INFORMS Open Forum

  • 1.  How did you get into analytics?

    Posted 11-22-2014 13:42

    Lots of us wanted to be firemen or teachers or astronauts or doctors when we grew up; however, most of us likely stumbled into analytics.

    What most influenced or is still influencing you as a professional analyst?  Was a book, an article, or a blog you either read or wrote?  Was it a colleague, a mentor, or a networking event?  Was it an intriguing problem or just considering interesting possibilities for your future?  Or was it something else entirely?

     Please share with us ... how did YOU get into analytics?

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    Scott Nestler
    Chair, Analytics Certification Board
    Alexandria VA
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  • 2.  RE: How did you get into analytics?

    Posted 11-23-2014 07:38

    Scott ... My exposure to analytics began at a young age. I am now 65. When I was in elementary school I played a dice baseball game I made up. I maintained records of the players batting statistics (e.g., average, home runs, RBIs). This interest in math resulted in my graduating with an operations research and industrial engineering degree from Cornell in 1971.

     

    In my junior year as my "game theory" course project, I replaced the dice with a random number generator in a computer program (with a big deck of IBM punch cards). A few years ago I sent a copy of the program's printout to James Gates, the curator and librarian at the Cooperstown, NY Baseball Hall of Fame. Guess what? James replied informing of an honor. I am now in the Baseball Hall of Fame for the oldest baseball game computer code ! (It is not like the Wright brothers or Charles Lindbergh, but given the size of the computer game industry, it is something I (and my two grandsons) are proud of.

     

    Gary ... Gary Cokins



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    Gary Cokins
    Founder and CEO
    Analytics-Based Performance Management LLC
    Cary NC
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: How did you get into analytics?

    Posted 11-23-2014 09:35

    I didn't know much about the field until I became a project manager at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a project that was evaluating options for proceeding with future probabilistic risk analysis (PRA) activities at the agency.

    As the project manager, I read everything I could get my hands on about how PRA had been applied in the nuclear industry and became fascinated by the kinds of insights that could be gained by developing and applying the methods, models, and analytical tools. I also loved the multi-disciplinary nature and broad applicability of the analytical methods. For someone like me who likes to learn about many different technologies and problem areas, this profession seemed like a perfect fit.

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    Dan Hudson
    Reliability Engineer and Risk Analyst, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
    PhD Candidate in Risk Sciences and Public Policy, Johns Hopkins University
    Hanover MD


    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: How did you get into analytics?

    Posted 11-23-2014 22:27

    Well, a brief reply turned into an entire blog post. Oops. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20141124031015-206541-how-did-you-get-into-analytics

    The capsule summary is that I was tremendously fortunate over the years to work with great mentors in and around the field, but it was a keynote speech by Jim Davis of SAS at a Disney conference that hit me like a bolt of lightning and crystallized the various bits and pieces I'd  been stumbling around for years into a unified whole. 


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    John Ternent
    Windermere FL
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: How did you get into analytics?

    Posted 11-24-2014 09:00

    When I was in high school, I was a high school debater. I loved the idea of being able to look at the world logically and consistently and to be able to base decisions on evidence and logic rather than just intuition alone. I liked the idea of being able to present conclusions to others that offered practical advice. By the time I finished high school I wanted to be an economist. I was excited about the idea of developing equations that could predict economic behavior. I went on to get my PhD in economics. I have done business forecasting and modeling in high value situations, and I built targeting models that helped generate billions of dollars in loans for a former employer. I currently support marketing at TransAmerica.
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    John Garrett
    Senior Analytical Analyst
    TransAmerica Insurance/AEGON
    McKinney TX
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    Original Message