Table of Contents
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Training and Webinars
STATISTICA Training: Using STATISTICA for Data Analysis
Overview:
All students will work individually, carrying out example analysis under the supervision of the trainer.
The first section of this course teaches you the techniques involved in getting your data into the STATISTICA environment. We cover features such as value labels, variable labels and calculation of new variables, all of which you can use to make your reports more easily understood.
The course deals in detail with tabular and graphical data summaries, and in learning to do this you learn the basic techniques for setting up data analysis that are used throughout the program, including when performing statistical analysis.
Several basic statistical methods are introduced, giving you the basic skills that you need to allow you to explore these and other techniques on your own when it is appropriate.
Investment: $895 + GST
Presenter: Dr Ray Hoare
Date: 23 April 2010
Time: 9am to 5pm
Venue: UOC, Christchurch
Register: http://www.hrs.co.nz/statisticatraining
MATLAB Webinar: MATLAB for Programmers
Overview:
If you develop engineering, scientific or financial programs MATLAB can dramatically reduce the time you take and help you to reduce run-time errors.
You should attend this webinar if you:
• Want to write better programs in less time
• Need to efficiently develop new algorithms for engineering, scientific or financial modelling
• Want access to many pre-programmed and documented algorithms for signal processing, image processing, financial modelling or other specialist areas of technology
• Have difficulty working with very large data sets
Presenter: Dr Ray Hoare
Date: 28 April 2010
Time: 10am
Venue: HRS Virtual Venue, Online
Register: http://www.hrs.co.nz/matlabwebinar
Mathcad Webinar: Design Calculations and documentationwith Mathcad
Overview:
Many of the major NZ engineering companies have already seen the advantages of using Mathcad for carrying out and documenting a wide variety of types of calculation – possibly because they see that their international competitors are achieving efficiency gains by using the same tools. If you or your organisation also want to use the best technology for your calculations, you can see for yourself how it works by coming to this online seminar.
Presenter: Dr Ray Hoare
Date: 28 April 2010
Time: 2pm
Venue: HRS Virtual Venue, Online
Register: http://www.hrs.co.nz/mathcadwebinar
STATISTICA Webinar: Data analysis –
STATISTICA or Excel
Overview:
Do you believe "I don't need anything but Excel to analyse data!" If so, you have not seen STATISTICA!
Many people use Excel to analyse data and put up with the tedious slowness and limited techniques either because they don’t know any better, or they think alternatives are too hard. This seminar will show that with very little training, or even with self-teaching, it is easy to summarise and explore data many times faster than with Excel.
This seminar demonstrates the analysis of data while you watch. Because all the data is in named columns, a few clicks on menus is all it takes to calculate average values of a variable for each of hundreds or thousands of sub-categories. No need to scroll through the page to find the end of your data. Click some more options to create subcategories. A relevant graph is always at hand with another click.
Do you want to explore your data using advanced techniques such as stepwise multiple regression? Not something you do every day, but ready when you want to use it. Mostly you will use the easy to use and customisable graphs.
Come and let us show you!
Presenter: Dr Ray Hoare
Date: 29 April 2010
Time: 10am
Venue: HRS Virtual Venue, Online
Register: http://www.hrs.co.nz/statisticawebinar
SurveyPro & Remark Webinar: Survey your Stakeholders
Overview:
With SurveyPro or Remark Office OMR the task of surveying your customers or staff becomes manageable and gives you useful management information. You can use paper forms or the Internet, and avoid data entry, form design and data interpretation hassles.
SurveyPro lets you create forms, produce a database, and make a basic report structure in one step. You can also publish a web survey if you have a web server or you can use the HRS survey hosting service.
If you need to use paper-based forms, Remark Office OMR lets you collect data merely by running your forms through a scanner. If you make the forms in a word processor or page layout program you manually set up Remark to know the meaning of the fields. If you have used SurveyPro then it can tell Remark everything it needs to know.
This seminar will demonstrate the programs in actual use, and explain the benefits that our many existing clients find with this software, in both business and academia.
