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Spotlight on Toby Barrus

Aug 26

Written by: STATISTICA News
8/26/2011 9:51 AM 

  • Tell us about your background (career, education, etc.)? 
    I obtained an MS in Physics from The Ohio State University in 2003. After a short stint in a family business, I was hired as a Quality Engineer at the Autoliv airbag inflator plant located in Brigham City, UT. I was quickly placed in the Autoliv 6 Sigma program where I was first introduced to statistical analysis in an industrial setting. There were many challenging projects to work on and I learned a lot about the practical application of statistical analysis. Through this process I found that Quality Engineering and Six Sigma were ideal ways for me to be problem solver, which I really love. I obtained CQE, CRE, and CSSBB certifications through ASQ and I also graduated from the Autoliv Production System University. While at Autoliv I also took online courses through the University of Louisville and obtained a Graduate Certificate in Data Mining.   In 2009 I took a Quality Engineer position at Myriad Genetics Laboratories in Salt Lake City, UT. This has been a new adventure to be involved in assuring the quality of new molecular diagnostic tests aimed at predicting risk for cancer. This summer I was certified as a Six Sigma Master Black Belt by Arizona State University.
  • What challenges did you face that drove you to use STATISTICA?
    I wanted to mine historical databases to gain knowledge from massive amounts of data we had at Autoliv. I had been exposed to SAS Enterprise Miner through my classes from the University of Louisville, but could not justify the cost to purchase the software. I ended up liking Statistica Data Miner a lot more. I found that the automation in getting answers to my data mining questions in Statistica was great, but I could still tinker around to optimize solutions if I wanted. In SAS EM it always felt like a black box to me. I could get answers, but there was much less flexibility to get under the hood to tweak things.

    Another challenge was that I wanted to make Statistical Process Control charts more accessible to management and front-line employees. When I researched the available software packages on the market for automated SPC charts, I found STATISTICA Enterprise QC to be superior. The ability to use Statistica Visual Basic (SVB) to make customized charts was a huge plus.
  •  How do you use STATISTICA? Which modules?
    Currently I use STATISTICA Enterprise QC for the creation of automated SPC charts. I also use many of the basic statistical functions in Base Statistica to teach Six Sigma classes at Myriad Genetics.            
  •  Why did you choose to use STATISTICA over another product?
    I really like the flexibility to program in SVB to create customized solutions.
  • Did STATISTICA give you the solution you were seeking?
    Yes. 
  • What are STATISTICA strengths?
    STATISTICA has powerful one click analysis with the ability to customize with SVB. The graphing capabilities are superior as well.
  • Would you recommend STATISTICA to a colleague or friend? Why?Yes, I think it offers the best value available for Enterprise SPC software and Data Mining software.

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