Undergraduate News - (updated 3/14/08)

Conratulations December Graduates

 December 2007 Graduates:
   Eric Aumiller
   Min Soo Ham
   Lauren Anne Klein
   Angelica Rogers
   Brent Simpson
   sKimberly Strickland

SIBS

 The Summer Institute for Training in Biostatics (SIBS)
   The SIBS summer program is an opportunity for undergraduate students majoring in the quantitative sciences to become more familiar with a career in biostatistics.

What is a Biostatistician?

   A biostatistician works with experts to research and answer serious questions that affect human health and medicine. They apply statistics to a wide range of scientific topics, such as biology, and other sciences.

When is SIBS?

   SIBS is a 6-week program on NC State's Campus, taking place from June 9th-July 18th, 2008.

What is the cost?

   Housing, meals, travel expenses, and some extracurricular activities are completely covered through the program. Students also earn college credits for their work, what’s not to like?

Who can apply?

   Undergraduates majoring in mathematics, science, or other quantitative fields are eligible. Students must be American citizens or permanent residents of the US.

New Faces of Statistics

 

Alison Motsinger-Reif

   Assistant Professor, holds a B.A. in Biological Sciences and received her Ph.D. in Human Genetics from Vanderbilt University. She also received her Masters in Statistics as well. Her current research interests include Data Mining Methods to detect Complex Genetic Models to Predict Disease. She is teaching ST 311 currently, and will be teaching ST 635 in the spring. After being asked what her favorite holiday was, she said that Christmas was her favorite because she gets to visit with all her family members and take a break.
 

Donald E. K. Martin

   Associate Professor, holds his B.A. in Mathematics, and a Masters in Mathematical Statistics. He also received his Ph.D. in Mathematical Statistics from Maryland University. He is currently teaching ST 370, Statistics for engineers, and will continue to teach that in the spring as well. Dr. Martin’s research interests include Distributions of Patterns, Time Series, and Markovian Sequences. Before coming to NC State, he also taught a variety of courses for thirteen years at Howard University. Dr. Martin said he couldn’t pick a favorite holiday, and really just liked them because they brought people together.

Department Awards

 

Distinguished Alumnus Award:

   Jun Zhu (PhD Statistics and Genetics 1989) received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences on November 8, 2007 at North Carolina State University. This award recognizes alumni whose exceptional achievements in business, education, research or public service have brought honor and distinction to the College and University.

CUSP

 

Computation for Undergraduates in Statistics Program

   http://www.stat.ncsu.edu/cusp/
   North Carolina State has begun a new undergraduate research program to develop student’s abilities in computing, mathematics, and statistics. CUSP aims at mentoring undergraduates through inquiry-based learning, for a new approach in the field of statistics.
 Areas of Study?
   Along with extensive coursework in the particular subjects, CUSP uses a research lab to further apply the acquired knowledge, in subjects such as drug discovery, pattern recognition, statistical genetics, data assimilation, or financial risk. CUSP encourages students to experience statistics and science outside of the classroom.
 

Objectives?

   1. Prepares students to take advantage of computing advances and make sophisticated computing an integral part of the statistical and mathematical methodology curriculum and research experience.
   2. Improves students' non-technical skills, including public speaking and written communication, working in teams, and ethical reasoning.
   3. Provides the research experience to apply initiative and creativity in developing statistical and computing approaches to interdisciplinary scientific problems.
   4. Prepares and motivates a diverse pool of highly qualified students to pursue interdisciplinary graduate studies in the mathematical and computational sciences.
 

Program Diversity

   The CUSP program at NCSU is actually one the first computationally intensive statistics programs for undergraduates in the nation. CUSP also prepares students for future graduate study, especially in quantitative sciences, resulting in more developed research background. Also CUSP trains students in communication, and increases awareness of statistical science.
 

Schedule

   CUSP is actually a ten week research program, starting in June, students work with faculty to expand their research experience in areas of statistical science.

