Top data scientists from around the country are gathering for a symposium to launch the Michigan Institute for Data Science (MIDAS), the centerpiece to the University’s recently announced $100 million investment in data science. 
Titled “The Future of Data Science: A Convergence of Academia, Industry and Government,” the symposium will highlight current research across the spectrum of data science; outline faculty opportunities; examine data science challenges in health, learning analytics, social science and transportation; discuss regional, national and international data science initiatives and partnerships; and explore possibilities for collaboration with industry.
8:30am to 8:45am Welcome and Opening Remarks by Martha E. Pollack and S. Jack Hu
8:45am to 9:00am Overview, Data Science Initiative by Eric Michielssen
9:00am to 9:15am Overview, Michigan Institute for Data Science by Alfred O. Hero and Brian D. Athey
9:20am to 9:45am Machine Learning for Data Science by Robert Nowak
9:45am to 10:10am Learning Treatment Policies in Mobile Health by Susan Murphy
10:15am to 10:40am At the Intersection of Data Science and Language by Kathleen McKeown     
10:40am to 11:00am Introduction, MIDAS Education and Training Program by Ivo Dinov     
11:05am to 11:25am Cutting-edge Methods in Distributed Computing to Characterize Customer Usage Patterns by Erin Shellman     
11:25am to 11:45am Economic Implications of Data Science: Past, Present and Future by Patrick Harrington
11:45am to 12:05pm Focusing on the Inputs for the Data Sciences by Nandit Soparkar
1:30pm to 2:15pm Privacy and Reproducibility in Data Science by Daniel L. Goroff     
2:20pm to 2:45pm Big Data and the Evolution of Precision (Personalized) Medicine by George Poste     
2:45pm to 3:10pm "Learning Engineering": Using Evidence to Lift Learning Performance by Bror Saxberg
3:15pm to 3:40pm Predicting the Group: Data Science for Human Socio-Cultural Understanding and Prediction by Kathleen M. Carley
3:40pm to 4:05pm Transforming and Disrupting Personal Transportation – Opportunities for Data Science by Jonathan H. Owen     
4:10pm to 4:15pm Introduction, Data Science Initiatives, Collaborations and Partnerships by Brian D. Athey
4:15pm to 4:25pm Midwest Big Data Hub by Edward Seidel
4:25pm to 4:35pm Big Data Driven Business Analytics: We are just getting started! by Ratna Babu Chinnam
4:35pm to 4:45pm Northeast Big Data Hub; Institute for Data Sciences and Engineering, Columbia University by Kathleen McKeown     
4:50pm to 5:00pm Data Science at the Imperial College London by Yi-ke Guo
5:00pm to 5:10pm Building Open Data Collaborations across Academia, Industry and Government by Keith Elliston
5:10pm to 5:30pm Panel Discussion - Data Science Initiatives, Collaborations and Partnerships by H V Jagadish, Edward Seidel, Kathleen McKeown and Brian D. Athey
5:30pm to 5:40pm Closing Remarks by Alfred O. Hero and Brian D. Athey