What We Learned from a Big Data Decathlete and Isenberg Alum

Today, the UMass Amherst INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences) Student Chapter had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Davit Khachatryan, of  PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) from Arlington, Virginia.

He received a PhD from UMass Amherst with a concentration in Management Science at the Isenberg School of Management just 2 years ago and has worked on some fascinating projects.

His presentation today at the Isenberg School, "Show Me the Data: My Experience as a Statistical Consultant," captivated the audience, which included undergrads, MBAs, and graduate students from both the College of Engineering and the Isenberg School.

Big data is a very hot topic these days not only because of the volumes that are being captured from RFID technology, ATMs, cell phones, social media, etc., but also the cost of storing data has really dropped from only a few years ago, so huge amounts of data are now available for analysis, if one can make sense of the data.


He talked about the cost of working with real data is that real data is dirty and that a large part of the time devoted to a project typically entails cleaning up and organizing the client's data so that one can then get to the interesting work of modeling and predictive analytics.

Clients now want reusable, robust, and automatic solutions, rather than a 1 time solution. He spoke a lot about using SAS and SQL and the importance of computer programming.

In addition, he spoke about testing models that clients use and the existence of  "model governance" boards in corporations that check the models.

The applications that he discussed (anonymized, for obvious reasons) included two in healthcare and one in finance -- catching whether rules that are in place work for "anti-money laundering" for a bank. Interesting, when he programmed the rules and ran the model over a long time horizon's worth of data the results differed from what the bank had caught in terms of such transactions. I loved the idea of forensics in this application domain.

Dr. Khachatryan emphasized the importance of managing relationships with clients, the importance of communication and writing skills, and also that a lot of work that needs to be done is not necessarily easy or fun.

His one hour presentation began at 2PM with a nice reception (and lunch) preceding it. I left at about 3:45 and the discussions were still going strong.

It was a terrific educational experience hearing about what it takes to be a data decathlete (knowing multiple regression, understanding time series, knowing about neural networks, being adept at computer programming, listening carefully to clients' needs,  building bridges with clients, and being a good team player).

Big Data and Statistical Consulting -- Looking Foward to PhD Alum's Presentation!

************ Updated information -- Dr. Khachatryan will be speaking on Friday, September 21, 2012, at 2PM at the Isenberg School of Management in Room 106. A reception will precede his talk,
beginning at 1:30PM. The poster below reflects this new information. ********************

This is the time of the year that we not only gear up for the new academic year but we also start to organize talks by outside speakers

Although I am on sabbatical this year (and was also on sabbatical the 2005-2006 year at Harvard), this does not stop me from helping the students in the UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter to host speakers.

So, do mark your calendars!

On Friday, September 21, 2012, just a few days before I fly back to Sweden, we will be hosting one of our Isenberg School PhD alums who will be speaking on a very "hot" topic and will also be sharing his experiences in the consulting industry.

I am delighted that Dr. Davit Khachatryan of PriceWaterhouseCoopers will be our first speaker. Dr. Khachatryan received his PhD in 2010 from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and his concentration was Management Science.

The students have prepared the poster above
  
Title of Presentation: Show Me the Data: My Experience as a Statistical Consultant 
 
Abstract
Today data are collected in wide variety of shapes and forms, including image data from surveillance cameras, click-stream and sentiment data from social media websites, financial transaction data from ATMs, in addition to the traditional ‘designed’ data from sources such as surveys and censuses. In vast majority of cases data collection is round the clock and fully automated. In addition, the frequency of data collection can reach milliseconds and capacities of data warehouses are beginning to be measured in petabytes. The challenge emerging from the repository clouds calls for dexterity in extracting the most penetrating and pertinent information from this tsunami of data. In particular, business enterprises are in need of robust, reusable and fully automated analytic solutions able to efficiently sift through avalanche of data and produce answers that will leave their mark on the bottom line. In this talk I will present my experiences in statistical consulting arena, stressing on what I have witnessed and learned when practicing the profession during the last two years. In addition, I will discuss certain challenges and paradigm shifts that I envision to be facing statistical consultants in the future.

For those of you who would like to get more information on Tips on Organizing a Successful Speaker Series, you can read my post here.