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Session 19 Data Visualization Workshop
Visual analytics focuses on analytical reasoning facilitated by interactive visual interfaces. People use visual analytics tools and techniques to synthesize information and derive insight from massive, dynamic, ambiguous, and often-conflicting data. This skills workshop session will cover the integration of interactive visualization with analysis techniques to answer questions related to business and economic analysis.
Presentations
Jim Thomas slideshow (14 MB)
Speakers
Billy Leung
Regional Economic Models, Inc.
Billy Leung holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and received his M.A. in Regional Economics and Social Development at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. His master thesis was on the research and development of incorporating transportation and land use with Input/Output economic modeling.
Mr. Leung has spent the last three years working on development of the REMI model and consulting on economic analysis. He has performed such economic impact studies as site selection for a pharmaceutical research and development facility. He advised the New Mexico State government on the economic impacts of legislative bills in New Mexico’s 2003 special legislative session and the 2004 legislative session.
As an associate economist and consultant at REMI, Mr. Leung has developed economic research and analytical skills in regional economies and public policy issues including emissions, taxation, transportation, energy, economic development, and counterfactual scenarios. He researched and developed the methodology to analyze the economic impact of Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport for the Connecticut Economic Development Community Department. He analyzed the economic impact of a new Bio-Diesel industry in New York State for the U.S. EPA and researched the economic impact of widening New Mexico’s US 54 for the New Mexico Department of Transportation.
Elizabeth Webbink
Inkweb.org
Liz Webbink, founder of inkweb, has had over 20 years of experience in corporate planning, finance, and economics and brings that experience to bear on the design of analytical systems to support decisionmaking.
She spent more than a decade with Exxon in various internal consulting positions in the policy, planning, economics, and treasury areas. She revamped the corporate cash forecasting system, developed an OPEC Balance of Payments forecasting model as well as visualization tools for U.S. macroeconomic forecasts, and received awards for developing a seminar for employees on discounted cash flow analysis and for improving productivity through financial process reengineering. She has provided professional seminars and implemented systems for project analysis, capital budget reporting, scorecards and performance metrics.
Liz held university faculty appointments at Rice, Montclair State and, Rutgers where she taught courses on Corporate Finance, Capital Budgeting, and the Economics of Multinational Corporations. As Academic Dean for the Rutgers undergraduate Business School, she instituted a system to ameliorate overcrowding of classes and assure places to qualified students. As a Vice President of the National Council on Economic Education Liz designed a Capital Formation Institute for high school teachers which received funding from the Goldman Sachs foundation, worked with State Farm to develop a major new national initiative to improve the economic and financial literacy of the nation’s youth, and managed a major project producing teaching guides and providing training for Well's Fargo's Hands on Banking® program
A past director of the National Association for Business Economics, Liz served as President of the Houston and Philadelphia Chapters. She earned a PhD in international economics and finance at NYU's Stern School of Business where she was elected to Beta Gamma Sigma and a BS in international trade from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
Jim Thomas
National Visual Analytics Center
Jim Thomas is director of the Department of Homeland Security’s National Visualization and Analytics Center and a Laboratory Fellow at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. With a career spanning 30 years of contributions in information technology, Thomas specializes in the research, design and implementation of innovative information and scientific visualization, multimedia and human computer interaction technology. At PNNL, he has established investment directions for information technology, led major technology initiatives, mentored staff and spearheaded several major research programs.
Thomas is internationally recognized for his contributions to the field of information visualization. He has received several international science awards and been honored for transferring research technology to industry. Thomas sits on several national and international science and technology boards for universities, states and industry. He is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Thomas also was chair of ACM SIGGRAPH, former editor-in-chief for IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, and has chaired graphics and visualization conferences for both ACM and IEEE. He is on three editorial boards for journals and has presented more than 20 keynote talks at major conferences.