Research Park 2020 Big Data Summit Recap

Category : Research Park
Posted on: November 19, 2020

On November 12, 2020, the University of Illinois Research Park hosted its eighth annual Big Data Summit virtually through Zoom. The 2020 Big Data summit focused on machine learning, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation. Keynote speaker Phil Hajduk, VP for Information Research at AbbVie, discussed how to turn data into knowledge to solve real problems in developing biologics and improve operations.

This year’s speakers discussed a wide range of topics from AI in life sciences, consumer privacy in advertising, and biases in data sciences. The speakers also ranged from academia, industry leaders, and entrepreneurs.

In addition to the unique mix of presentations, a panel of EnterpriseWorks startup companies discussed how corporate partnerships lead to new innovations. The panel was moderated by Laila Partridge, Managing Director at STANLEY+Techstars Accelerator. The panel included Chinmay Soman, Co-founder and CEO of EarthSense, Daphne Preuss, Chief Executive Officer at Aspiring Universe, Sam Hamedi Rad, COO and Sr. Research Scientist at LifeFoundry, and Mani Golparvar, CTO of Reconstruct.

The day concluded with a networking reception. This not only allowed Big Data companies to talk about new advances in Big Data, but it also provided the opportunity for the community to connect with Research Park companies and to network with industry leaders. 

Find photos from the 2020 Big Data Summit here.

2020 Agenda

8:00 AM COFFEE AND CONVERSATION
8:30 AM WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS

Laura Frerichs | Executive Director, University of Illinois Research Park

8:40 AM AWS DEEPRACER LEAGUE

Jarai Carter | Data Scientist, John Deere

9:10 AM NETWORK PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Bryan Elverson | Team Lead, Engineering, Riverbed Technology

9:40 AM ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN LIFE SCIENCES

Yannick Djoumbou Feunang | Data Scientist – Cheminformatics, Corteva

10:10 AM MACHINE LEARNING FOR TUMOR TREATMENTS

John Cole | Chief Scientific Officer, SimBioSys

10:25 AM BREAK
10:35 AM CONSUMER PRIVACY IN DIGITAL ADVERTISING

Larry Lo | VP of Engineering, Data Systems, Amobee

11:05 AM WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT THROUGH AI

Nina Kshetry | President, Ensaras

11:25 AM BIASES IN DATA SCIENCE

Jana Diesner | Associate Professor, School of Information Sciences

11:55 AM KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Philip Hajduk | VP for Information Research, AbbVie

12:20 PM MHUB ACCELERATION INCUBATION – INDUSTRIAL INTERNET OF THINGS (IIOT)

Haven Allen | CEO, mHub

12:30 PM CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS WITH STARTUPS

Moderator: Laila Partridge | Managing Director, STANLEY+Techstars Accelerator, working in partnership with Stanley Black & Decker

Chinmay Soman | Co-founder and CEO, EarthSense
Daphne Preuss | Chief Executive Officer, Aspiring Universe
Sam Hamedi Rad | COO and Sr. Research Scientist, LifeFoundry
Mani Golparvar | CTO, Reconstruct

1:30 PM MANAGING DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY

Robert Brunner | Associate Dean for Innovation & Chief Disruption Officer,  Gies College of Business

2:00 PM MACHINE LEARNING FOR COVID-19 MITIGATION

Sayantani Basu | PhD Student, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

2:30 PM ALL COVID TESTS (ACT) PIPELINE

Ken Taylor | Cloud Architect, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

2:55 PM BREAK
3:05 PM DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN LIFE SCIENCES

Dirk Tomandl | Principal Scientist and Group Leader Cheminformatics, Corteva

3:25 PM VERIZON 5G INNOVATION HUB

Abhijit Kudrimoti | Distinguished Architect, Verizon 

3:45 PM TECH TRAINING PROGRAM

Neal Davis | Teaching Assistant Professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Emilio Ruiz | Tech Training Participant

4:00 PM STUDENT CAREER AND NETWORKING RECEPTION
4:30 PM CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE INNOVATION

Abhijit Chinai | SVP, Analytics Capabilities & Business Development, Synchrony

4:55 PM CLOSING REMARKS

Laura Frerichs | Executive Director, University of Illinois Research Park

5:00 PM NETWORKING RECEPTION