a spirit of ingenuity and collaboration.

Bank of America is one of the world’s leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and mid-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investment, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company offers unmatched convenience in the US, serving approx. 68 million consumer and small business customers with approx. 3,900 financial centers for retail trade, approx. 15,000 ATMs and award-winning digital banking with approximately 56 million verified digital users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business households through a variety of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves customers through operations throughout the United States, its territories and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Thania Benios, Stevens Institute of Technology
Phone: 1.917.930.5988
[email protected]

Sheryl Lee, Bank of America
Phone: 1.657.234.9950
[email protected]