Meet Our Partners

Affiliation: UC Livermore Collaboration Center 

Role: Administrative Coordinator 

Favorite thing about working with DSI: Maturing the UCLCC and DSI programs alongside one another 

Garren Weiss is the administrative coordinator for the University of California Livermore Collaboration Center (UCLCC), a facility situated directly outside of the main LLNL campus that aims to foster collaboration and relationships between the University of California (UC) system and the three UC Office of National Laboratories-managed Department of Energy national laboratories: Lawrence Livermore, Lawrence Berkeley, and Sandia.  

To do so, UCLCC serves both as physical grounds for collaborative events and as a source for connection via its website and employees, which have resources to connect researchers working in the same fields at the several institutions under its envelope. Both at the UCLCC facility and virtually, Weiss plays a crucial role in ensuring that events run smoothly, including several events and gatherings regularly hosted by the Data Science Institute (DSI).  

With a degree in technical theater from Pepperdine University and experience with professional lighting and sound and event livestreaming, Weiss is well-suited for his jack-of-all-trades role at the center. “When I found out that this high-tech, high-touch facility was opening up for UC, which was going to be focused on hybrid meetings, it seemed like a great fit,” Weiss said. “I've been here at the center for just over two years now, and the center's only been open for two and a half, so I’m really part of this founding team continuing to see to how the center can grow and increase our value add to the UC and laboratory communities.”  

Weiss not only keeps the technology of UCLCC events functioning, but he also interfaces with attendees and event coordinators to provide other support and direction as needed. And in addition to direct event support, Weiss’s two years at UCLCC have given him institutional knowledge of researchers across the facilities that UCLCC serves. He often connects folks with one another and is a vessel for collaboration.  

For DSI specifically, UCLCC has been a ground for a variety of events, most recently the hybrid Women in Data Science (WiDS) event that brought together Livermore data scientists and students from several universities to collaborate. The Data Science Challenge, a two-week summer student event between UC Irvine, UC Merced, and LLNL, was Weiss’s first involvement with DSI at UCLCC. UCLCC’s location directly next to the LLNL site fosters seamless collaboration between students and their Laboratory mentors. 

Weiss and UCLCC have also played an important role in developing connections between Livermore data scientists and UC faculty and students. UCLCC’s website features a list of resources across the three laboratories in a variety of technical areas, which students can search to find research opportunities relevant to them. In addition, UCLCC has connected DSI leadership with a list of data scientists across the UC system, enabling the institute to better collaborate with this large research university and strengthen its leadership in artificial intelligence and data science at a crucial time. “Our relationship with DSI has been fantastic and mutually beneficial,” Weiss said. “All they expected was to use the facility, and they’ve been able to take away so many cross-collaborative connections. We've also been able to mature both programs at the same time.”