Professor Contractor presented, “Using optimization methods to benchmark performance in space teams” at Management Science Workshop 2019 in Santa Cruz, Chile.

The presentation was about providing a performance measurement method based on optimization techniques for Multi-Team Systems (MTS). The method is tested on an MTS for Project RED -a project funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The main goal of the MTS is planning the development of a water well to support a human colony on Mars.

This workshop is sponsored by the Department of Industrial Engineering, Universidad de Chile and Complex Engineering Systems Institute. The workshop was successful in bringing together researchers and innovators from many leading universities and business schools such as MIT, Management Sloan School, U.C Berkeley, Northwestern, Yale University, etc. to connect, meet and establish channels for collaboration.

Citation: Izadinia, N., DeChurch, L., Contractor, N., & Waechter, A. (2019, January). Introducing a measure for calculating the efficiency of work in space. Paper presented at 2019 Management Science Workshop, Santa Cruz, Chile.

Acknowledgment: This research is funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Award number NNX15AK73G

The SONIC Speaker Series presents

George G. Vega Yon

Department of Preventive Medicine at USC’s Keck School of Medicine

Big Problems for Small Networks: Statistical Analysis of Small Networks and Team Performance

SONIC Lab is proud to welcome George G. Vega Yon of USC’s Keck School of Medicine. George will speak on Wednesday, March 20th, 2019 at 2PM in Frances Searle Building, Room 1-483 with a workshop to follow. Please contact Brent Hoagland with any questions.

Abstract:

Small network data such as team, family, or personal networks, is common in many fields that study social networks. Although the analysis of small networks may appear simplistic relative to the difficulties posed by “big” datasets, there are at least two key challenges: (1) fitting statistical models to explain the network structure in small groups, and (2) testing if structural properties of small networks are associated with group-level outcomes; for example, team performance. In this presentation, we introduce two new statistical methods that use a revisited version of Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGMs) in the context of small networks. Using exhaustive enumeration of networks in the support, we are able to calculate exact likelihood functions for ERGMs, which allows us to obtain maximum likelihood estimates directly (without using simulations), avoiding common problems that arise from methods that rely on approximations instead. This is joint work with Prof. Kayla de la Haye (USC).

A workshop on the R packages ergmito and gnet for applying the methods introduced during the talk will be conducted.

Prof Noshir Contractor, Northwestern University, presents a memento to Prof. Dame Wendy Hall, Executive Director, Web Science Institute.

Keynote Citation: Contractor, N. (February 26, 2019). People Analytics: Understanding and Enabling the Future of Work. Keynote address at the Robert Bosch Center for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence – Webs Science Symposium at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India.

Contractor and DeChruch speak to Anna Maria Tremonti on CBC Radio One: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live/radio1/ottawa

 EurekAlert! – “Northwestern study of analog crews in isolation reveals weak spots for Mission to Mars.”

 The Globe and Mail – “NASA experiments suggest problems lie ahead for astronauts during Mars mission.”

 Science Daily – “Weak spots for Mission to Mars revealed.” 

 The Times of India – “Weak spots for Nasa’s manned Mars mission revealed.”

 New Atlas – “Simulated space journeys to help keep the peace on manned trips to Mars.”

 The Daily Galaxy – “Super Humans – NASA Tackles Perils of Astronaut Mission to Mars: 250 Million-Mile Journey.”

 The Economist Babbage Podcast – “Joker AAAStrounauts.” 

 AAAS Annual Meeting – “Building a Winning Team for Missions to Mars.” 

The Economist  – “The problems of flying to Mars – Astronauts will have to worry about space radiation – and also each other.”

 Tech2 – “NASA developing models to predict conflicts among crew members for manned Mars missions.” 

 Global Science – “Pensiero creativo e problem solving: gli umani sfidano Marte.”

 El Comercio – “Marte | Científicos trabajan en modelo para evitar “fallos psicológicos” en futuros viajes.”

EuropaPress – “Un modelo para predecir fallos psicológicos en el viaje a Marte.”

Electronic Component News – “Mars Mission Gets Help from Predictive Model, Helps NASA Anticipate Conflicts.”

Space.com – “Astronauts Struggle with Finishing Tasks on Mock Space Missions.”

CBC Radio – “It’s like a hall of mirrors: In a spacecraft, personalities work better than others.”

Northwestern News – “Northwestern study of analog crews in isolation reveals weak spots for Mission to Mars.” 

cnBeta.com – “西北大学开展模拟太空旅行计划 帮助宇航员更顺利抵达火星”

DigitalJournal.com – “Space agencies preparing for 3-year round-trip journey to Mars.”

rmf24.pl – “Lot na Marsa będzie jeszcze trudniejszy…”

The Daily Northwestern – “Northwestern professors build model for NASA Mars expedition.” 

 North by Northwestern – “On a mission to Mars, teamwork makes the dream work.”

The Times of India – “Mental health of Mars’ crew to be monitored.”

WBEZ – “Who Can Handle Trip To Mars? Northwestern Helps NASA Predict Strains On Astronauts.”