Liz Schiferl, The Lubrizol Corporation

Happy New Year, everyone! The International Year of Statistics is now in the past, but every year can be a year of local statistics. How can that happen? By meeting and engaging with other statisticians who share the same interests. One way to do that is to join one of the many ASA sections.

The Section on Physical and Engineering Sciences provides many opportunities to meet and learn from fellow statisticians who share the same interest in industrial statistics. There are conferences (Spring Research and Fall Technical), SPES-sponsored sessions and the mixer at JSM, and webinars. After enjoying many such activities for 25 years, it is my privilege to help guide SPES as the incoming chair for 2014.

There are so many ways to become involved in SPES—serve on a committee, become an industrial speaker, help find continuing education courses, etc.—but I think the main benefit is the opportunity to meet and learn from other statisticians. Sound interesting? Well then, here is a quick how-to list for getting the most out of SPES:

Join

It doesn’t cost much, and you will be emailed a copy of the newsletter. Plus, once you are a part of the SPES community, you can join online discussions or post questions to elicit input from other SPES members. You’ll also be notified about webinar and conference opportunities.

Attend a Conference

The Spring Research Conference (SRC), a joint venture of SPES and the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, is the premier research conference for statistics in industry and technology. The program typically features stimulating keynote addresses by eminent researchers, plenary talks, invited sessions, and contributed sessions on key and emerging areas.

In 2014, the ASA Q&P Section’s Quality and Productivity Research Conference will combine with the SRC to create the Joint Research Conference (JRC) with the theme “Statistics and Quality in a Data-Rich World.” The conference will be held June 24–26 at the University of Washington.

The annual Fall Technical Conference (FTC) is co-sponsored by the Chemical and Process Industries Division and the Statistics Division of the American Society for Quality Control. In addition to a full program of talks typically based on research reported in the Journal of Quality Technology and Technometrics, the meeting offers pre-conference short courses, council meetings for the sponsoring bodies, and fun non-technical outings. The 2014 conference will be in Richmond, Virginia, October 2–3.

Attend a Sponsored Talk

Attend a SPES-sponsored talk or roundtable discussion at JSM and then have some fun at the SPES mixer, where you will have a chance to win fabulous prizes. When you look at the list of past door prize contributors, you get an idea of the diversity in SPES membership. In 2013, we had items from Los Alamos National Laboratory, SAS, jmp, Stat-Ease, Lubrizol, Ohio State, Pearson, W.L. Gore, Virginia Tech, David Trindade, Bill Notz, Statistical Society of Canada, SIAM, Chevron, Microsoft, P&G, MINITAB, Wiley, and Dow Agro Sciences, just to name a few. Thanks to their generosity, almost half the attendees went home with a prize!

Get Involved

Really get involved by submitting papers, joining a committee, or serving as an officer. It takes a dedicated group of people to keep SPES moving forward, and I want to thank everyone who has helped out in the past. I especially want to thank Winson Taam, outgoing SPES chair, for all of his efforts. It turns out that it’s kind of fun to volunteer, and there is no better way to get to know people.

Want to learn more? Start by visiting the SPES website.