About ACAS
The U.S. Army Conference on Applied Statistics (ACAS) is a forum for the presentation and discussion of theoretical and applied papers related to the use of probability and statistics in solving defense problems. The conference provides an invaluable opportunity for interaction among academic, industry, and defense scientists. It also serves a nurturing role in the elevation of statistical competence among defense researchers in other disciplines who find themselves statistical practitioners because of the compelling benefits statistical science brings to defense research, development, and testing.
The conference is structured as follows. General sessions offer invited presentations on emerging topics in statistics. Special sessions focus attention on Army problem areas in which the role of statistical science can be more fully explored. Contributed sessions include papers ranging from new methodology to interesting statistical application. In the clinical sessions, a distinct feature of the conference, presenters can seek guidance from a panel of experts for problems that have not been completely or satisfactorily solved. Defense and security context is strongly encouraged as the motivation or as a potential application for all work presented, but the focus is to be statistics.
Two other important events take place at the conference. A tutorial on a statistical topic believed to be important in defense application precedes each conference. The Army Wilks Award is given periodically at this conference to an individual who has made significant contributions to the practice of statistical science in the Army through research in statistics and application of statistics in the solution of Army problems.
ACAS was established in 1995 by six sponsoring activities: the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, the U.S. Army Research Office, the U.S. Military Academy, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and TRADOC Analysis Center-White Sands Missile Range. The U.S. Army Research Laboratory takes the lead role in administering the conference, with support provided from numerous personnel in these organizations and others across the Army and academia. ACAS is the successor to the Conference on the Design of Experiments in Army Research, Development, and Testing, a historic series of meetings that formally concluded in 1994 after 40 years of service to the Army.