Center for Adaptive Systems Applications (CASA)
Encyclopedia
The Center for Adaptive Systems Applications (CASA) was a company founded in 1995 by physicists ( Roger Jones
, Robert Stellingwerf, Camilo Gomez, and Stephen Coggeshall) and a business developer (John Davies) from Los Alamos National Laboratory
. The company was one of several companies that spun off from Los Alamos and the Santa Fe Institute
that focused on banking, finance, and retail applications. CASA applied machine learning
, adaptive computation, and other data mining
techniques to the prediction of customer behavior. The first applications were in consumer banking, specifically the prediction of personal bankruptcy
and credit card delinquency for Citibank
. The product offerings and projects expanded into smart agriculture, retail products, and management consulting.
The company was acquired by HNC Software
in March 2000 at the peak of the dotcom boom. HNC Software was subsequently acquired by Fair Isaac
Corporation. Much of the technology developed at CASA became part of the credit scoring
offerings of Fair Isaac
.
Former CASA employees founded at least four lines of companies:
Roger Jones (physicist and entrepreneur)
Roger D. Jones, PhD is an American physicist and entrepreneur.Roger D. Jones is currently Chairman, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Scientific Officer of Qforma, Inc. located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. Trained in physics at Dartmouth College, Jones worked as a staff physicist at Los Alamos...
, Robert Stellingwerf, Camilo Gomez, and Stephen Coggeshall) and a business developer (John Davies) from Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
. The company was one of several companies that spun off from Los Alamos and the Santa Fe Institute
Santa Fe Institute
The Santa Fe Institute is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, including physical, computational, biological, and social systems.The Institute houses a...
that focused on banking, finance, and retail applications. CASA applied machine learning
Machine learning
Machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, is a scientific discipline concerned with the design and development of algorithms that allow computers to evolve behaviors based on empirical data, such as from sensor data or databases...
, adaptive computation, and other data mining
Data mining
Data mining , a relatively young and interdisciplinary field of computer science is the process of discovering new patterns from large data sets involving methods at the intersection of artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistics and database systems...
techniques to the prediction of customer behavior. The first applications were in consumer banking, specifically the prediction of personal bankruptcy
Personal bankruptcy
Personal bankruptcy is a procedure which, in certain jurisdictions, allows an individual to declare bankruptcy. In other jurisdictions, bankruptcies are reserved for corporations.-Canada:...
and credit card delinquency for Citibank
Citibank
Citibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York...
. The product offerings and projects expanded into smart agriculture, retail products, and management consulting.
The company was acquired by HNC Software
Robert Hecht-Nielsen
Robert Hecht-Nielsen is an adjunct professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, San Diego. He co-founded HNC Software, and became a vice president of R&D at Fair Isaac Corporation when it acquired the company....
in March 2000 at the peak of the dotcom boom. HNC Software was subsequently acquired by Fair Isaac
Fair Isaac
Fair Isaac Corporation is a public company that provides analytics and decision making services—including credit scoring—intended to help financial services companies make complex, high-volume decisions.- History :...
Corporation. Much of the technology developed at CASA became part of the credit scoring
Credit score
A credit score is a numerical expression based on a statistical analysis of a person's credit files, to represent the creditworthiness of that person...
offerings of Fair Isaac
Fair Isaac
Fair Isaac Corporation is a public company that provides analytics and decision making services—including credit scoring—intended to help financial services companies make complex, high-volume decisions.- History :...
.
Former CASA employees founded at least four lines of companies:
- a series of companies that eventually became QformaQformaQforma, Inc. was founded in 2000 by physicist Roger D. Jones from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and pharmaceutical executive, Kelly D. Myers. The company is one of several companies in Santa Fe, New Mexico that were founded on technologies first created at the Los Alamos National...
that specializes in healthcare applications, - Strategic Analytics that has analytic products in consumer banking, eventually acquired by Verisk AnalyticsVerisk AnalyticsVerisk Analytics is an American financial services firm based in Jersey City, New Jersey, that provides information and analytical tools for mortgage and insurance companies, to better help them identify risks and standardize procedures...
, - Stellingwerf Consulting that has analytic products in aerospace, energy, and defense,
- a line of companies that provided analytics for business loans, eventually sold to S&P.