Data Science Education -- KSU, Emory and Georgia Tech Perspectives

Overview

We welcome three leading professors from local universities who will share their personal, professional and institutional views on data science trends in education, training and career development.

The format for this event is individual speaker presentations followed by an open Q&A panel session.

The Lineup

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Dr. Jennifer Priestley -- Kennesaw State University

Unicorn Farms: What You Don’t Know About Data Science Education in Atlanta.

Wanted: Individual with strong programming skills (including R, SAS, Java, Hadoop, Python, Cassandra and MongoDB), equally comfortable working with large amounts of structured and unstructured data, highly numerate, excellent writing and charismatic communication skills. Can interpret and apply results to a business problem. Poised in front of a client. And someone we want to have a beer with. Advanced Programming Certification in SAS preferred.

Variations of this job description can be found, well, everywhere. But how many people have this skillset? Some individuals (ask your local headhunter) have expressed concern that these people don’t really exist – they are mythical - like unicorns. In response, they recommend that their clients just hire a team of horses and paint them in different colors.

Since 2008, Kennesaw State University has quietly been tending to their “Unicorn Farm” and producing some of the region’s most sought after Data Scientists. The Master’s Program in Applied Statistics and Data Analysis has a 100% placement rate with most students receiving multiple job offers well in advance of graduation. The recent SAS Day event on May 2, drew over 300 analytics professionals from over 100 different companies to KSU to find their “unicorns”.

Come hear Dr. Jennifer Lewis Priestley, Professor of Applied Statistics and Data Science talk about how KSU is doing things differently. How they developed their “farm” and what is next for KSU and for the region in the area of Data Science.

Jennifer's Bio:

Dr. Jennifer Priestley is an associate professor of statistics at Kennesaw State University, where she is the director of the Center for Statistics and Analytical Services. She also oversees the undergraduate curriculum in statistics and was recognized by the SAS Institute as the 2012 Distinguished Statistics Professor of the Year. She served as the co-chair of the 2012 National Analytics Conference in Las Vegas, NV. She is leading KSU's efforts to launch a new PhD program in Analytics and Data Science.

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Dr. George Easton -- Goizueta Business School, Emory University

Building Data Science-Capable MBAs

Professor Easton is currently developing an advanced MBA elective in Data Science which will be delivered for the first time in the Fall of 2014 at the Goizuetta Business School, Emory University. The objectives and framing of such a course are different than for a course developed for students in a statistics or computer science department.

In his remarks, Prof. Easton will discuss the motivation and framing of the course and what the objective is in terms of the “product” of the course; that is, the characteristics and abilities of the students at the end of the course. He will also discuss the perspective he will take on what data science is, what abstractions the students must understand (e.g., cross-validation, API, cloud computing), and his choices for computing (AWS, R, Python). Finally, he will discuss other issues in the “penumbra” around core data science activity (such as open source licensing, privacy, agile software development, data science strategy) that might be very important for a data-science oriented MBA student to understand.

George's Bio:

George Easton is Associate Professor in the Information Systems and Operations Management area at the Goizueta Business School, Emory University. He received his Ph.D. in Statistics from Princeton University in 1985. His dissertation advisor was Prof. John W. Tukey, a pioneer in creating “data analysis” as a distinct approach to applied statistics. Tukey’s data analysis perspective has been a strong influence on Prof. Easton’s statistical work. Professor Easton has published his research in leading statistics journals and his research in statistics has focused on data visualization and robust estimation and prediction. Professor Easton also has interests in quality management and six sigma, and has published research in this area in leading journals in operations management. Professor Easton has extensive consulting experience in both applied statistics and quality management working on a wide variety of real-world problems over the years.

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Dr. Joel Sokol -- Georgia Institute of Technology

The Evolution of Data Science Education (and what Georgia Tech is doing about it :)

The expectations of data science and analytics in business and industry have changed dramatically over the last several years, and are still in flux. Interdisciplinarity and breadth of knowledge are becoming more widely acknowledged as important, while depth of expertise is also becoming more critical. How can academia meet the competing needs of more breadth and more depth without making students spend years getting a degree? With a unique (east of California and south of Massachusetts) set of resources to build upon, Georgia Tech's new interdisciplinary Master of Science in Analytics is designed to provide a 12-month education for the data science and analytics professionals of the future. Come hear our vision, find out about our program, and learn how you can connect as a student or as an employer.

Joel's Bio:

Joel Sokol is Fouts Family Associate Professor in ISyE and Director of Georgia Tech's interdisciplinary Master of Science in Analytics.. His primary research interests are in sports analytics and applied operations research. He has worked with teams or leagues in all three of the major American sports. Dr. Sokol's LRMC method for predictive modeling of the NCAA basketball tournament is an industry leader, and his non-sports reseach has won the EURO Management Science Strategic Innovation Prize. Dr. Sokol has also won recognition for his teaching and curriculum development from IIE and the NAE, and is the recipient of Georgia Tech's highest awards for teaching. He currently serves as INFORMS Vice President of Education, and is a past Chair and founding officer of the INFORMS section on sports operations research. Dr. Sokol's PhD in operations research is from MIT, and his bachelor's degrees in mathematics, computer science, and applied sciences in engineering are from Rutgers University.

Agenda:

6:30p - Doors open - Networking, food, & drinks

7:05p - Welcome & announcements

7:15p - Panel presentations

8:15p - Open Q&A

8:30p - Networking

9:00p - Goodnight & Thanks!

Sponsorship

Our events are only made possible by the generous support of our sponsors. Sponsorship provides great visibility for your organization, and allows you to directly reach our growing 1400+ membership.

If you would like to sponsor this event, or one in the future, please contact Travis Turney.