Presenter: Dr Ray Hoare
Date: 29 April 2010
Time: 2pm
Venue: HRS Virtual Venue, Online
Register: http://www.hrs.co.nz/surveywebinar
Upcoming Conferences
MathWorks Academic Virtual Conference - Advancing Engineering Education
Start Time and Date: 4.00pm on 11 May 2010
Finish Time and Date: 7.00am on 12 May 2010
(For 12:00am to 3:00pm EDT session)
Join your fellow professors and educators from around the globe to learn how to enhance your curricula to bridge the gap between theory and practice.
Discover how your peers have effectively incorporated the latest MathWorks technologies into classrooms and laboratories throughout the world.
Attend the keynote presentation by Jim Tung, MathWorks Fellow, as he discusses the challenges and opportunities for academia to attract, motivate, and prepare the next generation of engineers.
The conference will showcase real-world teaching examples from academics using MATLAB and Simulink to inspire learning and advance education in engineering, science, and mathematics.
At the MathWorks Academic Virtual Conference, you can:
- Share ideas with colleagues worldwide
- Collaborate on challenges facing today's educators
- Learn the latest tips and tricks
- Build your professional network
All without the time or expense of traveling to a conference.
The virtual conference offers you everything a physical event can provide and more — live presentations (with question-and-answer sessions), on-demand presentations, an exhibit floor, and a networking lounge.
Exhibit Hall
The exhibit hall will feature booths hosted by MathWorks and key academic partners. You can visit these booths to learn more about the tools and the technologies behind the latest MathWorks product release and how they can be applied to academia. You can also download white papers, product literature, and brochures; view product demonstrations; and communicate with booth staff to get answers to your technical questions.
Networking Lounge
The conference lounge will offer you the opportunity to chat with colleagues about your latest project, share solutions to common problems, and build your professional network.
to contact Bruce to discuss MATLAB products.
MATLAB Virtual Energy Conference -
Recorded Presentations Available Now
If you missed attending this conference, you can view the online replays of the presentations.
You will need to register and login to access these presentations.
Application areas covered in this conference include:
- Electric utilities
- Hybrid electric vehicles
- Oil and gas
- Solar power
- Wind power
- Energy trading
Visit http://www.hrs.co.nz/2504.aspx to view the presentations.
to contact Bruce to discuss MATLAB products.
Mathcad Virtual User Conference - Recorded Presentations Available Now
View recorded presentations for this conference online until 16 June at http://www.hrs.co.nz/2506.aspx.
You will hear about the Mathcad Technology Vision and Strategy as well as a Product Update and Roadmap without leaving your desk!
See the Mathcad 15.0 and Prime 1.0 Preview! This session will focus on two upcoming releases of Mathcad, and will include an in-depth look at the functionalities and capabilities of these specific new versions, as we move Mathcad into the next decade.
to contact Glen to discuss Mathcad.
Association & Society Conferences
Dates |
Conference |
City |
Sponsorship |
13-14 May |
Rotorua |
TBD |
|
17-18 June |
Christchurch |
HRS Exhibiting |
|
29 June - 1 July |
Palmerston North |
TBD |
|
30 June - 2 July |
Auckland |
HRS Exhibiting |
If you live in a city where HRS will be exhibiting and you would like to meet with Ray, send an email to ray@hrs.co.nz, to arrange a place and time
Product News
R2010a now available
What's New in Release 2010a
Release 2010a includes new features in MATLAB and Simulink, one new product, and updates and bug fixes to 85 other products. Subscribers to MathWorks Software Maintenance Service can download product updates. Beginning with R2010a, PolySpace products require activation. Visit the License Center to download products, activate software, and manage your license and user information.
