Washington ICEAA

WCAC ICEAA June Luncheon: AI and Cost Estimation: Data Science’s Expanding Role in Cost Estimating
2024-08-27 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Microsoft Teams
SUBJECT: WCAC ICEAA June Luncheon: AI and Cost Estimation: Data Science’s Expanding Role in Cost Estimating
PRESENTED BY: Kevin McKeel and Daniel Harper
TIME: Tuesday August 27, 2024 | 12:00 to 1:00pm eastern
SUMMARY:
Data Science has taken on an expanded presence in Cost Analysis. E.g., NLP is used to automate functional software sizing in commercial models. Data Science methods and tools such as NLP can be also used to extract data to identify spending trends and agency funding. We will present an overview of modern usages of data science, to include Machine Learning, AI and data visualization. We will also survey cost and budget data sources which are publicly available and ripe for analysis using data science methods.
This briefing was originally presented at the ICEAA Professional Development & Training Workshop.
Speakers: Kevin McKeel and Daniel Harper
Speaker Bios:
Kevin McKeel – Mr. Kevin McKeel has over 25 years of experience in software cost estimation. He is a CCEA and SAFe Architect and received the prestigious 2021 Technical Achievement of the Year award from ICEAA related to research of automated software sizing using AI and NLP. Mr. McKeel holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration (Finance, ‘89) from James Madison University and a Master’s in Business Administration (Decision Systems, ’92) from The George Washington University.
Daniel Harper – Dan Harper, CCEA has over 25 years of professional experience and a passion for sharing knowledge throughout the federal cost and acquisition community. He founded and promotes the Cost FACTS Group, a networking forum of over 500 cost and acquisition professionals. Dan is a co-lead for the MITRE Cost CoP and serves as a founding member of the ICEAA Machine Learning Working Group. He has a Finance degree from Virginia Tech and a Masters in Technology Management from George Mason University.
Teams Link:
Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 281 679 694 559
Passcode: [REDACTED]

WCAC ICEAA September Luncheon: Data Science for Cost Estimating: An example using Dataiku and EVAMOSC data
2024-09-25 12:00 - 13:00 | Microsoft Teams
SUBJECT: WCAC ICEAA September Luncheon: Data Science for Cost Estimating: An example using Dataiku and EVAMOSC data
PRESENTED BY: Daniel Germony OSD, Greg Cashman, Dataiku, Darien Mitchell-Tontar, Dataiku
TIME: September 25, 2024 | 12:00 to 1:00pm eastern
SUMMARY:
Join us for an engaging luncheon presentation on the cutting-edge application of Data Science for Cost Estimating!
This session will provide an example of Machine Learning and AutoML tools, particularly Dataiku, applied to the Office of the Secretary of Defenses’ Enterprise Visibility and Management of Operating and Support Cost (EVAMOSC) database of Operations and Sustainment data.
How well did the Machine Learning model do? Are the AI’s going to take your job?! You will have to attend to find out!
Speakers: Daniel Germony, OSD; Greg Cashman, Dataiku; Darien Mitchell-Tontar, Dataiku
Speaker Bios:
Daniel Germony – Daniel Germony is an Operations Research Analyst with 15 years of experience working in the Department of Defense (DoD). Currently, Mr. Germony works in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) – Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) Office as the Program Manager of the Enterprise Visibility and Management of Operating and Support Costs (EVAMOSC) system. Mr. Germony has a Master’s in Cost Estimating and Analysis from the Naval Postgraduate School, is a Certified Cost Estimator/Analyst, and is a past president of the Washington Capital Area Chapter of the International Cost Estimating and Analysis Association.
Greg Cashman – Greg is a Senior Solutions Engineer in Dataiku’s public sector practice. In this role, Greg works with both existing and prospective clients assisting with everything from initial requirements gathering through product demonstrations and support of hands-on software evaluations. Greg has over 25 years of experience in the AI / ML software industry having previously served in similar roles at both IBM and SAS. Greg holds a Masters of Science in Predictive Analytics from Northwestern University as well as Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Catholic University in Washington DC where he is based.
Darien Mitchell-Tontar – Darien is a senior data scientist at Dataiku, where he has worked for almost four years, providing technical expertise, demos, training, and project delivery support to customers. For the last two years, he has been working with the Air Force in a near full-time capacity. Before transitioning to data science after the 2018-19 school year, Darien taught high school math for eight years. He holds a master’s degree in math from Syracuse University as well as a BS in math and physics.
________________________________________________________________________________
Microsoft Teams Need help?
Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 269 014 749 430
Passcode: [REDACTED]

