We’re putting the finishing touches on our presentations and pressing our suits for the annual International Cost Estimating and Analysis Association (ICEAA) Professional Development Conference and Training Workshop. This year’s conference is being held in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 7-10. Technomics is fortunate to have many talented employee owners who apply their dedication and experience to further the cost analysis profession. For 2016, we have four such analysts presenting enriching papers covering new studies in Analytics-Based Program Management and Analysis, Tools, Standards, Training, and Policy.

View the full list of speakers and presenters, including speaker bios, on the workshop page at http://www.iceaaonline.com/atl16speakers/.

Brian Flynn

Parametrics Papers Track

"The Collinearity Kill Chain: Detect, Classify, Localize, Neutralize"

Mr. Flynn joined Technomics in 2011 after a fulfilling and successful career as a Highly Qualified Expert (HQE) at NCCA. Coming to Technomics was a decision based on respect for and trust in those experts molding the business, such as Rick Collins and Peter Braxton. Even as a Subject Matter Expert (SME), Brian often discovers there is more to learn from others than even he has experienced in his career. One such instance spurred his interest in pursuing deeper study of collinearity when he traded “ideas about the thorny issue of multicollinearity with [his] good friend Adam James, statistician par excellence at Technomics.” This study solves the problem posed by Ragnar Frisch, Nobel Laureate of Economic Sciences:

“I believe that a substantial part of the regression and correlation analysis which have been made on statistical data in recent years is nonsense … If the statistician does not dispose of an adequate technique for the statistical study of the confluence hierarchy, he will run the risk of adding more and more variates [explanatory variables] in the study until he gets a set that is in fact multiple collinear and where his attempt to determine a regression equation is therefore absurd.”

 

Adam James

Parametrics Papers Track

The Collinearity Kill Chain: Detect, Classify, Localize, Neutralize
Cost Estimating Relationship (CER) Development Handbook

Parametric Training Track

“Regression Nonlinear/Multivariate”

In 2016, Mr. James won the Washington Capital Area Chapter ICEAA Technical Achievement Award. This achievement, however, not only reflects his extensive studies but also his creativity in approaching statistical analysis. This skill is crucial to solve real world analytical problems and to determine how the pieces fit together to create statistically sound and practical solutions. “The Cost Estimating Relationship (CER) Development Handbook” demonstrates this technical excellence and creativity. Created for the Naval Center for Cost Analysis (NCCA), this handbook provides sufficient background of statistical modeling to enable analysts to construct defensible models consistent with the greater analytical universe, not just the cost community.

As a coauthor of “The Collinearity Kill Chain: Detect, Classify, Localize, Neutralize,” Adam James combined his heavy mathematical background and M.S. in Statistics with Brian Flynn’s expertise and insight into how these mathematical methodologies are used in the world of cost analysis. Adam has stated, “Working with well-established, expert collaborators within this community has provided tremendous insight and has been an invaluable learning experience.” This will be Adam’s first ICEAA conference, and he is hoping to gain more of this insight by listening to experts and exchanging ideas of how things are done. Broaden your insight by attending both of these technical presentations to see the world through a statistician’s eyes.

 

Eric Lofgren

Management, EVM & Scheduling Papers Track

Putting Schedule Quality Checks to the Test” - EVM & Scheduling Track Best Paper Winner

As a two-time ICEAA best paper award winner for his work in the Software and EVM Papers Tracks, Mr. Lofgren believes that the best papers are often those that are motivated by the author’s interests. The diverse group of past winning papers showcases these varied interests, rather than work performed for a customer. His interest in further investigating the integrated master schedule stems from previous research for ICEAA – the 2014 best paper "Trust, but Verify: An Improved Estimating Technique Using the IMS." Originally written for a graduate course in industrial organization, “Putting Schedule Quality Checks to the Test” investigates whether the 14-Point Assessment actually measures schedule quality. No rigorous testing had previously been performed, despite the assessment’s endorsement by the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), Government Accountability Office (GAO), and other organizations.

For first-time ICEAA presenters and new analysts, Eric advises, “Know your material like the back of your hand. It’s always preferable to know more about the topic than anyone in the room (and you should in most cases).” With such a niche field as cost analysis, the ICEAA conference introduces new analysts to the diversity of costing problems and approaches that wouldn’t be found anywhere else. Whether you’re new to schedule analysis or have experience, you are guaranteed to learn something about the 14-Point Assessment and schedule quality. Attend Eric’s presentation to learn how to improve quality checks and to discover why schedule quality is impossible to measure objectively.

 

Derreck Ross

Management, EVM & Scheduling Papers Track

The Performance Metrics Model and Study (PMMS)"

Cost Estimating Basic Training Track

“Contract Pricing”
“EVM Basic”

Derreck Ross recently won the Washington Capital Area Chapter ICEAA Junior Analyst Award for his work since joining Technomics in April 2014. His key to success in cost estimating and analysis is being proactive about identifying and understanding problems clients need to solve. By understanding the difficulties in overcoming these problems, you find where your skills can be used in generating a solution. Always continue improving your current skills and learning new ones to solve the problems of the future. Mr. Ross is most looking forward to teaching sessions on Contract Pricing and EVM Basics to help analysts learn new skills or refresh old ones.

“The Performance Metrics Model and Study (PMMS)” improves an analyst’s ability to make decisions about future performance by taking an in-depth look at historical performance data. This model aims to solve the problem analysts face in determining what mathematical method should be used to calculate the To Complete Performance Index (TCPI), which indicates how future work will perform. The resulting recommendations may act as an advisor, tie-breaker, or second opinion. Derreck encourages “anyone seeking to make good use of a large quantity of historical EVM data [to] check out the PMMS to aid in the defensibility of their estimates.”

 

Training

In addition to presenting new studies and papers, Technomics will be providing training across all the training tracks. Many of these analysts are familiar faces at the ICEAA conference, and they’ve kept their skills sharp to continue a tradition of excellence in training.

2016 ICEAA Workshop Committee Training Co-Chairs

Remmie Arnold Peter Braxton           

 

Cost Estimating Basic Training Track

Learning Curve Analysis Remmie Arnold and Peter Braxton
Cost Estimating Basics Tom Dauber
Contract Pricing Derreck Ross
EVM Basic Derreck Ross

 

Cost Estimating Advanced Training Track

Cost and Software Data Reports James Parnham and Mark Stephenson      

 

Parametric Training Track

Regression Linear Peter Braxton                
Regression Nonlinear/Multivariate Adam James                                                 

 

Integration Training Track

Contracts Risk/RCA Peter Braxton                    
Cost Management Tom Dauber

 

Get ready for the conference by downloading past Technomics ICEAA Papers.

After the conference, 2016’s papers will also be available to download. We hope to see you there!

Please visit the ICEAA website for general information about the conference: http://www.iceaaonline.com/atlanta2016/

Share this conference preview via LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter. Comment on this post if you have questions for our speakers, or contact the writer at creubi@technomics.net.