ABOUT NORM SPIER
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N.A.S. Technical Services, Inc. Mathematical/Computer, Statistics, SAS, Technical Contract Services By Norman A. Spier, Ph.D. |
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email: norm@nastechservices.com |
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N.A.S. Technical Services, Inc., is a company which has been offering the statistics, data-analysis, and statistical/SAS computer-programming, and general math/programming services of myself, it's owner -- Norm Spier, Ph.D. -- to businesses since 1995. NOTE TO POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS AND FORMER COLLEAGUES: (4/2010)I am choosing to continue my semi-retired/retired status at this time. As some of you know, this is due mainly to two factors that simply make it not worthwhile for me to work at this point: a)Cross-state health insurance transportability and general in-state availability (of solid, permanent insurance) has become yet worse (and will remain worse until the newly passed Health Insurance Reform kicks in in 2014), as insurance pools of all types hit "death spirals" caused by rising health costs, non-mandated insurance, adverse-selection, and now other general factors coming from the finanical meltdown. (This factor has an especially strong effect because I am getting so many inquiries for service in particularly health-insurance-dangerous states, such as PA, CA, CT, and a few southern states.) b)The Pharmaceutical Industry (my main client group) is one of the industries that has responded to potential one-person-contractor-corporation long-duration-contract claims of obligation to fringe benefits (i.e. Microsoft issues) by keeping contract durations short, and involving intermediary companies (who themselves offer poor or no fringe benefits). They do this even when the one-person-contractor-corporation (such as mine) has set up better benefits for itself than the pharmaceutical company involed does for its own employees. [I am grateful to several prior pharmaceutical clients who have, despite this industry practice, gone out on a limb and offered direct contracts over the discouragement of their legal departments. I have not taken these, since the general climate of short contracts in the industry makes it simply not worth my while.] Anyway, until such time as something of exceptional interest comes along, the discouraging factors resolve, a hyperinflation forces me back to work, or I become 67, etc., I will continue my pleasant activities which consist substantially of lots of reading (still about 70 or 80 books of interest on my "to read" piles). I've also been doing miscellaneous interesting technical projects of personal interest. Some of these are computer programs, such as the one here, have been getting quite a bit of downloading lately, despite their obscure nature. I have also been involved in some public policy advocacy. Former colleagues who I got to know will recall my interests in chamber music and the visual arts. These pursuits have continued (of course!). An added advantage for me (though perhaps not the country), of finding the contract world not profitable is that reduced income saves me, oh, $70,000 to $100,000 a year on taxes. (I don't like to freeload, but sometimes the incentives the society has set up make it unavoidable.) P.S. I'm glad to see someone finally wrote a book on this for the medical people: ( ) (I know we all got tired of explaining it.) STATEMENT OF COMPLETE NON-RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE FINANCIAL MELTDOWN: Though I have roughly the same skills as the quantitative "geniuses" in the finance world who applied probalistic models that obviously didn't apply and caused the meltdown, ( And the meltdown wasn't the first time: ) I proclaim my innocence, as I have never worked in finance or banking. Further, if I had been working in finance, my clear-thinking, rigorous math background, and unusual moral rectitude would have had me going around saying "you believe this stuff?" and I would have been canned in short order. Formerly located in Western CT and New York State, we have just relocated (2/10) to Northampton, MA (80 miles west of Boston). Note that the new site has redundant methods of high-speed internet access, to support reliable (encryptable) data transfer and other communication. I perform projects with either a part-time or full-time time commitment, depending on customer need and my availability. Work is generally at my site (remote- or CRO- arrangement) with visits as needed to your site. Billing is usually by the hour, but can be per-task. (At this point in my career, after many years of successful and financially rewarding contract work on a full-time basis, I am spending some time working on personal mathematics/computer and statistical/epidemiological projects. Thus, part-time work is welcomed and slightly preferred.) For the computer analysis part of the work, my main concentration is SAS-based work, which I have over 15 years experience at. I also have worked to a lesser extent with SQL/Oracle, S-PLUS, C++, Java, and the interfaces between these languages. I have extensive (over 15 years of) clinical trial analysis experience. On a given project, I do whichever is needed of statistical analysis, statistically-related programming, or both. The work is most often the production of the desired product, but it has also been validation or checking of the product after it was done by someone else. I also can work in, and have some interest in, other interesting areas of application. (Here is a recent personal project which was fun to do.) I have particular experience at analysis involving large amounts of somewhat disparate data (assessing and carrying out the needed data unifications into a common structure -- e.g. 6, 10, 20, 37 studies). I also have substantial experience at graphical analysis methods. Freqently these have been polished-looking, high-information-content outputs, attained by use of basic SAS graphics directives (GANNOTATE, GSLIDE) in addition to, or as an alternative to, the higher level routines (GPLOT, etc.). I am especially skilled at crossing the statistics / computer programming communication barrier. I am respected for my careful, systematic approach, as well as for accuracy, and the ability to document complicated multi-study projects accurately. The systematic approach often yields high efficiency, in the sense of being able to output large numbers of consistent and accurate analyses with a small number of well-thought-out programs. Experience has been in both efficacy and safety, for both single and combined studies. A good amount of the safety work was done in the environment of the large amount of regulatory safety reactions affecting many drugs in the aftermath of the Vioxx incident. Note: We have had previous business and reputational success in an arrangement with most work done on-site, with one very satisfied customer with a 5-year full-time engagement, and another with a 3-year full-time engagement. However, in recent years, the legal departments of most of the types of companies we serve have become concerned with a possibility of lawsuits based on a remote and vague legal obligation to supply fringe-benefits in such a situation. At the request of several prior clients, to address their issues in a fashion which they believe is the most efficient with the least added cost, we have adjusted our own method of servicing clients. We no longer accept contracts where work is done primarily at the customer's site, and instead work primarily at my site. (Also, with regard to such legal issues, note that NAS Technical Services, Inc. does and always has maintained a Keough pension plan at the maximum contribution rate for its employee (Norm Spier), and does and always has maintained full comprehensive health insurance.) |
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HAVE THESE GENERAL SKILLS: HAVE WORKED WITH THESE COMPUTER LANGUAGES: HAVE WORKED WITH THESE OPERATING SYSTEMS: |
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ABOUT NORM SPIER
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ABOUT N.A.S. TECHNICAL SERVICES, INC. |
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Contact info: email: norm@nastechservices.com or call 607-797-3296 _ |