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Studying Data Science in the U.S. – Perspectives from the Syracuse iSchool

February 26, 2021 at 3:00pm – 4:00pm EST

Virtual (See event details)

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Join iSchool Professor Dr. Daniel Acuña and three current and former students in the iSchool’s MS in Applied Data Science program for a discussion and Q&A session on the field of data science.

At this special event, Professor Daniel Acuña will provide an overview of his research in the field and highlight the tools and techniques used in his particular area of expertise – big data analytics.  Current Applied Data Science students Juliana Ebeling and Bruno Luiz and Applied Data Science alum Martin Alonso will discuss their academic and professional backgrounds prior to joining the iSchool, their experiences studying data science at the graduate level and their plans for applying their data science skillset to their chosen career paths.

Agenda

3 PM – Welcome and Introduction

3:05 PM – Dr. Daniel Acuña – Data Science Research and the Tools and Techniques of Big Data Analytics

3:25 PM – Current and former Applied Data Science Student Panel

3:50 PM – Q&A Session

Participant Biographies

Professor Daniel Acuña

Dr. Acuña studied a Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. During his graduate studies, he was part of the Center for Cognitive Sciences in the Department of Psychology and received a NIH Neuro-physical-computational Sciences (NPCS) Graduate Training Fellowship from the Department of Neuroscience.   During his postdoctoral studies at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University, Dr. Acuña gave multiple invited plenary talks and was interviewed by Nature Podcast, The Chronicle of Higher Education, NPR Science Friday, and The Scientist. Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure have generously supported his big data analytics work with three academic computational credit awards. Dr. Acuña runs the Science of Science and Computational Discovery Lab (SOS+CD).

Since his Bachelor studies in Computer Science at the University of Santiago, Chile, Dr. Acuña has had a long interest in understanding human decision making and mimicking human semi-optimal strategies with algorithms. His long-term goal is to teach computers to learn from humans and enhance human decision making through the use of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. As a postdoctoral researcher at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University, Dr. Acuña studied machine learning, statistical decision theory, and the neural basis of learning.

Dr. Acuña teaches the Master’s level course IST 718- Big Data Analytics.

Juliana Ebeling

Juliana Ebeling is a current student in the iSchool’s MS in Applied Data Science program.  Her professional background is in engineering and project management and she holds a bachelor’s and MBA from her native Brazil.

Prior to moving to US she was working for the railway industry in Africa.

In 2020, Juliana completed the Post Graduate program in Data Science and Business Analytics at the University of Texas and decided to continue her education with the Masters Program in Applied Data Science at Syracuse University.

Martin Alonso

Martin Alonso is a graduate of the iSchool’s MS in Applied Data Science program. In addition to the ADS program, Martin received his Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy.  After graduating, he followed his passion for Sports Analytics by pivoting to Statistics and Mathematics and learning to code in R, Python, and SQL.  Over the past 8 years, he has worked in two of Peru’s top financial institutions, a telecom company, and has done consulting regarding the construction and use of statistical models and the proper methodology behind performing Data Analysis.  Martin also works and does research for the website Baseball Prospectus, doing analysis on pitching mechanics and win probabilities.

Bruno Luiz

Bruno Luiz is currently  pursuing a second graduate degree in Applied Data Science from Syracuse University with a C.A.S in Information Security Management where he focuses on FinTech/Insurtech and Data Analysis.  Bruno has extensive investment, financial modeling, and cost structure analysis experience and holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) focused in Finance and Management from Fordham University.

In addition to his studies, Bruno is very involved at Syracuse University, where he is currently the President of the University’s student chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM),serves as a Rubin Family Innovation Mentor at the Blackstone LaunchPad and Techstars program and is working to launch the Google Developer Student Club.  Bruno is multi-lingual and speaks English, Portuguese, and conversational Spanish.

This event was first published on February 9, 2021 and last updated on February 11, 2021.

Event Details