Research showcase on Big Data

Academics from across Imperial presented their research into Big Data at a recent research showcase event.

In the first of a series of research showcases hosted by the Faculty of Engineering and sponsored by the Data Science Institute in this instalment, three early career researchers gave quickfire presentations on their research areas, followed by an open forum with those in attendance.

Dr James Rosindell (Life Sciences), Dr Anna Need (Medicine) and Dr Ioannis Pandis (Data Science Institute) presented their work on big data, including the challenges they face, particularly in achieving scalable data management.

Dr James Rosindell presented his work on data visualisation, most notably in the tree of life on the OneZoom website, which presents the story of evolution and the way all life is related to a common ancestor. With millions of species to represent, the tree of life uses a trunk, branches and leaves to demonstrate evolutionary links, and users can zoom into specific areas of the tree to find out further information.

James' work seeks to provide a visually appealing and understandable way of navigating through large amounts of data, and OneZoom's application as an open source data visualisation tool for science and education is wide ranging.

As part of her work investigating the human genome, Dr Anna Need's research involves developing tools and databases that can simplfy the complex process of DNA sequencing and identifying rare diseases. Challenges remain around the ever increasing amount of data that is available and the tools used to capture this in real-time.

Dr Ioannis Pandis' work in the Data Science Institute seeks to address similar issues, as he explores new ways of collecting and storing huge quantities of real-time data.

A lively open forum followed the presentations, where researchers from across the College shared their insights and ideas. The showcase provides a chance to get people together, to expose their work and provide a platform for networking.

Professor Jeff Magee, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, said in his opening of the event: "Since research is so multidisciplinary now, the need to meet with each other and discuss ideas and challenges is more important than ever before.

"There is a responsibility on us to communicate our ideas and work effectively and clearly, and the research showcase provides a perfect opportunity to do this."

The next showcase on 12 November 2015 will involve four interactive presentations on malaria research.