Data Science in the News

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Understanding the universe with applied statistics (VIDEO)

Nov. 17, 2022 - 
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...

Scientific discovery for stockpile stewardship

Sept. 27, 2022 - 
Among the significant scientific discoveries that have helped ensure the reliability of the nation’s nuclear stockpile is the advancement of cognitive simulation. In cognitive simulation, researchers are developing AI/ML algorithms and software to retrain part of this model on the experimental data itself. The result is a model that “knows the best of both worlds,” says Brian Spears, a...

S&TR cover story: The ACES in our hand

Sept. 20, 2022 - 
Uranium enrichment is central to providing fuel to nuclear reactors, even those intended only for power generation. With minor modifications, however, this process can be altered to yield highly enriched uranium for use in nuclear weapons. The world’s need for nuclear fuel coexists with an ever-present danger—that a nonnuclear weapons nation-state possessing enrichment technology could...

Lab researchers win top award for machine learning-based approach to ICF experiments

Aug. 4, 2022 - 
The IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society (NPSS) announced an LLNL team as the winner of its 2022 Transactions on Plasma Science Best Paper Award for their work applying machine learning to inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments. In the paper, lead author Kelli Humbird and co-authors propose a novel technique for calibrating ICF experiments by combining machine learning with...

Introduction to deep learning for image classification workshop (VIDEO)

July 6, 2022 - 
In addition to its annual conference held every March, the global Women in Data Science (WiDS) organization hosts workshops and other activities year-round to inspire and educate data scientists worldwide, regardless of gender, and to support women in the field. On June 29, LLNL’s Cindy Gonzales led a WiDS Workshop titled “Introduction to Deep Learning for Image Classification.” The abstract...

Paving the way to tailor-made carbon nanomaterials and more accurate energetic materials modeling

March 17, 2022 - 
To better understand how carbon nanomaterials could be tailor-made and how their formation impacts shock phenomena such as detonation, LLNL scientists conducted machine-learning-driven atomistic simulations to provide insight into the fundamental processes controlling the formation of nanocarbon materials, which could serve as a design tool, help guide experimental efforts and enable more...

Understanding materials behavior with data science (VIDEO)

Dec. 21, 2021 - 
Computational chemist Rebecca Lindsey, PhD, explains how machine learning and data science techniques are used to develop diagnostic tools for stockpile stewardship, such as models that predict detonator performance. Lindsey also describes how atomistic simulations improve researchers’ understanding of the microscopic phenomena that govern the chemistry in materials under extreme conditions...

Building better materials with data science (VIDEO)

Nov. 11, 2021 - 
Research engineer Brian Giera, PhD, describes how data science techniques help collect and analyze data from advanced manufacturing processes in order to craft meaningful experiments. With examples of automated microencapsulation, 3D nanoprinting, metal additive manufacturing, laser track welding, and digital twins, Giera explains how interdisciplinary teams apply machine learning to remove...

Building confidence in materials modeling using statistics

Oct. 31, 2021 - 
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

Oct. 20, 2021 - 
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...

Inaugural industry forum inspires ML community

Sept. 16, 2021 - 
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...

LLNL, NNSA and elected officials celebrate opening of Livermore Valley Open Campus expansion

Aug. 26, 2021 - 
Leaders from the NNSA, Congressional representatives and local elected officials gathered at LLNL on August 10 to celebrate an expansion to the Livermore Valley Open Campus (LVOC). The Lab hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new office building (Bldg. 642) and a conference annex (Bldg. 643), which will provide modern office and meeting space for LLNL researchers in predictive biology...

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...

COVID-19 detection and analysis with Nisha Mulakken (VIDEO)

June 7, 2021 - 
LLNL biostatistician Nisha Mulakken 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 novel species identification for human health, animal health, biodefense, and environmental sampling...

DSI virtual seminar series debuts on YouTube

May 19, 2021 - 
Since launching in 2018, the DSI has hosted more than three dozen speakers in its seminar series. These events invite researchers from academia, industry, and other institutions to discuss their work for an hour to an LLNL audience. In 2020, the series transitioned to a virtual format, and a video playlist of recently recorded seminars is available on the Livermore Lab Events YouTube channel...

Advanced Data Analytics for Proliferation Detection shares technical advances during two-day meeting

May 7, 2021 - 
The Advanced Data Analytics for Proliferation Detection (ADAPD) program held a two-day virtual technical exchange meeting recently. The goal of the meeting was to highlight the science-based and data-driven analysis work conducted by ADAPD to advance the state-of-the-art to accelerate artificial intelligence (AI) innovation and develop AI-enabled systems to enhance the United States’...

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...

Virtual seminar series explores data-driven physical simulations

April 6, 2021 - 
The rapidly growing fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have become cornerstones of LLNL’s data science research activities. The Lab’s scientific community regularly publishes advancements in both AI/ML applications and theory, contributing to international discourse on the possibilities of these compelling technologies. The large volume of AI/ML scientific...

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...