2018 SPAIG Award Winners
AmStat News Article: 2018 SPAIG Award Lauds Forensic Science Collaboration
Academic Track: The Center for Statistics and Applications in Forensic Evidence (CSAFE)
Government Track: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
The CSAFE, established as part of a national collaborative effort to strengthen the scientific basis for forensic evidence used in the criminal justice system and headquartered at Iowa State University, has successfully collaborated with the NIST.
The output include the following: new automated algorithms for bullet, shoeprint and glass comparisons that effectively improve the accuracy of forensic analysis; the creation of databases, acquisition systems and phone apps for forensic evidence collection and quality assessment; the successful training of forensic practitioners to improve their quantitative literacy. The partnership between CSAFE and NIST reaches beyond foundational research and greatly benefits the broader forensic science community.
Key contributors:
(1) Susan Ballou (NIST)
(2) Alicia Carriquiry (Iowa State University)
(3) William F. Eddy (Carnegie Mellon University)
(4) Charless Fowlkes (University of California Irvine)
(5) Barbara Guttman (NIST)
(6) Martin Herman (NIST)
(7) Heike Hofmann (Iowa State University)
(8) Hari Iyer (NIST)
(9) Karen Kafadar (University of Virginia)
(10) Steven Lund (NIST)
(11) Hal S. Stern (University of California Irvine)
(12) William Thompson (University of California Irvine)
(13) Alan Zheng (NIST)
2017 SPAIG Award Winners
AmStat News Article
Winner #1
Citation: For addressing methodological questions of interest to the federal statistical system and training future generations to design, conduct, analyze and report official statistics.
The National Science Foundation-Census Research Network (NCRN), established in 2011, has been a highly successful collaboration between multiple universities and the U.S. Census Bureau. It aimed to provide support for conducting interdisciplinary research and educational activities on methodological questions of significance to the broader research community and to the federal statistical system.
Key Contributors:
(1) Robert Groves (Georgetown University)
(2) Myron Gutmann (University of Colorado)
(3) Cheryl Eavey (National Science Foundation)
(4) Daniel Weinberg (DHW Consulting)
(5) Matthew D. Shapiro (on behalf of the University of Michigan)
(6) Bruce Spencer (on behalf of Northwestern University)
(7) Lars Vilhuber (on behalf of Cornell University)
(8) Jerome P. Reiter (on behalf of Duke University)
(9) Scott H. Holan (on behalf of University of Missouri)
(10) Kristin Olson (on behalf of University of Nebraska - Lincoln)
(11) William Eddy (on behalf of Carnegie Mellon University)
(12) David Folch (on behalf of University of Colorado/University of Tennessee)
Winner #2
Citation: The Laboratory for Analytical Sciences has created a unique partnership to apply quantitative methodology and data science to improve national security. Led by the NSA and NCSU, it partners broadly across academia, industry, and government.
The Laboratory of Analytical Sciences (LAS), established in 2013 on the North Carolina State University (NCSU) campus, has been a highly productive collaboration between NCSU and the National Security Agency (NSA). By combining the different viewpoints and skillsets of researchers, developers, and analysts across multiple university, government, and industrial partners, LAS has advanced the security science needs of the NSA. Recently, LAS has grown from a one agency/one university experiment to a multi-agency/multi-university/multi-company/multi-national collaboration.
Key Contributors:
(1) Alyson Wilson (North Carolina State University)
(2) Michael Bender (Laboratory for Analytic Science)
(3) Forrest Allen (North Carolina State University)
(4) Kay Moore (Laboratory for Analytic Science)
(5) David Harris (Department of Defense)