E-symposium to illustrate opportunities of Purdue’s Data Mine initiative

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A Purdue University e-symposium will offer a look at the connection Purdue’s Data Mine initiative is creating between students and corporate partners

The Data Mine Corporate Partners E-Symposium 2020 takes place on Monday (April 13) with posters on the website available for viewing throughout the day. Student presentations and live Q&A discussions in WebEx rooms are scheduled from 3-4 p.m. ET.

Mark Daniel Ward, director of The Data Mine and a professor of statistics, said The Data Mine initiative consists of 600-plus students living in Hillenbrand Hall and organized in learning communities to look at how data is of critical importance in every area of study.

The e-symposium will focus on the initiative’s work to connect students and mentors in industry. More than 1,000 people have been invited to attend the online event.

“The students gain a greater understanding of the impact of data-driven work in agriculture, animal science, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, public health, telecommunication and transportation, as well as in fundamental scientific investigations and analytics,” Ward said.

Students will share the results of their nine-month analysis work during the 2019-20 academic year during Monday’s event.

“The e-Symposium will showcase the impressive work of our undergraduate students,” said Maggie Betz, corporate partners senior manager for The Data Mine. “The program is a unique experience that connects undergrads to research in industry. Not only do they conduct research, they are also exposed to corporate culture and mentored by colleagues in industry.”

Some of the corporate partners working with students include Ford Motor Co., Sandia National Laboratories, John Deere, Cummins and Rolls-Royce.

Data science continues to grow in critical importance almost as quickly as the multitude of electronic devices that feed information to the research which is intent on societal advancement.

The Data Mine initiative, part of the overall data science research at Purdue, is creating new frontiers.

“The possibilities are indeed limitless,” Ward said. “The students are learning about the impacts of data very early in their careers. This enables them to work very naturally on some large-scale data-driven projects.”

Ward said there are already discussions for several new projects and partnerships with current and future corporate partners. 

More on the data science research at the university is available at https://youtu.be/HRLc3-VWwsY.

Writer: Brian Huchel, bhuchel@purdue.edu. Working remotely but will provide immediate response.

Sources: Mark Daniel Ward and Maggie Betz, datamine@purdue.edu