New capabilities for the MATLAB product family include:
- Additional multithreaded math functions and enhancements to file sharing, path management, and the desktop in MATLAB
- New System objects for stream processing in MATLAB, with over 140 supported algorithms in Video and Image Processing Blockset and Signal Processing Blockset
- Multicore support and performance enhancements for over 50 functions and expanded support for large images in Image Processing Toolbox
- New nonlinear solvers in Global Optimization Toolbox and Optimization Toolbox
- Ability to generate Simscape language equations from Symbolic Math Toolbox
- Stochastic approximation expectation-maximization (SAEM) and pharmacokinetic dosing schedules support in SimBiology
New capabilities for the Simulink product family include:
- Tunable parameter structures, triggered model blocks, and function call branching for large-scale modeling in Simulink
- Code generation support for Eclipse, Embedded Linux, and ARM processors in Embedded IDE Link and Target Support Package
- ISO 26262 certification for Real-Time Workshop Embedded Coder and PolySpace products in IEC Certification Kit
- DO-178B qualification support extended to model coverage in DO Qualification Kit
- Simulink PLC Coder, a new product for generating IEC 61131 structured text for PLCs and PACs
For a full list of what's new in release 2010a, visit:
http://www.mathworks.com/products/new_products/latest_features.html?s_v1=9232409_1-7F38X
to contact Bruce to discuss MATLAB products.
MATLAB R2009b SP1
If you are standardised on MATLAB R2009b and are not able to upgrade to the latest release R2010a, then release R2009b Service Pack 1 is now available by download only. The Service Pack provides updates to fourteen products that resolve issues reported in R2009b. These same issues are also covered in release 2010a. If you are subscribed to Software Maintenance Service through May 1, 2010 you can download updated products for which you are licensed.
to contact Bruce to discuss MATLAB products.
MATLAB Academic Resources
Lecturers, academics and students should take advantage of the free resources that are available on the MathWorks Website. If you manage links to these MATLAB resources, please check to see if your links are up to date.
Visit the links below to view these online resources:
- http://www.mathworks.com/academia/classroom-resources/
- http://www.mathworks.com/academia/student_center/tutorials/
to contact Bruce to discuss MATLAB products.
MATLAB User Stories
to contact Bruce to discuss MATLAB products.
Maple T.A. 6 Now Available
What’s New in Maple T.A. 6
Maple T.A. can now be incorporated into virtually any course management system,including Moodle. This latest release
also includes a translatable interface,
performance improvements, and enhancements to the question repository.
The Maple T.A. Connector for Blackboard Software (available separately) has been updated to work with Maple T.A. 6.
For more details, click here:
http://www.maplesoft.com/products
/mapleta/new.aspx?P=TC-1243
to contact Glen to discuss Maple T.A.
Maple T.A. Story: Chalmers University of Technology
Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden has deployed Maple T.A. to improve student success in Mathematics. The goal of Chalmers University was to strengthen incoming students' math knowledge before the students begin their mathematics studies at the university level. This story talks about how this was achieved and discusses the benefits of deploying an online solution from an administration perspective as well as from the student's perspective.
To read the entire story, please visit:
http://www.maplesoft.com/company/publications/articles/view.aspx?SID=35161
to contact Glen to discuss Maple T.A.
Maple White Papers on Combustion Engines
There are three new Maple White Papers available on combustion engine modelling from MapleSoft.
- Mean-Value Internal Combustion Engine Model: Real-Time Execution in NI VeriStand
This article will demonstrate the process of preparing and deploying the MapleSim engine model to a National Instruments real-time platform using the new real-time testing software, NI VeriStand.
- Mean-Value Internal Combustion Engine Model with MapleSim
This article describes the developments of a mean-value model of an internal combustion engine using MapleSim.
- Mean-Value Internal Combustion Engine Model: Simulink S-Function Generation from MapleSim
This article will document the process of exporting the engine model to Simulink for further development and deployment to real-time systems such as dSPACE.
to contact Glen if you wish to be sent any of these white papers by email.
STATISTICA Data Miner Videos
STATISTICA Data Miner has become very competitive in recent years with the addition of several key components like:
- STATISTICA Scorecardaids the development, evaluation and monitoring of scorecard models, STATISTICA Live Score is STATISTICA Server software within the STATISTICA Data Analysis and Data Mining Platform. Data are aggregated and cleaned and models are trained and validated using the STATISTICA Data Miner software. Once the models are validated, they are deployed to the STATISTICA Live Score server. STATISTICA Live Score provides multi-threaded, efficient, and platform-independent scoring of data from line-of-business applications.