WCAC ICEAA October Luncheon: The Cost of Bureaucracy
2024-10-31 12:00 - 13:00 | Microsoft Teams
SUBJECT: WCAC ICEAA October Luncheon: The Cost of Bureaucracy
PRESENTED BY: Zachary Matheson, NNSA
TIME: October 31, 2024 | 12:00 to 1:00pm eastern
SUMMARY:
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has separate management methods for capital construction projects, with enhanced requirements for larger projects. Naively, one might expect that enhanced requirements might increase program management costs and possibly impact schedule. However, as the enhanced management requirements are tied to a dollar threshold, comparing costs is not straightforward. In this paper, we share results of a regression analysis that developed separate cost and schedule regressions for each management method and a comparison of the costs by management type.
Speakers:
Zachary Matheson, NNSA
Speaker Bios:
Zachary Matheson – Zachary joined the National Nuclear Security Administration in 2019 after completing a dual PhD in Nuclear Physics and Computational Math, Science, and Engineering from Michigan State University. After completing a one-year fellowship in the NNSA Office of Advanced Simulation and Computing, he moved in June 2020 into his current position in the Office of Programming, Analysis, and Evaluation, where he uses modeling and simulation to support NNSA planning and budgeting.
Microsoft Teams Need help?
Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 275 088 510 57
Passcode: [REDACTED]

WCAC ICEAA December Luncheon: Well, That Escalated Quickly – A Novel Approach to Forecasting Escalation
2024-12-02 12:00 - 13:00 | Microsoft Teams
SUBJECT: WCAC ICEAA December Luncheon: Well, That Escalated Quickly – A Novel Approach to Forecasting Escalation
PRESENTED BY: Sean Wells, Technomics
TIME: December 2, 2024 | 12:00 to 1:00pm eastern
SUMMARY:
Escalation rates are an important part of estimates, and as such, the provenance and derivation of indices should be regularly scrutinized, yet are rarely contemplated. This paper will compare a commonly used black-box escalation resource, IHS Global Insight, to a traceable, simplified forecasting method to determine if a purely mathematical model delivers improved forecasting accuracy. Our model relies on a curated set of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indices to develop a moving average forecast. With access to over 15 years of IHS forecasts dating back to 2006, spanning 800+ indices, this study has the unique opportunity to quantify the accuracy of IHS and moving average forecasts against historical BLS indices. Our paper will establish and explore various measures of forecast accuracy for use in creating defensible estimates. The goal is to provide a quick, transparent, and flexible way to develop tailored escalation projections without sacrificing accuracy.
Speakers:
Sean Wells, Technomics
Speaker Bios:
Sean Wells – Sean has been with Technomics since July 2023 and currently provides cost support to the US Navy and the Canadian National Shipbuilding Service. Sean holds an MS in Contracts Acquisition and Management from the Florida Institute of Technology and has over three years of professional experience working Ford Class Carrier and Virginia Class Submarine Estimates. He is an ICEAA Certified Cost Estimator/Analyst (CCEA).

