Research Park Big Data Summit highlights popular science
Adam Hecktman of Microsoft delivers a presentation on innovations in civic technology as the morning keynote speaker.
November 14, 2016
University Research Park held its fourth annual Big Data Summit Thursday to bring together companies and local experts to discuss topics that are popular in the field of big data.
“What we try to do in this event is that we try to bring together expertise both from inside the University as well as from industry partners,” said Laura Bleill, associate director of Research Park.
“A big part of the value of the Research Park is the peer-learning network that it provides to our companies.”
The condensed one-day summit showed the leadership of the Research Park community, the University community as a whole and the wide ranging impact of the topic, Bleill said.
There were 39 speakers who gave speeches and panel talks throughout the day, said Laura Frerichs, director of Research Park. Also, more than 200 participants attended the summit.
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The morning keynote speech was given by Adam Hecktman, University Business alumnus and director of technology and civic innovation at Microsoft.
Regarding big data, privacy has always been a large concern. During the panel talk “The Value of Visualization,” representatives from Jump Trading, Yahoo and AbbVie shared their thoughts on this issue with moderator Deana McDonagh, professor of industrial design at the University.
“Different industry has various use of big data, and that’s way the regulations are set according to each industry itself,” said Jim Kofron, senior principal research engineer at AbbVie.
Jakub Slomczynski, director of product management at Yahoo, mentioned during the panel that in engineering, one way to innovate is to broaden the circle. Having workers from different races, areas, genders and ages would help facilitate innovation.
The panels in the afternoon involved more students and faculty members. A networking event for students to learn about companies working in big data was added as a new feature of the summit this year.
“The purpose of the summit is to give students, industry professionals and academics of the University to share knowledge about trans and opportunities arising in the field of big data,” Bleill said.
