Classification Society Conference, 2017

This year’s conference will be hosted by UC Santa Cruz at the Silicon Valley campus in Santa Clara on June 21-24, 2017. 

The Classification Society is an interdisciplinary and international organization whose purposes are to promote the scientific study of classification and clustering (including systematic methods of creating classifications from data), and to disseminate scientific and educational information related to its fields of interests. It celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014, and has a rich history in the development of clustering methodology. In current times, it advances both methodological and applied work in classification and clustering broadly defined.

The society has members in many academic disciplines including but not limited to statistics, machine learning, business, psychology, education, medicine, and biology.

The Classification Society conference allows you to learn about cutting edge research, meet with researchers from your both from own discipline and from other disciplines, and also to have fun!

Questions? Contact Herbie Lee at herbie@ucsc.edu.

Talk submission deadline: May 1

Early Bird Registration deadline: May 31

Hotel group rate deadline: May 31

Opening reception: June 21

Main conference: June 22-24

All events will be held in Room 2110 of the UCSC Silicon Valley building, 3175 Bowers Avenue, Santa Clara, CA, except for the welcome reception and the banquet.

Wednesday, June 21

TimeEvent Title
5:30-7:30pmWelcome Reception: An informal social will be held at the Embassy Suites hotel (click here for map).

Thursday, June 22

TimeEvent Title
9:00amOpening Remarks 
9:10amPresident’s Invited Address: Robert Tibshirani, Stanford University, “Cancer detection via the lasso and customized training”
10:20amCoffee Break
10:40amContributed Session 1
Daniel Fernández, State University of New York at Albany, “Mixture-based clustering for ordinal data. A Bayesian approach using the ordered stereotype model”
Francesca Greselin, University of Milano Bicocca, “Robust parsimonious mixture models for fuzzy clustering”
Abby Flynt, Bucknell University, “Growth Mixture Modeling with Measurement Selection”
NoonLunch Break
1:30pmKeynote Lecture
Michael I. Jordan, University of California, Berkeley, “On Gradient-Based Optimization: Accelerated, Distributed, Asynchronous and Stochastic”
2:40pmClassification Society Distinguished Dissertation Award Session: Paula Murray, Cancer Care Ontario, “Detecting Non-Elliptical Clusters”
3:10pmCoffee Break
3:30pmInvited Session 1
Joseph Richards, GE Digital, “Machine Learning Applications for the Industrial Internet”
Dhanya Sridhar, University of California, Santa Cruz, “Collective Models of Stance and Disagreement in Online Debates”
Kevin Zielnicki, Stitch Fix, “Classifying Text Feedback With Off-Policy Model Evaluation”

Friday, June 23

9:00amInvited Session 2
Christophe Biernacki, University of Lille, “Unifying Data Units and Models in (Co-)Clustering”
Jeffrey L. Andrews, University of British Columbia, “Addressing Overfitting and Underfitting for Gaussian Mixture Models”
10:00am Coffee Break
10:20amInvited Session 3
Donatello Telesca, University of California, Los Angeles, “Inferring Brain Signals Synchronicity from a Sample of EEG Readings”
Ying She, Climate Corporation, “Classification for Agricultural Image Analysis” 
Abel Rodriguez, University of California, Santa Cruz, “Bayesian spatial model selection for detection and identification in chemical plumes based on hyperspectral imagery data” 
NoonLunch Break and Classification Society Board Meeting
1:30pmContributed Session 2 
Michael P.B. Gallaugher, McMaster University, “Clustering and Semi-Supervised Classification for Clickstream Data via Mixture Models” 
Ron Yurko, Carnegie Mellon University, “Variable Selection for Consistent Clustering”
2:10pm Coffee Break
2:30pmInvited Session 4
Stephen France, Mississippi State University, “FlexCCT: Theory and Software for Flexible Ratings Analysis” 
Brenton Blair, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, “Gaussian Mixture Models as Automated Particle Classifiers for Fast Neutron Detectors”
Brian Franczak, MacEwan University, “Subspace Clustering with the Multivariate-t Distribution”
4:00pmClassification Society General Meeting
5:30pm Board bus for transportation to the Banquet at Testarossa Winery

Saturday, June 24

9:00amPresident’s Address: Herbie Lee, University of California, Santa Cruz, “Classification Problems in Computer Simulation Modeling” 
10:00am Coffee Break
10:20am Contributed Session 3
Beau Dabbs, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, “Comparison of Missing Value Methods for Random Forests”
Tahiri Nadia, Université du Québec à Montréal, “Classification of phylogenetic trees”
Kayla Frisoli, Carnegie Mellon University, “An active learning approach to record linkage”
Christopher D. Rainey, San Jose State University, “A Probabilistic Distance Algorithm for Student t Mixture Parameter Estimation”
Hans Friedrich Koehn, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, “Attribute Hierarchy Models in Cognitive Diagnosis: Identifiability of the Latent Attribute Space and Conditions for Completeness of the Q-Matrix”
12:00pm Closing Remarks

Click here to register via the Classification Society website.

Registration rates:

  • Classification Society Members: $350
  • Non-members $475
  • Students $120

If you are not currently a member, we encourage you to join the Classification Society first to get the discounted registration rate.

Abstract submission is now closed. We hope to see you at the conference!

Embassy Suites

We have reserved a block of rooms at the Embassy Suites in Santa Clara at a special room rate of $189 per night. Use this link or group code C-UCS. This hotel is less than a ten minute walk to the Silicon Valley Extension Campus. For an interactive map, click here. This rate is only valid until May 31. 

Other hotel options are available within a short distance of the conference.  Please keep in mind that many hotels in the area fill quickly during the summer months so plan to make reservations well in advance.

There are several restaurants within a few minute radius of the conference site and Embassy Suites. A map of local restaurants can be found here

The conference will be held at the UCSC Silicon Valley Extension Campus, 3175 Bowers Avenue, Santa Clara, California. 

Map image of UCSC Silicon Valley Campus location

Driving Directions

GOING SOUTH ON HIGHWAY 101: Take the Bowers Avenue exit and merge onto Bowers. Turn left at Scott Blvd. Turn right into the parking lot.

GOING NORTH ON HIGHWAY 101: Take the San Tomas Expressway exit and merge onto San Tomas heading west. Turn right on Scott Blvd. Take a U-Turn at the Scott Blvd & Bowers Avenue intersection. Turn right into the parking lot.

FROM MILPITAS: Start out on Highway 237 West. Take the Great America Parkway exit and turn left on Great America. After passing over Highway 101, take a left on Scott Blvd. Turn right into the parking lot.

FROM LOS GATOS: Start out on Highway 17 north towards San Jose. Take the exit for Highway 101 North. Take the Bowers Avenue exit and merge onto Bowers Avenue. Turn left at Scott Blvd. Turn right into the parking lot.

Airports

This region is served by three international airports. The nearest airport is San Jose Airport (SJC), which is just a ten minute drive away. San Francisco Airport (SFO) is about a half hour away and Oakland Airport (OAK) is about 40 minutes away, in both cases it can be significantly more during rush hour.

From San Jose Airport (map here)

Map of driving directions from SJC to UCSC Silicon Valley Campus

Campus Parking

Permits are not required and there is no charge to park in the open lots at the Silicon Valley Extension campus.

Restaurants near the Conference

Santa Clara Square is directly across the street from the campus.  Food options include Whole Foods MarketComebuy TeaFleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine BarIl FornaioLula’s ChocolatesOpa!, Puesto, and Specialty Cafe & Bakery.  There are numerous other choices just a short drive away.

Last modified: Feb 06, 2025