________________________________________________________________________________
Microsoft Teams Need help?
Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 258 919 847 980
Passcode: [REDACTED]

2025 Chapter Awards Deadline
2025-02-14
Do you know an outstanding member of the ICEAA Washington Capital Area Chapter (WCAC) who has made a difference in the cost estimating profession? Perhaps an individual or team whose work is leaping beyond the forefront? An emerging superstar with a blindingly bright future, or a pillar of the cost community whose years of dedication have advanced the industry and everyone around them?
The WCAC of ICEAA Awards Committee would love to hear about them!
Please review the Chapter Awards and criteria listed below and complete the nomination form linked below to qualify your nominee as a candidate for one of four annual achievement awards.
All nominations must be submitted NO LATER THAN:
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14th, 2025 at 11:59pm ET
Please upload your completed nomination to the WCAC Chapter Award Nomination web form, located at: http://iceaaonline.com/wcac-awards . You should receive a reply within two business days confirming your successful submission.
Winners of the 2025 WCAC of ICEAA Awards will be automatically entered into this year’s ICEAA National Association Awards, with a note indicating their victory at the Chapter level.
Thank you for taking the time to recognize your exceptional colleagues!
____
DESCRIPTION OF CHAPTER AWARDS
Team Achievement of the Year Award: This award recognizes a team demonstrating significant cost estimation/analysis accomplishments over the past year for their organization (or an organization supported by their work). Achievement should have a significant resultant impact on the mission of the organization or by influencing an important decision through the use of cost estimation/analysis. A few examples of such contributions would include:

Demonstrating an outstanding accomplishment within the field.
Promoting high impact on the organization or chapter supported by the work.
Exemplifying how cost estimation and analysis work provides decision support by influencing the management vision, goals, and objectives.
Note: team recipients must be comprised of more than one individual. Fifty one percent (51%) or more of the team’s efforts must be executed by current WCAC of ICEAA members in good standing.

Technical Achievement of the Year Award: This award recognizes the individual who has made outstanding technical contributions to the profession of cost estimation/analysis over the past year. Technical excellence may be accomplished through significant achievement in technical work and/or by playing an instrumental part in the development of technical products. A few examples of such contributions would include:

Performing research in developing new knowledge and advancing theory in cost estimation and analysis.
Innovative use of cost models or development of new models.
Promoting integration and synergy among cost estimating and analysis and other disciplines.
Developing and maintaining standards of proficiency and performance.
Establishing standards in the terminology, conduct, and application of cost estimating and analysis.
Using new approaches and techniques to conduct cost estimates/analyses or parametric databases/analyses, develop CERs, databases, and/or models.
Expert application of statistical procedures for CERs.
Note: the individual recipient must be a current member of the WCAC of ICEAA in good standing.

Management Achievement of the Year Award: This award recognizes the individual who has made outstanding management contributions to the profession of cost estimation/analysis over the past year. Management excellence may be accomplished through significant administration of cost estimates/analyses. In particular, the Award recognizes the individual who provides the most effective demonstration of their project management competence. A few examples of such contributions would include:

Creating a productive work environment as well as the drive and impetus to enable co-workers or employees to accomplish achievements.
Exhibiting a balance of management skills, juggling different views and perspectives, backgrounds, and personalities.
Maintaining focus ensuring his/her team’s performance is efficient and the project’s objectives are met.
Rewarding achievement through an appropriate program of recognition and endorsement.
Promoting standards of proficiency and performance.
Providing forums and media through which experiences with the principles and techniques of cost estimating and analysis may be reported, discussed, and published in furtherance of public interest.
Developing and maintaining standards of proficiency and performance.
Note: the individual recipient must be a current member of the WCAC of ICEAA in good standing.

Junior Analyst of the Year Award: This award recognizes an individual with three or fewer years of cost estimation/analysis experience who has demonstrated significant professional development over the past year. This individual should demonstrate a bright future through job-related work and education in the field. Work-related activities can be performed individually or as part of a larger group. In particular, this individual employs and exemplifies Cost Estimating Body of Knowledge (CEBoK) principles within their cost estimating/analysis work.

Demonstrating work toward proficiency in the field through job-related activities and education.
Demonstrating an upward trajectory on increasing levels of skill and impact to the cost estimation/analysis profession.
Note: the individual recipient must have no more than three years of professional cost estimating/analysis experience, and must be a current member of WCAC of ICEAA in good standing.

