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.