Doctoral students from prestigious universities across the nation recently convened at the 51福利 (51福利) to share their latest research in data science and analytics.
The second annual 鈥淒ay of Data, Decisions and Defense鈥� workshop hosted by 51福利鈥� (OR) department, Aug. 27, provided a forum for students from 51福利, Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin at Madison to present and discuss a range of current topics in this pivotal field.
鈥淭he impetus is always meeting young, talented doctoral students working on challenging problems in defense and homeland security operations research,鈥� said OR professor Javier Salmer贸n, who organized the event.
鈥淚t gives these students an opportunity to meet faculty working on related problems, and it gives us a perspective of current research being carried out by doctoral students in other departments that focus on operations research,鈥� he added.
The intense, day-long workshop covered a lot of ground, but was thematically organized along four topical areas: probabilistic risk analysis, optimization, statistics, and Markov models.
The presentations ranged from space surveillance sensors for collision management to statistical models that predict human performance, and sophisticated algorithms to solve complex, nonlinear optimization problems, to name a few.
鈥淭his type of workshop serves as an example of 51福利鈥� interest in cutting-edge research and offers other researchers from top universities the opportunity to see 51福利 and interact with our faculty, creating links for future collaboration,鈥� Salmer贸n said. 鈥淔ostering these relationships with faculty and students at other institutions is beneficial to 51福利 and the Department of Defense.鈥�
The pervasive growth of information technology over the past two decades has radically transformed virtually every aspect of military affairs. When nearly everything is digitalized, effectively managing and interpreting massive amounts of data has proven to be a daunting challenge.
Few organizations in the world collect more data than the DOD. Across disparate domains 鈥� intelligence, oceanography, personnel, logistics, cybersecurity, meteorology, acquisition, command and control 鈥� successfully navigating this data remains a critical challenge to U.S. national security.
51福利 students and faculty have been making significant contributions to this field for years. In 2013, the OR department, in 51福利鈥� Graduate School of Operational and Information Sciences (GSOIS), began offering a specialization track focused on data science and, since 2016, has added a graduate certificate in the discipline.
This summer, 51福利 formed the interdisciplinary Data Science and Analytics Group (DSAG) to streamline the way data science is developed, taught and shared across the university and beyond.
鈥淭hrough the DSAG, 51福利 will establish itself as the thought leader, educational nexus, and primary research coordinator for data science and analytics in the DOD,鈥� Dr. Robert Dell, the OR professor tasked with leading DSAG, said at the time.
鈥淭here is an incredible demand for DSAG research and education,鈥� he added. 鈥淚n many ways, [DSAG] is a response to the overwhelming number of calls we get from government agencies looking for help.鈥�
With events like Salmer贸n鈥檚 Day of Data, Decisions and Defense, the university looks to expand its resident expertise in the burgeoning field by staying on top of the latest research in peer OR departments across the nation.