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