- With new options for deploying prediction models in SAS language code and things like the ability to utilise R code in DM workspaces our DM solutions allow us to tuck ourselves in nicely alongside the industry ‘front runners’.
to contact Glen to discuss STATISTICA Data Miner.
@RISK 5.5.1 and Decision Tools Suite 5.5.1 are Now Available
New features, multiple languages improve ease-of-use and power
@RISK 5.5.1 and DecisionTools Suite 5.5.1 are available now for immediate download. The DecisionTools Suite is the world's only integrated set of risk and decision analysis programs, and has been released in a new update that includes new features as well as full translations into Spanish , Portuguese , German , French , and Japanese. All dialogs, menus, documentation, examples and tutorials have been carefully translated, making the DecisionTools Suite more accessible to decision makers around the world.
DecisionTools Suite 5.5.1 includes new versions of @RISK for Monte Carlo simulation, PrecisionTree for decision trees, and TopRank for "what if" sensitivity analysis. In addition, DecisionTools Suite comeswith new versions of StatTools for statistical analysis and forecasting, NeuralTools for predictive neural networks, and Evolver and RISKOptimizer for optimization. All programs work together better than ever before, and all integrate completely 
with Microsoft Excel for ease of use and maximum flexibility.
What's New in DecisionTools Suite 5.5.1
- @RISK Simulation of Password-protected Worksheets. No longer do you need to unprotect your sheets to perform risk analysis, saving you valuable time.
- DecisionTools Launch Menu. This lets you conveniently launch any DecisionTools product from within any running DecisionTools product. Start PrecisionTree from within @RISK with a single click!
- Merged @RISK and RISKOptimizer Merged Ribbon. Because RISKOptimizer is often used to optimise @RISK models, the buttons for RISKOptimizer have been added to the main @RISK ribbon bar in Excel for greater ease of use.
- New @RISK VBA Control Methods. The new RiskResultsGraph method of the RiskSimResultsCollection object allows you to make graphs with the same syntax as the RiskResultsGraph Excel function.
- RISKOptimizer and Evolver Constraint Solver. This new feature greatly enhances these optimisers' ability to handle complex sets of model constraints.
- NeuralTools XDK. The new NeuralTools Excel Developer Kit makes it possible to write VBA code
in Excel that lets you customise and automate your neural networks models. - NeuralTools Linear Regression. This new option performs linear regression before training a neural net, and if the linear function makes better predictions on the testing data, it is used in place of the neural net.
- StatTools Mode Function. This new function returns the mode of a data set and adds the mode statistic to the One-Variable Summary analysis.
The @RISK 5.5.1 and DecisionTools Suite 5.5.1 update is available at no charge for customers with current maintenance plans. If you do not have a current maintenance plan, contact HRS to get the latest software.
to contact Glen to discuss @RISK or the Decision Tools Suite.
@RISK Case Study: Tioga Energy uses @RISK from Palisade
to predict financial savings on solar energy agreements in California
|
Background
Founded in 2006 and based in Silicon Valley, Tioga Energy, is a leading supplier of renewable energy services to commercial, government, and non-profit institutions. It enables access to affordable 'clean' energy in Ontario, Canada, and various US states, including California, which consumes more electricity than all but twelve of the largest countries in the world.
Tioga provides project financing through its SurePathSM Solar (PPAs), and maintains and operates solar systems on behalf of its customers. Its offering delivers predictably priced power and enables organisations to both 'green' their operations and reduce energy costs. In order to illustrate the benefits of solar, Tioga needs to estimate future electricity prices and make comparisons by showing the savings from a new solar system.
Go to top'Hedging Against Utility Rate Fluctuations with a Solar PPA'
With a solar PPA, customers pay only for the electricity generated by a solar system – the capital equipment required for that system, along with its design, implementation and maintenance are financed and managed by the solar power provider. However, PPAs require customers to commit to a fixed energy price over a long period of time, such as 20 years. To illustrate the financial benefits of being 'locked-in' to such an agreement, Tioga Energy prepared a report, 'Hedging Against Utility Rate Fluctuations with a Solar PPA' (available for download), that compared probable future electric utility rates in California with the cost of electricity from a solar PPA.
