IAD Days conference celebrates big data and high-performance computing at UB

Student explaining poster to a female faculty member.

PhD candidate in computational and data-enabled sciences, Vivek Bhavsar, discusses his research with Ashlee Ford Versypt, an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Photo: Onion Studio

By Jane Stoyle Welch

Published June 3, 2022

The Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science held IAD Days (formally CDSE Days) April 26 -28, 2022 following a two-year hiatus. The event attracted over 200 participants including students, faculty, and community researchers.

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“It was exciting to see the energy this event produced, and we look forward to accelerating from here.”
David Doermann, director
Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science

Previously called CDSE Days, the event brought some of the nation's most prominent scholars of data-enabled science to Buffalo for a week of workshops, lectures and networking. It is one of many planned activities of the newly-formed Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, which aims to bring together AI, Data Science, and Computational Science researchers in and around the UB community to work together on cutting-edge science.

“IAD Days was an excellent opportunity to experience UB’s unified technical vision for AI and data science,” says Nalini Ratha, associate director for research of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science and SUNY Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. “Over the three-day event, experts from industry, academia, and UB came together to discuss a wide range of topics, including deepfakes, election security, data science in cell dynamics, COVID-19 surveillance models and AI techniques in healthcare.”

Day 1 was devoted to external speakers from industry, beginning with a tutorial from Moninder Singh, IBM Research, on AI Fairness and Explainability, with a hands-on walk-through with the open-source tool kits AIF 360 and AIX 360. Souma Chowdhury, Karthik Dantu, Ifeoma Nwogu and Atri Rudra, all faculty from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences also presented their work.

Invited talks included the application of AI in medical imaging by experts from Noel Codella, Microsoft Research and Ziyan Wu, United Imaging.

Student participants, faculty and staff members, and attendees of the IAD Days poster session. Photo: Onion Studio.

 Student participants, faculty and staff members, and attendees of the IAD Days poster session. Photo: Onion Studio.

David Doermann, Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and director of the Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (IAD), discusses University at Buffalo faculty working in the field of artificial intelligence and data science. Photo: Ken Smith.

 David Doermann, Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and director of the Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (IAD), discusses University at Buffalo faculty working in the field of artificial intelligence and data science. Photo: Ken Smith.

Jennifer Surtees, associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry, discusses genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2, and the impact it has had on her team’s efforts to track the virus in Erie County and Western New York. Photo: Ken Smith.

 Jennifer Surtees, associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry, discusses genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2, and the impact it has had on her team’s efforts to track the virus in Erie County and Western New York. Photo: Ken Smith.

Cell migration is a critical for many vital processes like wound healing and harmful processes such as cancer metastasis. Wanda Strychalski, associate professor at Case Western Reserve University, explains the use of computational models of single-cell migration and results showing the non-trivial relationship between cell rheology and external environment during migration. Photo: Ken Smith.

 Cell migration is a critical for many vital processes like wound healing and harmful processes such as cancer metastasis. Wanda Strychalski, associate professor at Case Western Reserve University, explains the use of computational models of single-cell migration and results showing the non-trivial relationship between cell rheology and external environment during migration. Photo: Ken Smith.

The rapid advancement of technology and omnipresent social media have created an environment for AI-synthesized fake media (DeepFakes) to rise. Siwei Lyu, Empire Innovation Professor, broke down types of Deepfakes, ways to fight Deepfakes using AI and drawbacks and limitations of counter technologies. Photo: Madison Dailey.

 The rapid advancement of technology and omnipresent social media have created an environment for AI-synthesized fake media (DeepFakes) to rise. Siwei Lyu, Empire Innovation Professor, broke down types of Deepfakes, ways to fight Deepfakes using AI and drawbacks and limitations of counter technologies. Photo: Madison Dailey.

PhD candidate in computational and data-enabled sciences, Tianmou Liu, shares his findings during the final presentation of the PhD student talks session. Photo: Madison Dailey

 PhD candidate in computational and data-enabled sciences, Tianmou Liu, shares his findings during the final presentation of the PhD student talks session. Photo: Madison Dailey

The Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (IAD) welcomes attendees to the poster session. Photo: Onion Studio

 The Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (IAD) welcomes attendees to the poster session. Photo: Onion Studio

Students displayed their research posters on IAD’s monitors during the poster session. Photo: Onion Studio.

 Students displayed their research posters on IAD’s monitors during the poster session. Photo: Onion Studio.

Nalini Ratha, Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and IAD associate director for research, welcomes attendees to the poster session. Photo: Onion Studio.

 Nalini Ratha, Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and IAD associate director for research, welcomes attendees to the poster session. Photo: Onion Studio.

Temitope Benson, PhD candidate in computational and data-enabled sciences, discusses and breaks down his research for spectators and fellow graduate students. Photo: Onion Studio

 Temitope Benson, PhD candidate in computational and data-enabled sciences, discusses and breaks down his research for spectators and fellow graduate students. Photo: Onion Studio

PhD candidate in computational and data-enabled sciences, Vivek Bhavsar, discusses his research with associate professor in chemical and biological engineering Ashlee Ford Versypt. Photo: Onion Studio.

 PhD candidate in computational and data-enabled sciences, Vivek Bhavsar, discusses his research with associate professor in chemical and biological engineering Ashlee Ford Versypt. Photo: Onion Studio.

Yihe Yu, a graduate student in computational and data-enabled sciences, shares information on her work with faculty and students attending the poster session. Photo: Onion Studio

 Yihe Yu, a graduate student in computational and data-enabled sciences, shares information on her work with faculty and students attending the poster session. Photo: Onion Studio
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Day 2 included a mixture of very relevant and exciting data science applications. Talks were presented by Wanda Strychalski, Case Western Reserve University, and David Doermann, Jacob Neiheisel, Jennifer Surtees and Helen Wang, all from the University at Buffalo.

Day 3 included talks on misinformation by Naniette Coleman, University of California Berkeley, and deepfakes, by Siwei Lyu, University at Buffalo. The presentations were followed by PhD student research talks and concluded with a poster presentation by graduate students at the newly designed Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science facility.

“It was exciting to see the energy this event produced, and we look forward to accelerating from here,” says David Doermann, director of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science and a SUNY Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

Participants were able to engage with the speakers for questions in person or remotely throughout the three-day event.

“Thanks to the speakers, session chairs, and participants who made IAD Days 2022 a successful event, and to Marianne Sullivan and James Friedman for their tireless efforts and support in the planning and logistics of this year’s event,” says Ratha. “We look forward to delivering an engaging and exciting IAD Days 2023 event next year.”

More information on the event is available on the IAD website.