September 9, 2022 from 8:30am — 3:00pm
Graduate Life Center Multipurpose Room

• Breakfast and Registration — 8:30am - 8:45am

• Sponsored by Deloitte

• Welcome — 8:45am - 9:00am

• Robin Russell, Interim Dean of the Pamplin College of Business
• Jay Winkeler, Executive Director for the Center for Business Analytics

• Opening Keynote — 9:00am - 9:45am

• Building the Digital Railroad of the Future: How AI is Transforming Norfolk Southern
• Mabby Amouie, Chief Data Scientist for Norfolk Southern
• With a 200+ year history rich in American tradition, American freight railroads are digitally transforming themselves through the power of AI. From improved on-time performance, to failure prevention and driving sustainable business solutions for the supply chain, Norfolk Southern is harnessing AI across all facets of the business.

• Networking Break — 9:45am - 10:05am

• Sponsored by Guidehouse

• Presentation — 10:05am - 10:40am

• Optimizing Fleets: Entrepreneurial Adventures in a $9 Billion Market
• Sam Hampton, Co-Founder of Vizalogix
• Sam Hampton co-founded the company Vizalogix, which takes on asset data and creates solutions for customers within productivity, AI (predictive maintenance), and remote visual support. He will share how a manual, infrequent, and time-consuming process was upended by the creation of a productivity algorithm that served as the launchpad for tremendous business potential.

• Networking Break — 10:40am - 11:00am

• Sponsored by SLKone

• Presentation — 11:00am - 11:30am

• Data Analytics, Automation, and AI in the Public Sector
• Ranyah Salous, Associate Director of Advanced Analytics & Intelligent Automation for Guidehouse
• Ranyah Salous will be discussing various capabilities that are high in demand in consulting and how data plays a significant role in supporting those capabilities in the industry. The presentation will include real world examples of how Guidehouse uses Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Automation to support government agencies in the Public Sector. Lastly, she will dive into the importance of establishing a Data Analytics Center of Excellence to provide the proper controls and support needed for enterprise and user adoption.

• Presentation — 11:30am - 12:00pm

• Leveraging an Agent-Based Simulation Platform to Solve Today's Toughest Problems
• Eric Christensen, Technical Lead for FutureScape at Deloitte
• In circumstances where data is scarce or the overlap in state space with existing data is small, it may be hard to rely on machine learning to make predictions. With agent-based simulations, we deconstruct problems to their fundamental elements and define logic to emulate empirical processes. We can quantitatively explore outcomes of decisions for circumstances that have never happened before, uncover emergent behavior, and answer “What if?” questions. In this talk, we will discuss our developments for using agent-based models to change long range transportation planning from qualitative and focused on single metrics to rapid, agile, and focused on creating sustainable, equitable, and affordable transportation systems.

• Lunch and Networking — 12:00pm - 1:00pm

• Sponsored by Norfolk Southern

• Panel — 1:00pm - 1:45pm

• "The Real World" — Recent Alumni Perspectives on an Emerging Field
• Moderated by Bradley Parcell, Program Manager at NetApp
• Sarah Spicer, Data Analyst at Capital One
• Mark Collins, Consultant at Guidehouse Defense
• Nikos Harasty, Consultant at Deloitte
• Recent graduates of Pamplin's Business Analytics Master's program will discuss their analytical experiences and insights from their transition from the classroom to industry. Representatives from Capital One, Deloitte, Guidehouse, and NetApp will discuss their roles, involvement, passions, expectations, and lessons learned from various analytical techniques.

• Networking Break — 1:45pm - 2:00pm

• Sponsored by Ennoble First

• Closing Keynote — 2:00pm - 2:45pm

• Meet Iris, a Digital Concierge for Dallas Fort Worth Airport Powered by IBM Watson and Soul Machines
• Richard Darden, Distinguished Engineer and Digital Human Evangelist for IBM Expert Labs
• Dallas Fort Worth Airport (DFW) had a problem. Casual travelers were starting to fly again, but were unfamiliar with the procedures and restrictions and DFW could not hire or recruit enough volunteer staff to answer their questions about flights and amenities in the terminal. They asked IBM for help. Dick Darden, Distinguished Engineer in IBM Expert Labs proposed a novel answer. What if we create an autonomously animated, emotionally responsive, humanistic avatar that could interact with travelers and answer their questions? Come hear the story of how Iris was created, the amazing technology behind her, and the lessons learned in putting her live into production at Gates B14 and B42 in DFW Airport. Iris will even make a guest appearance to help tell her story in her own words. We look forward to sharing the future of human machine interaction and how it is all powered by data.

• Wrap-Up — 2:45pm - 3:00pm

• Linda Christie, Director for the Center for Business Analytics
• Jay Winkeler, Executive Director of the Center for Business Analytics

• Networking Reception (Offsite) — 3:00pm - 6:00pm

• The Maroon Door, 418 N Main Street, Blacksburg, VA 24060

Who attends?

The Day for Data conference is an educationally enriching event featuring insights gleaned from real-world data analytics work. As such, this event will be beneficial for everyone, and everyone is invited to attend — students, alumni, faculty/staff, and corporate recruiters/sponsors.

Why attend?

Register to attend throughout the day and hear from executives presenting on topics within the field of data analytics. Get your questions answered during Q&A sessions and get the chance to connect with recruiters and employees of industry-leading companies.

What is the cost?

This event is free to our participants thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, listed below. A huge thank you to these companies for supporting and facilitating this event.

What is the dress code?

Business casual is required, business professional is encouraged.