For More Information

:
Professor Sujit K Ghosh
NCSU-CUSP Director
Department of Statistics
Campus Box 8203
North Carolina Sate University
Raleigh, NC 27695-8203
Phone: (919) 515-1950
Fax: (919) 513-7591
Email: ghosh@stat.ncsu.edu

Stat Club News

 *Statistics Club*
   

Faculty Advisor:

Jeff Thompson

   

2007 Club Officers:

     President
      Billie Jackson

     Vice President
      Jie Zheng

     Secretary
      Ashley Myers

     Treasurer
      Sarah Watson

Ice Cream Social: September 13th, 2007

At the beginning of the year the NCSU Statistics Club held their first meeting as an information/introduction to the club for all interested students. Ice cream was served and we had a good turn out of students wanting to join and get to know everyone. Faculty members also joined the Statistics club in Patterson and new officers were selected based on who was interested.

Fall Meeting: November 13th, 2007

At our fall meeting the statistics club had guest speakers from the Institute for Advanced Analytics, for students interested in the Master of Science in Analytics program (more information on the next page). They explored different Statistics career options and informed the students of new opportunities. Also the officers discussed a holiday party, and organized ideas for future meetings.

Holiday Party: December 3rd, 2007

For our last meeting before the holidays, the statistics club celebrated with lots of homemade holiday goodies, like chili and decorated cookies. The group also decided to put their architecture skills to the test, and compete in a ginger-bread house contest. Once the two teams got started, they quickly learned building a ginger-bread house is a lot harder than it looks, it’s a good thing these came with a grid and pre-formed shapes. After creatively decorating the houses with icing and various candies, the students were finally finished, which left the faculty to judge their work. Overall it was decided that the houses were a tie, both completely different designs, how can you compare? We also discussed possible statistics club t-shirts and plans for the spring semester.

Other News

Institute for Advanced Analytics

Master of Science in Analytics
NC State offers a new 10-month program for students to receive a professional M.S. degree designed around the understanding of analytics. The term “advanced analytics” is a broad spectrum that includes: data collection and integration, statistical methods, and more. The program itself is an intense full-time, on campus style learning experience, with plenty of faculty advising and mentoring. One benefit for NCSU students is that the institution waives the application fee, and also the entrance exam if your GPA is greater than a 3.3. Tuition depends on residence status, and the class size is usually around 45 students. For more information visit their website, http://www.analytics.ncsu.edu/ . *Space still available for 2008, apply asap!*

Undergraduate Research

Can Blood Lead Levels in Children be Reduced?
(Steven Somers and Jessica Williams)
Lead Exposure in children has an adverse affect on cognitive development and behavior. The objective of this research is to investigate Estimated Blood Lead Level (EBLL) rates per 1000 children by comparing 2003 CA EBLL data to 2006 CA EBLL data. Exploratory statistical methods will be used to determine the accuracy of the blood lead level data submitted to the Center for Disease Control, to provide a better estimate of the problem, and other influencing factors.

Improving Public Health Advisories for Forecasting Fine Particulate Matter for the Air Quality Index
(Wilma Jackson)
Fine particulate matter is a significant pollutant that endangers human health. Her plan is to develop reliable forecasting regression models to serve as tools for predicting one of the main pollutants, PM2.5. The regression models, using data from the Maryland Department of Environment, would take into account temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and yesterdays PM2.5 values. Overall it would give the public the most reliable and current prediction possible.

Examining Crustal Matter: Resolving the Particulate Matter Emission Inventory/Air Quality Discrepancy
(Lauren Klein and Stacy Jones)
Focusing on fugitive dust emissions, matter that comes from earth’s crust, initial exploratory data analyses will be run on large data. Crustal matter emissions greatly affect air quality; through this research they will determine what environmental factors influence the ratio of the crustal matter to total fine particulate matter and course particulate matter, in hopes to improve air quality in the United States.

Can Meteorologically adjusted ozone air quality trends identify the impact of the nitrogen oxides utility reductions?
(Kristen Gore, George Antczak, Adrienne Wootten, Tim Brown, and Jie Zheng)
Inhalation of ground-level or tropospheric ozone can trigger many health ailments, leading to an increased risk of especially respiratory diseases. The purpose of this research is to build a regressive time series model that removes the effects of meteorology, autocorrelation, and seasonal trends. Overall the project aims at estimating the reduction in ground-level ozone over a ten-year period