SAS Honors Educators Advancing AI and Data Education
Analytics software company SAS has recognized university educators worldwide with its 2026 SAS Educator Awards. The awards spotlight faculty who are shaping the next generation of talent in data analytics and artificial intelligence. The initiative highlights the growing importance of partnerships between industry and academia to build a skilled AI workforce.
- One of the 2026 award recipients, Simone Borra of the University of Rome "Tor Vergata," directs a Master's program in partnership with SAS that trains students in machine learning and AI using both SAS Viya and Python. This curriculum prepares students for data scientist roles in manufacturing and other industries by focusing on practical applications of data analysis. - SAS's academic programs, including the new SAS Viya Workbench for Learners, utilize a cloud-native environment that supports both Python and the SAS language, reflecting a multi-tool approach relevant to modern software engineering leadership. This platform provides students with experience in building and deploying high-performance models in a flexible, on-demand compute environment. - The skills taught through SAS's university partnerships have direct applications in manufacturing and supply chain optimization, a key area of interest for Apple. For example, Georgia-Pacific uses SAS Viya to analyze IoT data from factory sensors, which has led to a 30% reduction in unplanned downtime. - SAS is actively involved in edge-to-enterprise AI and IoT research through university collaborations, such as the innovation lab with the University of Technology Sydney. This lab works on real-world manufacturing challenges using an industrial-grade AI and IoT streaming data platform, providing students with hands-on experience in areas relevant to on-device AI. - In a project with Georgia-Pacific, SAS is developing enhanced digital twin capabilities by combining its AI and analytics with Unreal Engine. This allows for the simulation of factory operations, including the optimization of automated guided vehicles, showcasing the application of AI in complex manufacturing environments. - The SAS Viya platform, a core component of their academic programs, is designed for the entire MLOps lifecycle, from data preparation to model deployment and monitoring. It functions as a centralized model registry and includes workflow tools for orchestrating and governing AI models, which is crucial for managing AI development at scale. - SAS offers training specifically in "SAS Analytics for IoT," which teaches how to build applications for ingesting and responding to high-volume, high-velocity data streams in real-time. This includes applying advanced analytics and machine learning models to data from the edge, a critical skill for on-device AI applications. - The other EMEA award winner, Tomáš Hlavsa of the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, coordinates SAS Academic Specializations in data mining and statistical analysis. The data mining curriculum equips students with techniques in exploratory data analysis, regression analysis, and multivariate methods, which are foundational for developing complex predictive models for manufacturing and supply chain analysis.