Read the full article at: http://www.hrs.co.nz/At-Risk-Case-Study-Tioga.aspx.
to contact Glen to discuss @RISK.
@RISK Tips: Use of RiskTheo to Represent Distributions as Discrete Ones
You can use the RiskTheo function in @RISK to determine the parameters of a discrete distribution based on a continuous one. In this example, the RiskTheo functions of @RISK work out the P10, P50, and P90 percentiles of a continuous distribution (in this case the LogNormal), and the Mean and Standard Deviation of a RiskDiscrete distribution which has these X-values and some assumed probabilities (or weights). It then uses Excel's Solver to work out the probabilities required so that the discrete distribution based on these percentiles and probabilities would have the same mean and standard deviation as the continuous distribution.
Download the example: CtsToDiscrete.xls
to contact Glen to discuss @RISK.
SurveyPro DecisionPad Blog
Check out the Apian Blog which provides a range of articles including tips on how you can use SurveyPro for your projects:
- An Effective Decision Communication Tool
- Modifying a question grid to incorporate more than two scales.
- Hard Times Demand Smart Decisions Implemented Quickly – Part II
- Hard Times Demand Smart Decisions Implemented Quickly – Part I
- Free Support with SurveyPro/DecisionPad Purchase
- How to Get Real and Stop Undermining Decision Making
- Cool Graphic Scales – Sliders in SurveyPro
- Converting SurveyPro 3.0 or 4.0 projects to SurveyPro 5.0
- Javascript Tools for Web Surveys
- Counting the Uncountable – Setting Up Open-Ended Questions for Later Analysis
- Plus more...
Visit http://blog.apian.com/ to read these articles.
to contact Glen to discuss SurveyPro.
CLC bio De novo assembler 3.0 beta 2 released
CLC bio have released an update to the beta de novo assembler with a few bug fixes and minor performance improvements.
Users of the Workbench plug-in will automatically get an update notification, whereas users of the NGS Cell beta will need to download a new copy.
- GWB Plug-in: http://www.clcbio.com/index.php?id=1497
- NGS Cell beta: http://www.clcbio.com/download_ngs_cell_beta
to contact Bruce to discuss CLC bio products.
CLC bio expands Next Gen Sequencing solutions with ground-breaking new algorithm for whole-genome de novo assemblies
CLC bio has released a groundbreaking whole-genome de novo assembler that will assemble genomes of any size, including human and plant genomes on a single workstation computer. Equally important, CLC bio’s de novo assembler is the first assembler that enables molecular biologists to set up, adjust, and run their large genome de novo assemblies through a graphical user-interface.
Director of Scientific Software Development at CLC bio, Dr. Roald Forsberg, states:
Go to top“Modest hardware requirements and the first user-friendly graphical interface for whole genome de novo assemblies, will democratise this technology. By empowering scientists around the world with this technology, the number and size of de novo assembly projects will increase. In accordance with our cross-platform strategy, we will also support all the upcoming Third Generation Sequencing technologies, so our customers can reap the full benefits of all the exciting technological advances of the future.”
CLC bio’s new de novo assembler solves four of the major de novo assembly challenges that are experienced by the scientific community today:
- The challenge of user-friendliness: None of the current de novo assembly applications for large genomes works through a graphical user-interface. CLC bio’s de novo assembler comes with both an intuitive user-friendly graphical user-interface as well as a powerful command-line interface.
- The challenge of memory requirements: Today’s de novo assembly software requires a total of more than 300 GB of RAM for large genome assemblies. CLC bio’s de novo assembler can assemble the same datasets on a single workstation computer with only 48 GB of RAM.
- The challenge of speed: Existing de novo assembly software packages are very CPU intensive and easily take days assembling large whole genome datasets. CLC bio’s de novo assembler is up to 50 times faster than existing packages and finishes the same datasets in just hours.
