SONIC Director Noshir Contractor will be the first Ivan Preston Colloquium speaker of this academic year at UW-Madison. His talk, “People Analytics: Using Digital Exhaust from the Web to Leverage Network Insights in the Algorithmically Infused Workplace,” will take place on Monday, October 9, 2023. The discussion will present empirical examples to demonstrate how people analytics can be leveraged to mine data created by individuals in their digital transactions to address challenges they face with issues such as team assembly and team conflict. Professor Contractor’s colloquium is the first of five talks that the university will host this year.
Noshir Contractor Speaks at 74th International Astronautical Congress
Earlier this week, SONIC Director Noshir Contractor traveled to Baku to share insights from the SIRIUS-21 mission partnership research between SONIC and ATLAS Labs at the 74th International Astronautical Congress. Supported by insights from the mission, Professor Contractor discussed the future of crossing boundaries in space exploration multiteam systems. The ICA offers the opportunity to share SONIC research findings and innovative solutions with a broad audience of space industry members and state officials, scientists and researchers, space experts, and practitioners. The Congress aims to facilitate the forging of strong partnerships among a variety of stakeholders while promoting cooperation, innovation, peace, and prosperity within the global space industry.
Neelam Modi Wins IEMS Student Leadership Award
Northwestern University’s Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences has awarded SONIC graduate student research Neelam Modi with their Student Leadership Award. This award is earned by students who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and service in the IEMS program. Congratulations, Neelam!
SONIC Alum Sam Huang Begins Harvard Master’s Program
Sam Huang worked as a research assistant on SONIC’s Enterprise Social Media project during the academic year of 2021-2022. Some of Sam’s tasks included descriptive network analysis, data visualizations, and the derivation of actionable insights. Sam presented his findings as part of an organizational-level report to the leadership team at a leading biotech company, demonstrating high quality and clarity in his explanations of complex network analyses. He was a great team player, highly organized, and self-driven. Sam claims that SONIC Director Noshir Contractor’s recommendation letter was the determining factor that helped him to be admitted to the Harvard Master of Biomedical Informatics. He has just started his program this past week, and reflects upon his research at SONIC as the most important experience in his undergrad program at Northwestern. Best of luck to you in all of your future endeavors, Sam!
Noshir Contractor To Give Keynote on People Analytics
SONIC Director Noshir Contractor will be giving a keynote address on September 16th at 9:30am China time on People Analytics: Using Digital Exhaust from the Web to Leverage Network Insights in the Algorithmically Infused Workplace. The keynote will be given as part of the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Association of Intelligence and Computational Communication Research. Check out the International Communication Association for more info. 
The Effect of Long-Term Isolation in Spaceflight
ATLAS Lab Director Leslie DeChurch, SONIC Affiliated Faculty Alina Lungeanu, and SONIC Director Noshir Contractor have collaborated on a new article recently published in journal Acta Astronautics. Their research analyzes how space crews embarking on deep space missions can effectively maintain positive working relationships, even while dealing with long-term isolation, highly stressful scenarios, and conflicting leadership dynamics. The results of this research can prove invaluable for the future of spaceflight and the cultivation of enduring, constructive teamwork. Access the article by October 22 here.
Milan Shah’s SURA Program Research
Over the past months, the Institute for Policy Research has run their annual Summer Undergraduate Research Assistants (SURA) program. Undergraduate student Milan Shah has been working with SONIC Director Noshir Contractor, Professor Hyejin Youn, and PhD student Megan Chan to understand effective communication in deep-space exploration. The interdisciplinary results of this research could prove invaluable for the future of frontier exploration. Read more about their research here— great work Milan!
SONIC Welcomes Visiting Researcher Pavel Krivitsky
Over the past few weeks, SONIC has had the honor of hosting Dr. Pavel Krivitsky, expert on social network analysis from the University of New South Wales Sydney. While in Evanston, Dr. Krivitsky discussed social network research and his own discoveries of methods and models for analyzing complex network data and processes. We thank Dr. Krivitsky for his visit and for sharing his expertise!
Wishing the Best to Our Departing SONIC Members
Last week, the SONIC team said goodbye to two of our own– Graduate Student Researcher Jasmine Wu, and Research Assistant Professor Alina Lungeanu. Jasmine is off to the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and Alina will be continuing her work at Northeastern University. We thank them both for the years of work and passion they’ve spent at SONIC, and we wish them the best in their future endeavors! 
SONIC Members Present at AOM Annual Meeting
This past weekend multiple SONIC members attended the Academy of Management Annual Meeting! Talks were given by SONIC Director Noshir Contractor, as well as Neelam Modi, Jasmine Wu, and Megan Chan.