Stephanie P. DeHart, DuPont and SPES Chair

Happy New Year! The New Year is a time of resolution for many people, including me. We all know the routine. We’ll promise to start exercising or eating healthier this year. We’ll start off strong, but, within a few weeks, we’ve lost our way to the gym and indulged in all those Super Bowl party snacks. Our New Year’s promise to ourselves is long forgotten. Well, this year I encourage you to make a resolution that you can actually keep by vowing to become more involved in SPES. Now this does not mean you have to devote time as an officer (though we are always looking for volunteers). Instead, pick one or two ways you can take advantage of all your SPES membership has to offer.

Conferences

Consider attending one of the annual conferences SPES cosponsors and take advantage of the opportunities to share and learn through technical presentations, roundtables, and short courses. The 22nd ASA/IMS Spring Research Conference (SRC) on Statistics in Industry and Technology will be hosted by Procter and Gamble and held in Cincinnati, Ohio, May 20–22. The theme of this year’s SRC is “Bridging Statistics Research and Application to Foster Innovation.” Visit the SRC website for more information about the conference and abstract submissions, which are due April 1.

The 2015 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM) will be held in Seattle, Washington, August 8–13. The theme this year is “Statistics: Making Better Decisions.” SPES will sponsor sessions, roundtables, and short courses. And don’t forget about the fun-filled mixer! Visit the JSM website for more information, and contact the SPES program chair, William Li, at wli@umn.edu for abstract submissions, which are due February 2.

The 59th ASA/ASQ Fall Technical Conference (FTC) will be held in Houston, Texas, October 8–9. The theme of this year’s FTC is “Statistics and Quality: Solving Problems Today and Tomorrow.” The conference will include a new SPES-sponsored panel discussion, “Success and the Statistician.” The event will begin at 3:30 p.m. on Friday and include refreshments. Visit the FTC website for more information, and contact the SPES program committee chair, Zhen Wang, at Zhen.Wang@lubrizol.com for abstract submissions, which are due February 28.

Marquardt Memorial Industrial Speakers Program

Consider hosting a speaker or presenting as part of the Marquardt Memorial Industrial Speakers Program. Through a donation by Margaret Marquardt in memory of her late husband, Donald W. Marquardt (ASA Fellow and former ASA president), SPES instituted this program in 1998 to foster communication between industrial statisticians and academic statistics programs.

The program’s objective is to familiarize students with the role of statisticians in industry, an application area to which students often are not exposed. The program seeks to fill this gap by bringing experienced industrial statisticians to campus to talk directly with students about their work and industrial experiences.

If you would like to have a speaker visit your campus or if you would like to tell the world about life as an industrial statistician, please contact the program’s chair, Greg Piepel, at greg.piepel@pnl.gov.

Even More Opportunities

If the previous activities sound interesting, but you aren’t quite ready to make a promise that statistics will go beyond your office this year, then consider another engagement that allows you to stay at your desk. Attend a SPES-sponsored webinar, start a discussion with fellow members in our LinkedIn Group or even send me an email (stephanie.p.dehart@dupont.com) with any ideas you may have about how SPES can better serve your needs. I would love to hear from you!

In closing, I encourage all of you to make a resolution you can actually keep: Use your SPES membership and get more involved! I also would like to thank all the SPES officers who have already done this by volunteering. To our 2014 officers—especially our 2014 chair, Liz Schiferl—thank you for a successful year!

And to our new 2015 officers, welcome! Your dedication and service makes SPES a valuable organization for our members. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as chair this year and look forward to working with all of you.

FTC Wrap-Up

Zhen Wang, The Lubrizol Corporation and FTC SPES Representative

The 58th Fall Technical Conference (FTC), co-sponsored by the ASA and American Society for Quality (ASQ), was held October 2–3 in Richmond, Virginia. The conference was well attended, with sessions covering a range of topics in statistics and quality. Invited sessions included Application of Statistical Engineering (ASA-Q&P), Statistical Engineering and Big Data (ASQ-STAT), George Box’s Contributions to Quality and Statistics and Definitive Screening Designs (ASQ-CPID), and Statistical Tools for Computational Model Data (ASA-SPES).

The W. J. Youden Memorial Address was given by Connie Borror from Arizona State University. Also noteworthy were invited sessions from Technometrics, Quality Engineering, and the Journal of Quality Technology; contributed sessions on design of experiments, quality, and reliability; and a lunchtime presentation by ASA Executive Director Ronald Wasserstein.

On the day preceding the conference, four short courses were offered that spanned design of experiments, text mining, reliability data analysis, and effective presentations for statisticians. Equally as valuable were the many opportunities to interact with colleagues from the statistics and quality areas. The conference provided a setting to network at meals and in the hospitality suite.

SPES is accepting papers for the 2015 Fall Technical Conference, to be held October 8–9 in Houston, Texas. The abstract submission deadline is February 28. Contact Zhen Wang at zhen.wang@lubrizol.com for details.