- The challenge of hybrid assemblies: No other de novo assembly package can mix datasets from different sequencing technologies. CLC bio’s de novo assembler handles and combines all data formats, whether they are generated by Illumina, SOLiD, Roche 454, Helicos, or Sanger sequencing instruments.
Read more about CLC bio’s de novo assembler here: www.clcdenovo.com
to contact Bruce to discuss CLC bio products.
CLC Tutorial: RNA-Seq analysis - part II: Non-specificmatches and expression measures
This tutorial is the second part of a series of tutorials about RNA-Seq. The aim of the tutorials is to take you from start to end of an RNA-Seq analysis including mapping of reads, interpreting results, checking quality and finally doing statistical analysis.
Download http://www.clcbio.com/examples/pdf/RNA-Seq_analysis_part_II.pdf
to contact Bruce to discuss CLC bio products.
Forecast Pro Tips & Tricks: Forecast Accuracy
Measurement & Tracking in Forecast Pro TRAC
When you save a forecast project, Forecast Pro TRAC stores both the statistical forecasts and the final (i.e., adjusted) forecasts in the project’s database. This means that if you have been updating your project and forecasts every planning period (for example, every month), that in addition to the current month’s forecast, your project’s database will contain forecasts that were generated in previous months. This record of the previously generated forecasts isreferred to as the forecast archive.
Maintaining a forecast archive allows you to track your forecast accuracy by comparing your forecasts to what actually happened.
To illustrate forecast accuracy measurement and tracking in Forecast Pro TRAC we are using an example drawn from the Forecast Pro TRAC User’s Guide. The User’s Guide provides detailed tutorial exercises; accompanying data files are installed when the program is installed. The example comes from a company called ABC Bakery. In the screenshot below, a 12-month forecast for an individual item to a specific customer is shown.
Notice that for the current forecast period, the historic data begins in mid-2006 and ends in June 2009, and that the first forecast period is July 2009. Forecast Pro TRAC refers to the most recent historic data period used to generate a forecast as the forecast origin. Thus, for the current forecast, the forecast origin is June 2009...
To read the full article, visit:
http://www.forecastpro.com/Trends/FPTipsAndTricksFebruary2010.html
to contact Glen to discuss Forecast Pro.
New XFdtd 7 Examples
Remcom's collection of Application Examples is one of the most popular features on their website.
Here are three examples:
- Cicularly Polarised Microstrip Antenna for Wireless Power Transmission and Data Communication
A circularly polarised microstrip antenna is designed and simulated in XFdtd with a comparison between simulated and measured return loss values.
Read the Circularly Polarised Microstrip Antenna example…
Go to top- Three Patch Array
The ability of XFdtd to generate arrays is used in this example of a three patch antenna array.
Read the Three Patch Array example…
- Dual Frequency Inverted FL Antenna in XF7
Accurate results are easily obtained after generating the antenna using the XFdtd 7.0 sketching tools.
Read the Dual Frequency Inverted FL Antenna example…
to contact Bruce to discuss XFdtd.
New Video: Importing a CAD Model and Assigning
Properties in XFdtd
This video demonstrates how XFdtd allows the user to create and manipulate extremely detailed models. A CAD model of a sedan is imported and then material properties are assigned for each part. The result is a very accurate model of the vehicle which can be used as a test bed for antenna simulations.
to contact Bruce to discuss XFdtd.
General News & Working with HRS
HRS Sponsorship
HRS has sponsored many association and society events over the years and we will continue to do this for events where delegates have a strong need for our products.
If you or an associate are organising a conference where the delegates could benefit from using the many mathematics based products sold and supported by HRS, please contact Leon by emailing leon@hrs.co.nz or by calling him on 0800 477 776.
User Stories
If you have any newsworthy user stories related to our products that you think our customers would be interested in reading, please contact Leon.
to email Leon or call him on
0800 477 776 to supply us with your product news.
Advertising your events on the HRS Website
If we sponsor your event, or your delegates are likely to be using one of our products, contact Leon to place details of your conference on our website.
to email Leon or call him on
0800 477 776 to advertise your event.
Best wishes,
Leon Tepania
Marketing Manager
Hoare
Research Software Ltd
Email: leon@hrs.co.nz