Data Science in the News

Welcome new DSI team members

When Data Science Institute (DSI) director Brian Giera and deputy director Cindy Gonzales began planning activities for fiscal year 2024 and beyond, they immediately realized that LLNL’s growth in data science and artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) research requires corresponding growth in the DSI’s efforts. “Our field is booming,” Giera states. “The Lab has a stake in the...

Machine learning tool fills in the blanks for satellite light curves

When viewed from Earth, objects in space are seen at a specific brightness, called apparent magnitude. Over time, ground-based telescopes can track a specific object’s change in brightness. This time-dependent magnitude variation is known as an object’s light curve, and can allow astronomers to infer the object’s size, shape, material, location, and more. Monitoring the light curve of...

Heart smart: Future engineers tackle real-world cardiology concerns at LLNL's Data Science Challenge

It’s a quick and pain-free way to test for heart problems. That’s why the electrocardiogram is so often used by doctors—with just a few electrodes and wires, the heart’s electrical activity can be measured and interpreted to identify irregularities and disease. But while it is a highly useful and commonly used diagnostic tool, there are limits to the types of information an electrocardiogram...

UC Merced & UC Riverside tackle Data Science Challenge on ML-assisted heart modeling

For the first time, students from the University of California (UC) Merced and UC Riverside joined forces for the two-week Data Science Challenge (DSC) at LLNL, tackling a real-world problem in machine learning (ML)-assisted heart modeling. Held in the Livermore Valley Open Campus’s newly remodeled University of California Livermore Collaboration Center from July 10-21, the event brought...

Data Science Challenge offers students learning and growth opportunities

About 20 UC Merced students spent the past two weeks working at LLNL to see if they can solve a problem that could have a significant impact on cardiology. The annual Data Science Challenge (DSC), a two-week, full-time internship at LLNL, this year teamed students from Merced and UC Riverside. They attempted to see if machine learning could address a gap in the information provided by the...

Consulting service infuses Lab projects with data science expertise

A key advantage of LLNL’s culture of multidisciplinary teamwork is that domain scientists don’t need to be experts in everything. Physicists, chemists, biologists, materials engineers, climate scientists, computer scientists, and other researchers regularly work alongside specialists in other fields to tackle challenging problems. The rise of Big Data across the Lab has led to a demand for...

Celebrating the DSI’s first five years

View the LLNL Flickr album Data Science Institute Turns Five. Data science—a field combining technical disciplines such as computer science, statistics, mathematics, software development, domain science, and more—has become a crucial part of how LLNL carries out its mission. Since the DSI’s founding in 2018, the Lab has seen tremendous growth in its data science community and has invested...

Understanding the universe with applied statistics (VIDEO)

In a new video posted to the Lab’s YouTube channel, statistician Amanda Muyskens describes MuyGPs, her team’s innovative and computationally efficient Gaussian Process hyperparameter estimation method for large data. The method has been applied to space-based image classification and released for open-source use in the Python package MuyGPyS. MuyGPs will help astronomers and astrophysicists...

UC Merced students work with LLNL mentors on potential new drugs to combat COVID-19

Students from the University of California, Merced worked with mentors at LLNL to identify drug compounds that could be used to treat COVID-19 during a two-week Data Science Challenge (DSC) that concluded on June 6. For the first time in the DSC series since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, Lab mentors visited the college campus to provide in-person guidance for five teams of UC Merced...

Winter hackathon meets WiDS datathon

Sponsored by the DSI, LLNL’s winter hackathon took place on February 16–17. Hackathons are 24-hour events that encourage collaborative programming and creative problem solving. In addition to traditional hacking, the hackathon included a special datathon competition in anticipation of the Women in Data Science (WiDS) conference on March 7. Hackathon and datathon participants presented their...

Career panel spotlights diversity, equity, and inclusion

The DSI’s career panel series continued on November 3 with a session highlighting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as well as the Lab’s DEI-focused employee resource groups (ERGs). ERGs are sponsored by LLNL’s Office of Strategic Diversity and Inclusion Programs. Moderator Anh Quach, member of the Asian Pacific American Council (APAC), was joined by four panelists: Raul Viera Mercado...

Building confidence in materials modeling using statistics

LLNL statisticians, computational modelers, and materials scientists have been developing a statistical framework for researchers to better assess the relationship between model uncertainties and experimental data. The Livermore-developed statistical framework is intended to assess sources of uncertainty in strength model input, recommend new experiments to reduce those sources of uncertainty...

Summer scholar develops data-driven approaches to key NIF diagnostics

Su-Ann Chong's summer project, “A Data-Driven Approach Towards NIF Neutron Time-of-Flight Diagnostics Using Machine Learning and Bayesian Inference,” is aimed at presenting a different take on nToF diagnostics. Neutron time-of-flight diagnostics are an essential tool to diagnose the implosion dynamics of inertial confinement fusion experiments at NIF, the world’s largest and most energetic...

Data Science Challenge welcomes UC Riverside

Together with LLNL’s Center for Applied Scientific Computing (CASC), the DSI welcomed a new academic partner to the 2021 Data Science Challenge (DSC) internship program: the University of California (UC) Riverside campus. The intensive program has run for three years with UC Merced, and it tasks undergraduate and graduate students with addressing a real-world scientific problem using data...

Inaugural industry forum inspires ML community

LLNL held its first-ever Machine Learning for Industry Forum (ML4I) on August 10–12. Co-hosted by the Lab’s High-Performance Computing Innovation Center (HPCIC) and Data Science Institute (DSI), the virtual event brought together more than 500 enrollees from the Department of Energy (DOE) complex, commercial companies, professional societies, and academia. Industry sponsors included...

Former interns share insights during career panel

The DSI’s new career panel series continued on August 10 with a session featuring former LLNL interns who converted to full-time employment at the Lab. Inspired by the annual Women in Data Science conference, the panel session was open to all LLNL staff and students. Moderator Mary Silva was joined by panelists from the Computing and Engineering Directorates: Brian Bartoldson, Jose Cadena...

Dev Day features DSI-sponsored career panel

The DSI's new career panel series continued on July 15 at LLNL's Developer Day. Hosted by the Computing Directorate, the panelists discussed their career journeys and how they stay on top of the latest software technologies. “Throughout the past 16 months, it has been exceptionally challenging to feel connected with peers across the Lab,” said Kyle Dickerson, who has co-organized all five...

Career panel series kicks off with women in Computing leadership roles

More than 100 LLNL staff and students gathered virtually for the first session of a new career panel series inspired by the annual WiDS conference and sponsored by the DSI. Panelists discussed how they have shaped their careers at the Lab and in Computing, their journeys into leadership roles, and how they navigate career challenges. Data scientist and panel series organizer Cindy Gonzales...

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

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

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...