Data Science in the News

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Virtual LLNL-UC Merced Data Science Challenge tackles asteroid detection though machine learning

June 25, 2021 - 
Over three weeks, students from the University of California, Merced collaborated online with mentors at LLNL to tackle a real-world challenge problem: using machine learning to identify potentially hazardous asteroids that could pose an existential threat to humanity. Throughout the event, the teams tackled problems around the theme of “Astronomy for Planetary Defense.” For the main...

Brian Gallagher combines science with service

June 20, 2021 - 
Brian Gallagher works on applications of machine learning for a variety of science and national security questions. He’s also a group leader, student mentor, and the new director of LLNL’s Data Science Challenge. The Lab has enabled Gallagher to combine scientific pursuits with leadership positions and people-focused responsibilities. “For a long time, my primary motivation was learning new...

Machine learning aids in materials design

June 10, 2021 - 
A long-held goal by chemists across many industries is to imagine the chemical structure of a new molecule and be able to predict how it will function for a desired application. In practice, this vision is difficult, often requiring extensive laboratory work to synthesize, isolate, purify, and characterize newly designed molecules to obtain the desired information. Recently, a team of LLNL...

Lab offers forum on machine learning for industry

April 22, 2021 - 
LLNL is looking for participants and attendees from industry, research institutions and academia for the first-ever Machine Learning for Industry Forum (ML4I), a three-day virtual event starting Aug. 10. The event is sponsored by LLNL’s High Performance Computing Innovation Center and the Data Science Institute. The deadline for submitting presentations or industry use cases is June 30. The...

Winter hackathon highlights data science talks and tutorial

March 24, 2021 - 
The Data Science Institute (DSI) sponsored LLNL’s 27th hackathon on February 11–12. Held four times a year, these seasonal events bring the computing community together for a 24-hour period where anything goes: Participants can focus on special projects, learn new programming languages, develop skills, dig into challenging tasks, and more. The winter hackathon was the DSI’s second such...

Ana Kupresanin featured in FOE alumni spotlight

March 10, 2021 - 
LLNL's Ana Kupresanin, deputy director of the Center for Applied Scientific Computing and member of the Data Science Institute council, was recently featured in a Frontiers of Engineering (FOE) alumni spotlight. Kupresanin develops statistical and machine learning models that incorporate real-world variability and probabilistic behavior to quantify uncertainties in engineering and physics...

CASC research in machine learning robustness debuts at AAAI conference

Feb. 10, 2021 - 
LLNL’s Center for Applied Scientific Computing (CASC) has steadily grown its reputation in the artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) community—a trend continued by three papers accepted at the 35th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, held virtually on February 2–9, 2021. Computer scientists Jayaraman Thiagarajan, Rushil Anirudh, Bhavya Kailkhura, and Peer-Timo Bremer led...

Data Science Institute collaborates with Livermore Lab Foundation and UC Merced to host two year-long fellowships

Dec. 16, 2020 - 
Early this spring, the Livermore Lab Foundation (LLF) in partnership with the UC Merced, awarded two rising seniors, Jose Garcia-Esparza and Teagan Zuniga, two one-year $15,000 fellowships to participate in the Lab’s Data Science Summer Institute (DSSI) and continue a part-time fellowship at the Lab for the remainder of the 2020–21 school year. The fellowships allow deserving students...

After successful virtual summer, DSSI looks ahead to 2021

Dec. 14, 2020 - 
In a year distinguished by the COVID-19 pandemic, LLNL’s Data Science Summer Institute (DSSI) pivoted quickly to an all-virtual program. The 28 students in the class of 2020 worked from their homes and attended online seminars, one-on-one mentoring sessions, team-building games, and other activities. Instead of an in-person poster session, the students participated in a virtual Summer Slam...

What put LLNL at the center of U.S. supercomputing in 2020?

Nov. 12, 2020 - 
The HPC world is waiting for the next series of transitions to far larger machines with exascale capabilities. By this time next year, the bi-annual ranking of the Top500 most powerful systems will be refreshed at the top as Frontier, El Capitan, Aurora, and other DOE systems come online. While LLNL was already planning around AI acceleration for its cognitive simulation aims and had a number...

From intern to mentor, Nisha Mulakken builds a career in bioinformatics

Nov. 3, 2020 - 
The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a wave of new research and development at the Lab, and Nisha Mulakken is very busy. The biostatistician has enhanced the Lawrence Livermore Microbial Detection Array (LLMDA) system with detection capability for all variants of SARS-CoV-2. The technology detects a broad range of organisms—viruses, bacteria, archaea, protozoa, and fungi—and has demonstrated...

AI gets a boost via LLNL, SambaNova collaboration

Oct. 20, 2020 - 
LLNL has installed a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator from SambaNova Systems, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced today, allowing researchers to more effectively combine AI and machine learning (ML) with complex scientific workloads. LLNL has begun integrating the new AI hardware, SambaNova Systems DataScale™, into the NNSA’s Corona...

LLNL, ANL and GSK provide early glimpse into Cerebras AI system performance

Oct. 13, 2020 - 
AI chip and systems startup Cerebras was one of many AI companies showcased at the AI Hardware Summit which concluded last week. Cerebras invited collaborators from LLNL, Argonne National Laboratory, and GlaxoSmithKline to talk about their early work on Cerebras machines and future plans. Livermore Computing's CTO Bronis de Supinski said, “We have this vision for performing cognitive...

LLNL to provide supercomputing resources to universities selected by NNSA Advanced Simulation and Computing program

Oct. 2, 2020 - 
LLNL will provide significant computing resources to students and faculty from nine universities that were newly selected for participation in the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)’s Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program (PSAAP). The program is funded by NNSA’s Office of Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) program. The primary focus of this third phrase of PSAAP will...

Machine learning speeds up and enhances physics calculations

Oct. 1, 2020 - 
Interpreting data from NIF’s cutting-edge high energy density science experiments relies on physics calculations that are so complex they can challenge LLNL supercomputers, which stand among the best in the world. A collaboration between LLNL and French researchers found a novel way to incorporate machine learning and neural networks to significantly speed up inertial confinement fusion...

Machine learning model may perfect 3D nanoprinting

July 29, 2020 - 
Two-photon lithography (TPL)—a widely used 3D nanoprinting technique that uses laser light to create 3D objects—has shown promise in research applications but has yet to achieve widespread industry acceptance due to limitations on large-scale part production and time-intensive setup. LLNL scientists and collaborators turned to machine learning to address two key barriers to industrialization...

LLNL papers accepted into prestigious conference

July 9, 2020 - 
Two papers featuring LLNL scientists were accepted in the 2020 International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), one of the world’s premier conferences of its kind. Read more at LLNL News.

Lockdown doesn’t hinder annual Data Science Challenge

June 26, 2020 - 
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter-in-place restrictions, this year’s Data Science Challenge with the University of California, Merced was an all-virtual offering. The two-week challenge involved 21 UC Merced students who worked from their homes through video conferencing and chat programs to develop machine learning models capable of differentiating potentially explosive materials from...

DL-based surrogate models outperform simulators and could hasten scientific discoveries

June 17, 2020 - 
Surrogate models supported by neural networks can perform as well, and in some ways better, than computationally expensive simulators and could lead to new insights in complicated physics problems such as inertial confinement fusion (ICF), LLNL scientists reported. Read more at LLNL News.

UC Merced students receive NSF research fellowships

June 3, 2020 - 
Maia Powell, a PhD student in Applied Mathematics at UC Merced, has been awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Powell participated in the DSI's Data Science Challenge this summer, serving as a team lead for other students. Read more at UC Merced.