14 Sunday, March 19, 2017 Hawaii Tribune-Herald Big data on the Big Island Great academic investments are those that help graduating students use their newfound skills to obtain competitive, well-paying jobs and tackle problems that are of local interest. For the University of Hawaii at Hilo and the Big Island, that includes developing programs that support a rising need: analyzing large and complicated sets of data. The statewide ‘Ike Wai grant, which was awarded to the state of Hawaii by the National Science Foundation last June, helps UH-Hilo accomplish just that. The $20 million grant has as its main objective studying the unique challenges of achieving water sustainability on a volcanic archipelago. These water research projects generate a tremendous amount of data — large in size and complexity. To help better collect, clean, analyze, visualize and summarize these large data sets, UH-Hilo is developing a data science program. Beyond working with just water-related data on Hawaii, data scientists are in high demand within the state and country. Thus, UH-Hilo’s goal of developing a bachelor’s of science degree in data science will help alleviate the local and national need for people who can work fluently with big data. The term “data science” is a bit of buzzword at the moment, but the attention the field has garnered makes clear just how much in demand these skills are. Data science can best be thought of as a strategic combination of statistics, computer science and mathematical modeling that allows complicated data sets to be efficiently analyzed and effectively visualized or displayed. Since this field is a combination of these three very important areas, it is synergistic in nature — the combination is greater than the sum of the parts. In other words, a single well-trained data scientist is better equipped to handle big and complicated data than a mathematician, statistician and computer scientist working together. What is UH-Hilo doing to help train data scientists? First and foremost is the creation of a data science certificate, to be followed by the B.S. degree. There are only a few data science baccalaureate programs in the country, so UH-Hilo will be a national leader in developing undergraduate data science curricula. Furthermore, since UH-Hilo has very active researching faculty that generate large amounts of data (numerical, geospatial, temporal, etc.), our data science students will be honing their data analysis skills while providing support to various projects throughout the university. A good data science program requires skilled data scientists to develop curriculum, teach courses and mentor students. During the next three years, UH-Hilo is hiring four tenure-track assistant professors to do just this. Furthermore, since one of the goals of data science is to analyze and visualize large data sets, UH-Hilo is also acquiring a cyber- CANOE, an impressive combination of computer hardware and software and several mounted computer screens that allows for 3-D visualization and teleconferencing. The UH-Hilo cyberCANOE will network with others in Hawaii and throughout the world to make collaborations and presentations seamless and productive. The most important part of a data science program, though, are the students. To help generate interest for the certificate and coming data science major, UH-Hilo will host several summer bridge programs aimed at giving students their first exposure to the power of data science. These summer experiences, starting in summer 2017, will provide several UH-Hilo students credit-bearing courses and research projects, along with a stipend. During the academic year, the ‘Ike Wai scholars programs fund a dozen undergraduates to work with researching faculty members on data-intensive projects. These experiences will feed into the new major and start students on their journey to a data science degree and a well-paying, in-demand job. Matthew Platz is vice chancellor for Academic Affairs. Roberto Pelayo is associate professor of mathematics. For more information about UH-Hilo’s data science efforts, visit www.hawaii.edu/ epscor/, or contact Platz (mplatz@hawaii. edu) or Pelayo (robertop@hawaii.edu). Walk-In Medical Care Immediate non-emergent care for illnesses, minor wounds, or injuries from work, sports, home and auto. Physical Exams. X-Rays. Most Insurances accepted, including Kaiser. With 2 east-side locations! IN Hilo 969-3051 • 45 Mohouli St. M-F 8:30am-8:30pm S-S 8:30am-4:30pm IN Keaau 966-7942 • 16-590 Old Volcano Hwy. M-F 8:30am-6:30pm S-S 8:30am-4:30pm More than a bookstore … for over 30 years BOOKS MUSIC MAPS GIFTS Unique gifts with an island fl air! Voted Best Book Store for 6 Years! Ask us for our Explore Hilo Sightseeing Guide FREE Things to See & Do! BASICALLY BOOKS Facebook.com/BasicallyBooksHilo 961-0144 • www.BasicallyBooks.com 160 Kamehameha Ave, in Downtown Hilo Explore Hilo A Sightseeing Guide Free Things To See & Do Talk to the local Hilo residents. They’ll tell you what’s special about living here. BASICALLY BOOKS 160 Kamehameha Ave., Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720 808-961-0144 www.BasicallyBooks.com Facebook.com/BasicallyBooksHilo UNIVERSITY TOWN Matthew PLATZ Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Roberto PELAYO Associate professor of Mathematics
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