William Li, SPES JSM Chair

The Section on Physical and Engineering Sciences (SPES) program for JSM 2015 will feature three invited, three topic-contributed, and five contributed sessions.

Invited

Scaling Up Response Surface Models for Big Geostatistical and Computer Simulation Data, organized by Robert Gramacy of The University of Chicago

Design and Analysis of Mixture Experiments: New Methods with Applications, organized by Scott Cooley of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Complex and High-Dimensional Inference in Astrostatistics, organized by Jessi Cisewski of Carnegie Mellon University

Topic-Contributed

Physical Sciences, organized by David Jones of Harvard University

New Developments and Applications in Design of Experiments, organized by Julie Zhou of the University of Victoria

Statistical Innovations in Failure Time Modeling of Complex Systems: Pathway to a Better Decision, organized by Sanjib Basu of Northern Illinois University

Awards for Outstanding Presentations

Michael Crotty, SPES Awards Chair

The section is also pleased to announce the results of its annual competition for contributed papers presented at last year’s JSM in Boston, Massachusetts. The outstanding presentation awards encourage excellence in presentation and help raise the SPES contributed sessions to a higher level.

All awards are based on audience evaluations of each speaker.

Outstanding Presentation Award

Christine Anderson-Cook, Los Alamos National Laboratory: “Identifying the Best 16-Run Regular or Non-Regular Screening Design for 6 to 8 Factors Using Multiple Objectives”

Runner-Up, Outstanding Presentation Award

Hernando Ombao, University of California, Irvine: “Modeling Neuronal Cross-Interactions”

Honorable Mentions

Andrew Robinson, University of Melbourne: “ML vs. MRR: Weibull Parameter Estimation for Making Decisions”

Shan Ba, Procter & Gamble: “Optimal Sliced Latin Hypercube Designs for Computer Experiments with Continuous and Categorical Factors”

Maria Weese, Miami University: “Powerful Supersaturated Designs When Effect Directions Are Known”

Gwendolyn Eadie, McMaster University: “Measuring the Mass of a Galaxy: An Evaluation of the Performance of Bayesian Mass Estimates Using Statistical Simulation”

Winners received a certificate recognizing their accomplishment and a cash award.

The awards for the JSM 2014 best presentations will be presented at the SPES mixer during the 2015 meetings in Seattle. Those who assisted with the evaluations are Po-hsu Chen, Elizabeth Claassen, Stephanie DeHart, Emily Griffith, Laura Lancaster, Rajneesh Rajneesh, and Liz Schiferl.

Visit the section’s website for more news and announcements.