November

  
Parameter
The Official Newsletter of the Chicago Chapter of the American Statistical Association
November 2015
In This Issue
President's Letter

It's campus and conference season.
The fall is always an exciting time here at Enova. Our analytics team spends a great deal of time on campuses around the country attending career fairs and recruiting events, as well as speaking and attending statistics and analytics conferences. This year we were even chosen as a finalist for The International Institute for Analytics' annual Excellence in Analytics Award! It's quite busy, but it's great fun trying to identify the next generation of analytics professionals for our team, while also sharing ideas about new tools and techniques with our peers.

After a month on the road, here are a few big take-aways for me.

First, interest in analytics on campus is hotter than ever. As demand for quantitative professionals continues to rise, so too does the number students seeking analytics and statistics-oriented careers. We had a record number of students visit our recruiting tables on campuses around the country from a wide variety of majors. While the core disciplines of math and statistics were well-represented, we also had many students from business analytics, engineering, economics, computer science, and hard sciences like physics and chemistry. It's thrilling for me to see such a variety of students considering a career in analytics and statistics. I'm hopeful this will translate not only into larger and more diverse statistics programs around the country, but also more cross-training across majors to develop students' stats skills in all disciplines.

Which leads me to my second take-away ... diversity. Specifically gender diversity. While we spoke to more young women on campus than in past years, it's clear we have more work to do. And while there were a handful of women analytics leaders in industry, the panelists, speakers, and keynoters at the conferences I attended were still overwhelmingly men. Don't get me wrong, I think we're making strides. Here at Enova we support organizations like PyLadies, Women who code, and other grass-roots organizations that support and encourage women in analytics and tech, but we all need to do our part to provide opportunities and visibility to women who are making a difference in our field. We also need to follow the national ASA's lead with their "This is statistics" campaign to encourage more students from all backgrounds to pursue statistics as a career choice.

I hope to talk more about this throughout the CCASA year, as we consider how we can continue to increase interest and diversity in statistics right here in our hometown. We're starting with our November luncheon, featuring Dr. Veena Mendiratta from Bell Labs Alcatel Lucent sharing her recent work on detecting anomalies in wireless communications networks. I hope to see you there!

- Joe DeCosmo
How was your World Statistics Day!! 
If you were celebrating with us at the East Bank Club, I'd predict you would say Fantastic!! Xiao-Li Meng gave a wonderful talk, and a good time was had by all!

Upcoming CCASA Events
November Luncheon
Join us for our November Luncheon, Exploring Anomalous behavior in Wireless Networks with Self-Organized Maps. Veena Mendiratta will present this talk Tuesday, November 17th at Noon at the EBC.

Abstract: Communications traffic on wireless networks generates large amounts of metadata on a continuous basis across the various servers involved in the communication session. The networks are engineered for high reliability and hence, the data from these networks is predominantly normal with a small proportion being anomalous. However, it is important to detect these anomalies when they occur to correct vulnerabilities in the network. In this presentation I will explore the use of neural network based Kohonen Self Organizing Maps (SOM) applied to Per Call Measurement Data (PCMD) records from a 4G network for data analysis and anomaly detection. Click here to register. 

Other upcoming events you may be interested in:
November 20 
ASA-Northeastern Illinois Chapter host their first Statistics Career Day. Registration starts at 12:30, presentations until 5:30.

Location: Baldwin Auditorium, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine. 300 E. Superior Street, Chicago. 
Cost is free! RSVP required. For more information, please contact: jungwha-lee@northwestern.edu
Registration is now open for the Conference on Statistical Practice! 
It may just be the right time to think about a vacation - umm, work trip - to San Diego! This is the 5th annual CSP - a meeting designed to bring together hundreds of applied statisticians and data scientists. The conference is scheduled for February 18-20, 2016For more information, click here
Are you interested in sharing tips on mentoring statisticians?

The American Statistician is developing a special issue on mentoring. Consider submitting a manuscript! 
Deadline is December 4, 2015Details can be foundhere.    

Job Posting
Analyst, Data Sciences

Leo Burnett Personifi is looking to fill an Analyst position within our Data Science practice. We are looking for individuals who can leverage their in-depth knowledge of statistics to solve complex business issues through predictive modeling.

Leo Burnett Personifi works in a highly collaboratively fashion with both Clients Clients as well as other Agency counterparts (e.g., Account Management, Planning, Creative, Production) to seamlessly integrate CRM marketing communication into all aspects of the marketing plan. Our role is to effectively harness the vast information already on-hand in Client customer files and databases to shape and deliver individualized customer communication. Vital to our efforts is the compilation and assessment of results that impact future communications.
Responsibilities
The responsibilities of an Analyst, Data Sciences are focused on predictive and/or forecast model development, data analytics, and consumer segmentation. 
  • Develop predictive models that increase the efficiency and effectiveness of Client database driven CRM initiatives. 
  • Perform data preparation, model design, and model maintenance.
  • Plan, execute, and effectively communicate the results of strategic database analyses in support of Client business (e.g., analyze impact of marketing communications on market share, program response analysis).
Requirements
  • Graduate (MS, PhD) degree in statistics or related quantitative field (e.g. economics, social sciences, engineering, mathematics, computer science).
  • In-depth knowledge of statistical tools (e.g., SAS, R, etc.) and techniques (linear and logistic regression, time series analysis, machine learning, etc.) used for modeling, segmentation, forecasting, data mining and in-depth data analysis.
  • Proficient with programming tools for data extraction and manipulation (SQL, Python, etc.)
  • Professional experience in modeling, segmentation, and analytics a plus.
  • Strong communication and interpersonal skills a must.
  • Ability to work effectively and efficiently as part of a team.
News from the Board
If you are interested in volunteering, or are interested in serving on the board in future years, please contact us! 
Also, if you have news or events that you would like to share, feel free to e-mail us at:
Chicagochapterasa@gmail.com

If you are interested in speaking at a luncheon, contact us here.