2009 Quality & Productivity Research Conference

Conference Theme:  Data, Statistics & Vision Lead to Great Decisions

Mission and Background

The mission of the Quality and Productivity Research Conference is to improve the quality of products and services and the productivity of industries by stimulating the research and development of better statistical methods, and to identify new application areas where statistics can have a significant impact. In 1984, AT&T Bell Laboratories organized the first Quality and Productivity Research Conference (QPRC), known as the Mohonk Conference. This first conference, and others that followed, stimulated development of modern methods for product and process design, manufacturing, and other business processes. The conference is sponsored by the Quality and Productivity Section of the American Statistical Association (ASA). It includes a pre-conference full day tutorial, plenary/invited/contributed/tutorial sessions, and special events.

Announcement and Call for Papers (note: contributed paper submission deadline has been extended to Monday, April 20)

Preparations for the 2009 Quality & productivity Research Conference are well underway.  The conference will be held June 3-5 2009 in the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY, and is jointly sponsored by IBM, University of Connecticut and Rutgers University.  Prof. William Q. Meeker and Prof. Luis A. Escobar will present a full-day pre-conference tutorial "Statistical Methods in Reliability" on June 2.  Both invited and contributed papers will be presented. This is a call for papers.  Please e-mail the title of the paper and a brief (50 words or so) abstract to Lorraine Menna (c1menna@us.ibm.com). If you do not a receive confirmation within the next few days, please fax your application to 914-945-3434. Abstracts for contributed papers should be received by April 20.

Two special events are planned: a dinner party, including honoring our special guest, Prof. William Q. Meeker, and students awards (June 3) and a visit to the IBM Industry Solutions Lab (June 4). The conference web site is: http://research.ihost.com/qprc_2009/

Student Scholarships

We encourage students to submit papers. Reduced registration fees are available to all students. In addition, students can apply for scholarships. The deadline for applying for the two Mary G. and Joseph Natrella scholarships is March 16. Details are available at http://www.amstat-online.org/sections/qp . Conference scholarships are also available and range from free conference registration to free conference registration plus an additional $100 toward travel expenses.

Hotel Information

The 2009 QPRC will be held at the IBM, Thomas J. Watson Research Center (TWRC), located at the intersection of the Taconic State Parkway and NY Route 134. A block of 80 rooms is being held until May 4 in the Elmsford La Quinta Inn Hotel located about 10 miles to the South of the TWRC and about 15 miles to the North of the New York City. An additional block of 20 rooms has been reserved with Comfort Inn in Hawthorne, NY. A shuttle bus will be provided between the La Quinta Inn and TWRC (with stopover at Comfort Inn).  The conference rates are $99 (La Quinta; in this hotel students are permitted to share a room based on double occupancy) and $125 (Comfort Inn). The pre-conference tutorial will be held at the IBM Hawthorne 1 building located near the hotels.