Baseball, Banks, Aerospace Top Topics at UA Business Analytics Symposium

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Already branded “innovators” by SAS, the world’s largest advanced business analytics and software service provider, organizers of the Culverhouse College of Commerce Institute of Business Analytics are again championing new ideas as they host The University of Alabama’s seventh Business Analytics Symposium Thursday and Friday.

UA’s Institute of Business Analytics will host the symposium at the Hotel Capstone Sept. 25-26 where at least a dozen world-renowned data analytics experts — including Ray O. Johnson, chief technology officer of Lockheed Martin, and Paul Adams of the Atlanta Braves — will explain how they use statistics, data mining, predictive modeling and operations research in their work.

Presenters will explain how predictive models are impacting their businesses, from dog food to energy grids. Dr. Wayne Winston, an award-winning Indiana University professor and analytics consultant, will outline how mathematical models can be used to help baseball, football and basketball teams devise player and lineup selections and game strategy.

Students seeking graduate degrees in related fields are invited to hear at least a dozen industry leaders explain how they’re using business analytics to build aircraft, reduce health-care costs, locate bank branches or sell more major league baseball tickets. Those students are also invited to share their resumes with corporate attendees.

“This is a great networking opportunity for businesses, students and academia,” said Dr. Chuck Sox, chair of the operations management department for Culverhouse. “Our symposium committee, led by Dr. Cali Davis, has done another extraordinary job in bringing a prestigious group of presenters to Culverhouse. We are grateful to our team, our corporate partners and our friends who are willing to travel to Tuscaloosa to share their insights with us.”

“This event reflects our long history of work in analytics,” said Dr. J. Michael Hardin, dean of Culverhouse and professor of statistics. “We implemented the first business analytics specialization program in the U.S in 2002, and now we are creating the first analytics lab in the country. Culverhouse researchers have built a reputation for offering proven business solutions through data analytics. We’re also privileged to employ those insights to prepare young professionals to meet the needs of today’s global, data-driven economy.”

Attendees can also get ideas from their counterparts and consult with Culverhouse faculty to learn how new research might impact their businesses. Attendees also interact with students pursuing graduate degrees in statistics, business analytics and economics. Each professional receives a resume book of all students in attendance.

The Institute of Business Analytics at Culverhouse is an applied research center where data mining techniques are used to extract information from vast amounts of corporate data. Researchers build predictive models to help organizations make better decisions. Culverhouse is considered a key applied research resource for its corporate partners as well as a training site for tomorrow’s decision makers.

For more event information, visit www.mycba.ua.edu/basymposium/. To read how SAS profiled Culverhouse as an innovator, click on http://www.sas.com/en_us/customers/university-of-alabama-enterprise-miner.html