Chapter officers (from left) Hailin Sang, Jon Woody, Jeff Syzchowski, and Bob Oster with ASA Past President Barry Nussbaum

Student award winners (from left): Justin Leach, Mojtaba Khanzadeh, Ralph Vital, and Zavia Epps

The Alabama Chapter hosted a miniconference April 6 at Mississippi State University. Approximately 40 current and prospective chapter members attended from Alabama and Mississippi who were affiliated with Mississippi State University, Jackson State University, the University of Mississippi, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The keynote speaker was Barry Nussbaum, ASA past president. The title of his talk was “The Only Thing We Have to Fear Are the Data Themselves … And That Is Not a Very Big Fear.” The purpose of the presentation was to demonstrate what to do—and what not to do—in terms of the ability of statisticians to succinctly explain results so decision-makers may correctly integrate analyses into their actions. The role of examining the opportunities and pitfalls of big data was a major focus of the presentation. Nussbaum delivered his talk with a mix of seriousness and humor, and his talk was well received by those in attendance.

Student presenters and their topics included the following:

• Justin Leach of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, “Penalized Smoothing Splines in Adolescent Growth Studies”
• Ralph Vital of Mississippi State University, “Goodness-of-fit Test for the Hazard Rate”
• Mojtaba Khanzadeh of Mississippi State University, “In-Situ Monitoring of Melt Pool Images for Porosity Prediction in Directed Energy Deposition Processes”
• Zavia Epps of Jackson State University, “Monte Carlo Methodology Using Bootstrapping to Investigate Weight in Motion Data on Bridge Load Rating Factor”

The chapter also held a business meeting that covered the newly written Alabama Chapter constitution and bylaws, chapter activities, a possible name change for the chapter to recognize that members are from both Alabama and Mississippi, and JSM activities.

In addition, the chapter held elections for its officers. Jon Woody of Mississippi State University was elected president and Bob Oster of the University of Alabama at Birmingham was re-elected treasurer. Hailin Sang of the University of Mississippi continues his term as secretary. Former President Jeff Szychowski will assume the role of chapter representative. A new vice president will be selected later. Elections for vice president and secretary will be held in 2019.