U of A Faculty Take Part in Inaugural INFORMS Conference on Quality, Statistics, and Reliability

Haitao Liao

Karl Schubert shares insights at the ICQSR.

The inaugural INFORMS Conference on Quality, Statistics, and Reliability took place June 6-8 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The conference was organized by the Quality, Statistics, and Reliability Section of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences. Its aim was to bring together professionals from academia and industry to foster discussions, learning, inspiration and collaborations.

One of the sessions was titled "Leader Forum – Value and Need for Industry and Academia Collaboration." The panel included distinguished experts from various fields, including Karl Schubert, who is a professor of practice and associate director of the Data Science Program at the University of Arkansas. Schubert was invited to share his insights on industry-academia collaborations in research and education.

The other panelists included:

1. Professor Vijay Nair, head of Advanced Technologies for Modeling at Wells Fargo.
2. Professor Peihua Qiu, founding department head of biostatistics at the University of Florida.
3. John Sall, founder and CEO of JMP.
4. Professor Julie Swann, head of the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering at North Carolina State University.
5. Professor Fugee Tsung, active dean at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

During the panel discussion, the participants addressed several key questions, including the gaps between academic research and industrial practice, necessary skills for successful academic-industry collaboration, and the effort and rewards involved in such collaborations.

Haitao Liao, a U of A professor, the John and Mary Lib White Endowed Systems Integration Chair and one of the co-organizers of this panel, said, "Dr. Schubert's experience and insightful comments definitely help universities establish successful programs that cultivate robust collaboration between industry and academia in research, education and service."

The Quality, Statistics, and Reliability Section, to which the panelists belong, is an interdisciplinary section of INFORMS that brings together individuals interested in research. With members from over 50 countries and regions worldwide, the section encourages discussions and interactions among academicians and professionals in these fields, making it a prominent community in the domain.