____
CHAPTER AWARDS – ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Nominees for individual chapter awards are eligible only if they are current members of the WCAC of ICEAA in good standing. Please note that there is no membership requirement for nominators of any award.
Teams nominated for the Team Achievement of the Year Award must be comprised of more than one individual. Fifty one percent (51%) or more of the team’s efforts must be executed by current WCAC of ICEAA members in good standing. Greater weight shall be given to teams where a significant contribution was clearly made by one or more WCAC of ICEAA members.
Nominees for the Junior Analyst of the Year Award must have no more than three years of professional cost estimating/analysis experience.

Nominations must not include classified, controlled unclassified, proprietary, and/or otherwise sensitive information, as their narratives may be made publicly available at a later date. Any nomination determined to have violated this rule will be disqualified. It’s important to note that many organizations require a nominator to obtain permission from a governing body to release business information contained in a narrative, even if the information is not officially designated as sensitive.
The WCAC Board of Directors will review nominations for adherence to the eligibility criteria above. If all criteria above are met, the nomination will be formally accepted and reviewed by an independent WCAC Awards Committee. While nominations are being reviewed, the Chapter Secretary will verify the membership status of each nominee.
If a nominee is found to be delinquent on paying their membership dues or does not appear to be a member of ICEAA and/or WCAC, the Chapter Secretary will make a good faith effort to alert the nominee about their status as soon as possible and suggest a remediation plan. To avoid disqualification, all ineligible nominees must show proof of remediation (e.g., receipt confirming payment of ICEAA membership dues, etc.) to the Chapter Secretary no later than two business days after the WCAC Awards nomination submission deadline of February 14th, 2025.
____
CHAPTER AWARDS – SCORING CRITERIA
In addition to meeting all eligibility criteria, the WCAC of ICEAA intends to score nominations based on criteria that demonstrate both impact and relevance to the profession of cost estimation and analysis, where impact is more important than relevance.
In relation to WCAC Chapter Awards scoring criteria, definitions for impact and relevance are provided below.
Impact on Cost Estimation and Analysis – Nominations that demonstrate a positive impact on program/project performance, federal/industry capabilities, training and development, data management/availability, model/tool development, and/or improved collaboration for the profession of cost estimation and analysis. Measurable, quantified impacts are given greater weight compared to impacts that are not quantified.
Nominators are highly encouraged to include measurable, quantitative information in their nomination to demonstrate the nominee’s impact. Examples include:

X% reduction in estimated program/project costs
X new users of cost database
X individuals trained and certified as P/CCEAs

Relevance to Cost Estimation and Analysis – Nominations which demonstrate foundational elements, principles, and/or methodologies of cost estimation and analysis as defined by the ICEAA Cost Estimating Body of Knowledge (CEBoK), as well as novel and innovative approaches that could define the future of the profession. This includes but is not limited to elements, principles and/or methodologies related to cost analysis, financial management, parametric cost estimating, specialized cost estimating, and cost model/tool development.

