Colloquium

Colloquium


Statistics Colloquium
April 13 Friday, 11 a.m.
Alavi Commons Room, 6625 Everett Tower

Data-Intensive Astronomy and the Rise of Astrostatistics

Claudio Mendoza
Department of Physics
Western Michigan University

Abstract:
We briefly introduce the main aspects of the new scientific culture referred to as “ e-Science” and of data-intensive science as the 4th scientific paradigm , particularly the statistical implications of contemporary scientific discoveries . In this context we make special reference to the discovery of the Higgs boson, the accelerated expansion of the universe, and the recent (2017) event of a binary neutron-star merger that opened the era of multi-messenger astronomy. Picking flowers in the woods of data-intensive astronomy has inevitably given rise to the growing sophisticated field of astrostatistics, where most of us are just restless neophytes.

Bio:
Claudio Mendoza, PhD, is a computational physicist and currently a Research Associate in the Dept. of Physics of Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, USA. For more than 40 years he has been involved in high-performance computing related to problems of astrophysical and astrochemical interest, in the design and implementation of scientific databases, and in the mathematical modeling of biochemical reactions. He has participated in international consortia dedicated to the computation of massive atomic data sets to revise astrophysical opacities (Opacity Project) and of new radiative and collisional data for iron-group ions required for the interpretation of astronomical spectra in the XUV and X-rays (Iron Project & RmaX). He has designed, implemented, and currently maintains atomic database services, namely TIPTOPbase and OPserver, which can be accessed online from the Centre de Donées Astronomiques de Strasbourg, France, and the Ohio Supercomputer Center , Columbus, Ohio, USA. In collaboration with Fernando Ruette from the Chemistry Center, Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC), Caracas, he studied the interstellar grain surface chemistry by means of quantum chemical methods, and with Santiago Schnell (now at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA), he contributed in the mathematical modeling of biochemical reactions such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Dr. Mendoza has been a physics lecturer at Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas (1982-85); scientific consultant at the IBM Venezuela Scientific Center (1983-94); Head of IVIC Computational Network (1995-98); Head of IVIC Physics Center (1997-2001); National Research Council Senior Research Associate at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA (2001-2002); and recipient of the Simón Bolívar Fellowship 2006 in e-Science, the latter awarded by the Fundación Venezolana de Promoción del Investigador. On behalf of IVIC he organized the series of popular science talks “Entremeses con la Ciencia” that took place at the Science Museum, Caracas, in 1999 during the closing of the millennium; with the Venezuelan artist Rolando Peña, he co-produced several national and international exhibitions on art-science themes; and he was the scientific advisor for two seasons (2005-06) of the play “Copenhague”, produced in Caracas by Grupo Actoral 80 under the direction of Héctor Manrique. He has published more than 150 scientific papers, and regularly contributes in the Venezuelan press with oped articles on contemporary topics related to science, scientific policy, and the interaction of science with society. He is regularly invited to give lectures in both national and international scientific events, and has taken part in the editorial work of six books including two on computer art published by IBM Venezuela. In 1989 he was awarded the “Lorenzo Mendoza Fleury” Prize by Fundación Empresas Polar for outstanding scientific achievements, and while he was a postgraduate student at University College London, United Kingdom, he was the recipient in 1978 of the “Carey Foster Research Prize”. During 2002-03 he was President of the Asociación de Investigadores of IVIC (AsoInIVIC), and during 2003-08 a member of the Board of Directors of the Caracas Chapter of the Asociación Venezolana para el Avance de la Ciencia (AsoVAC).
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All statistics graduate students are expected to attend.

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