Collaborations Between Academic
Departments and
Industry/Government
SPAIG Committee: George Williams, Amgen
July 28, 2007
Note: Statistics Partnerships among Academe,
Industry, and Government
Broader Understanding of Needs,
Opportunities, and Environments in Which
Statisticians Work in an Industrial Setting
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Statisticians must understand the
expectations of industry and have the training
to meet those expectations
Statisticians must understand and appreciate
the complete research process
Statisticians must be interested in the total
problem, not just the statistical part
Statisticians must expand their skills beyond
statistics (communication, negotiation,
project management)
Rodda, B. et al., 1995, JSM
Moore, D.S., 1998
Manson, R.L., 2004
Collaboration between
Academia and Industry
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Industry scientists and statisticians give
seminars on real problems
Faculty sabbaticals in industry
Industrial advisory committees at universities
Adjunct faculty appointments of industrial
statisticians
Cooperative research endeavors
Continuing education programs
Rodda, B. et al., 1995, JSM
Collaborations with
Industry Today
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Internships
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Fellowships
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Opportunities published annually in Amstat News
Importance of strength of academic training
programs
Sabbatical experiences/short term visits
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“How to” manual on SPAIG web site
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http://www.svsu.edu/orgs/spaig
Funding of academic chair positions
Collaborations with
Industry (continued)
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Short courses/seminars – offered onsite at industry location
Seminars by industry statisticians at
universities
Consultation/grant support
Consortia
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Analytic problems general enough to be of
interest beyond a specific company
Ray, 2006
Partnerships
SPAIG Award
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2002 - Iowa State University, General Motors Corporation,
and the Mayo Clinic
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2003 - Harvard University and Schering-Plough Research
Institute
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Distance education, consulting and research opportunities,
improvement in statistical practice, improvement in
university curriculum
Annual workshop, visits between institutions, intern program,
funding of training
2004 - Temple University and Merck & Co.
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Annual conference, intern program, joint supervision of Ph.D.
students
Partnerships
(continued)
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2005 - NISS Affiliates
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27 academic institutions, 9 government agencies, 15 Corporations
Dissemination of advanced statistical methods, communication of
applied problems
2006 - Worcester Polytechnic Institute and National Center for
Health Statistics
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Intern program, joint work on NCHS survey problems, thesis projects
2007 - U. of Mich., U. of Pa., NCI, NCHS, NCCD, IMS
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Development of advanced techniques, published research, new
research areas for junior researchers
Additional Observations on
Collaborations with Industry
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ASA Chapter Career Days
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Exposure of students to opportunities in
industry
Challenges
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Intellectual property (Mayo, 2006)
Collaborations with Government
(NIH, NSF, CDC, NCHS)
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Grants
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Training
Research
Additional SPAIG
Related Topics
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SPAIG Salary Survey
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Provides current salary survey information on
statisticians employed in B/I/G
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Characterized by type of employer and geographic region
October 1999 issue of Amstat News
Also conducted in 2003, 2005, 2007
Business/Industry/Government Student
Database (under consideration)
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Database of summary information on statistics
students seeking permanent and intern career
opportunities in non-academic institutions
Conclusion
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“…in the best interest of statisticians in both
university and business settings to help foster
better collaboration in order for our discipline
to maintain its relevance to the business
community.”
Ray (2006)
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“….encourage academia and industry to work
together and form partnerships. The
problems we face are too complex for any
one entity to solve in isolation.”
Iman, R.L., 1995
References
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Hahn, G. and Hoerl, R. (1998) Key challenges for statisticians in business and industry (with
discussion) Technometrics 40: 195 -210.
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Iman, R.L. (2005) New paradigms for the statistics profession. Journal of the American Statistical
Association 90: 1 - 6.
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Mason, R.L. (2004) Does the statistics profession have an identity crisis? Journal of the American
Statistical Association 99: 1 – 6.
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Mayo, M. J. (2006) Data needed for intelligent design of university-industry partnerships. Amstat
News 347: 16-17.
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Moore, D. S. (1998) Statistics among the liberal arts. Journal of the American Statistical Association
93: 1253 – 1259.
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Physical and Engineering Sciences (2006) Promoting statistics and industry. Amstat News 346: 31.
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Ray, B. K. (2006) Bridging the gap between statistical practice in academe and industry. Amstat
News 347: 2 -3.
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SPAIG (2005) Nine ideas to further the goal. Amstat News 336: 4.
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SPAIG (2006) SPAIG award nomination guidelines Amstat News 352: 47.
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Starbuck, R. (2005) Value assessment of departments involved with business, industry, and
government. Amstat News 338: 19.