WCAC ICEAA March Luncheon: Costing Web App Development for Operations Research
2025-03-04 12:00 - 13:00 | Microsoft Teams
Please join us for this month’s Washington Capital Area Chapter (WCAC) International Cost Estimating and Analysis Association (ICEAA) Luncheon:
SUBJECT: WCAC ICEAA March Luncheon: Costing Web App Development for Operations Research
PRESENTED BY: Kyle Ferris and Eric Hagee, Tecolote
TIME: March 4, 2025 | 12:00 to 1:00pm eastern
SUMMARY:
Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) web application development platforms empower analysts to leverage low-code environments to build comprehensive business tools. Therefore, understanding the lifecycle cost requirements to design, develop, deploy and maintain low-code web applications as both analytical and decision support tools for stakeholders is of interest to the cost community. We define web application lifecycle requirements as analogous to an overarching Data Operations Stack. The Data Operations Stack is a conceptual framework that describes data operations as a set of hierarchical requirements, from base-level IT infrastructure and tools to high-level business products. With this framework in mind, we describe web application lifecycle requirements through successive levels of the Data Operations Stack, elucidating the required personnel, tools, and capabilities integrated into each level. Finally, we discuss how an understanding of interconnected dependencies across the Data Operations Stack can be used to develop defensible cost estimates and manage resources for web application lifecycle requirements.
This briefing was originally presented at the ICEAA Professional Development & Training Workshop.
Join us for this year’s workshop in Atlanta! https://www.iceaaonline.com/atl2025/
Speaker:
Kyle Ferris and Eric Hagee, Tecolote
Speaker Bios:
Kyle Ferris, CCEA® – Kyle Ferris is a Certified Cost Estimator/Analyst for Tecolote Research, Inc., where he currently provides cost estimating and business analytics support for the Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) Ground Based Air Defense (GBAD) Program Office. Mr. Ferris previously supported various US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Defense (DoD) customers, to include the United States Customs & Border Patrol (CBP), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and MCSC Program Executive Office Land Systems (PEO LS). Mr. Ferris is the Team Lead for Tecolote’s Data Analytics Working Group, where he organizes interactive seminars on advanced analytics and machine learning using Python and R. Mr. Ferris also serves as a training developer for Tecolote’s Data Science Analyst Training Program, where he develops materials related to foundational coding concepts.
Eric Hagee – Eric Hagee is a Data Analyst for Tecolote Research, Inc., currently providing cost and data analytics support for CISA. Mr. Hagee previously supported various DoD and DHS customers, to include the Air Force Cost Analysis Agency (AFCAA) and the DHS Cost Analysis Division . Mr. Hagee is a training developer for Tecolote’s Data Science Analyst Training Program, where he develops advanced R and Python training materials to include web app and machine learning model development. Mr. Hagee also serves as a developer for Tecolote’s Data Analytics Working Group, where he develops data visualization use-cases.

________________________________________________________________________________

Microsoft Teams Need help?

Join the meeting now

Meeting ID: 250 488 907 925

Passcode: [REDACTED]

WCAC ICEAA April Luncheon: Agile Software Development Cost Estimating
2025-04-07 12:00 - 13:00 | Microsoft Teams
SUMMARY:
This presentation will discuss agile software development cost estimating in the multi-year planning cycle. Agile software development programs focus on near term workload and activities with only limited future planning cycles identified. Future cycles are only activated as their start date nears. Any model-based cost estimate or predictive analysis for the budget needs to be flexible, responsive, and adaptive to the daily dynamics of Agile software development program planning and execution. As a cost estimator, integrating with the IPT for a particular program or project has always been a critical factor in understanding requirements, gathering data, and producing a quality estimate. With agile processes being adopted more frequently across software development organizations, cost estimators and program offices are challenged even further to work closely with developers to continuously update cost estimates. Agile sprint results reveal progress of development, and, subsequently, could affect the cost estimate and budget requests.
This briefing was originally presented at the ICEAA Professional Development & Training Workshop.
Join us for this year’s workshop in Atlanta! https://www.iceaaonline.com/atl2025/
Speaker:
Jim Golden, Unison Cost Engineering
Speaker Bio:
Jim Golden – Jim Golden is a Solutions Consultant and U.S. Army lead for Unison Cost Engineering and is responsible for supporting U.S. Army organizations. He has over 30 years of experience in cost analysis with the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Army. Jim is a Level 3 Certified Acquisition Professional in both Cost Estimating and Financial Management and is Level 3 certified under the DoD Financial Management Certification program. He is a retired U.S. Air Force Financial Analyst; the former Cost Chief of the U.S. Army’s PEO STRI; and a U.S. Army Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.
________________________________________________________________________________
Microsoft Teams Need help?
Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 255 297 825 817
Passcode: [REDACTED]
