News Archive

Researchers Will Discuss Big Data’s Effects on Science and Engineering

August 06, 2018

Media Contact:
Heather Thorstensen
Manager of Communications
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society
hthorstensen@sigmaxi.org or 800-243-6534 ext. 216

AMSRC logoRESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.―Scientists and engineers from all research backgrounds are invited to the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport in California October 26–28 to discuss the opportunities, challenges, and ethical considerations of using large data sets known as big data. 

Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society will devote its 2018 Annual Meeting and Student Research Conference to the topic of Big Data and the Future of Research. Symposia will be held on big data in biology and medicine; physics and astronomy; and climate, energy, and the environment. The meeting will address how big data is used in all research disciplines and how research is changing because of big data. 

Speakers blazed the path of using big data in research and will share the lessons they learned. 

“The meeting will bring together researchers from many fields to collaborate, provide mentorship, share best practices, and discuss the societal benefits of their work,” said Joel Primack, Sigma Xi President.

The Student Research Conference, held during the Annual Meeting, invites high school through graduate students to present their research and participate in big data discussions to prepare for their research careers. The Society’s business meeting will precede the symposia. 

Plenary Speakers

  • Jeff Dean
    Google
    Senior Fellow in the Research Group, Head of the Artificial Intelligence Unit, and Leader of the Google Brain Project
  • Steve Ritz
    University of California Santa Cruz
    Subsystem Scientist for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope's Camera, Professor of Physics, and Director of the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics

Speakers for the Big Data in Biology and Medicine Symposium

  • Dana Crawford
    Institute for Computational Biology and Case Western Reserve University
    Assistant Director for Population and Diversity Research; Genetic Epidemiologist
  • Mark B. Gerstein
    Yale University
    Albert L. Williams Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, and of Computer Science; Co-director of the Yale Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics 
  • Benjamin Langmead
    Johns Hopkins University
    Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science

Speakers for the Big Data in Physics and Astronomy Symposium

  • Fred Adams
    University of Michigan
    Ta-You Wu Collegiate Professor of Physics
  • Frank Summers
    Space Telescope Science Institute
    Outreach Astrophysicist and Host of Hubble’s Universe Unfiltered Video Podcast
  • Risa Wechsler
    Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
    Cosmologist and Associate Professor of Physics 

Speakers for the Big Data in Climate, Energy, and the Environment Symposium 

  • William Collins
    Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
    Director of the Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division; Professor in Residence in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science at University of California, Berkeley; Director of the Climate Readiness Institute
  • David Reidmiller
    White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
    Director of the National Climate Assessment 

Speakers for Prizes and Awards Lectures

  • Tim A. Davis
    2018 Walston Chubb Award for Innovation Recipient
    Texas A&M University
    Professor of Computer Science and Engineering
  • Dave Flannigan
    2018 Young Investigator Award Recipient
    University of Minnesota
    Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
  • Dan Rubenstein
    2018 John P. McGovern Award for Science and Society Recipient
    Princeton University
    Professor of Zoology and Director of the Program in Environmental Studies
  • Anna Marie (Ann) Skalka
    2018 William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement Award Recipient 
    Fox Chase Cancer Center
    Professor Emerita and Former W.W. Smith Chair in Cancer Research 

To register and learn more about the Annual Meeting and Student Research Conference: 

sigmaxi.org/amsrc


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