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For more than a century, SMU has served societal needs and prepared students to make an impact in their chosen professions. To fulfill that same mission in a data-driven world, the university has developed major new programs in research and data science, combining high-speed computing, mathematics and statistics to extract meaningful insights from extremely large quantities of data. These programs are helping the business community in Dallas and beyond thrive in an increasingly data-driven, complex and interconnected world.

Recently, Elizabeth G. Loboa, SMU provost and vice president for academic affairs, described several of the universitys investments in research and data science.

After describing these facilities, Loboa hosted a conversation about research and data science with a group of SMU academic leaders. The participants were James E. Quick, dean of the Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies and associate provost for research; Stephanie Knight, dean of the Simmons School of Education and Human Development; Suku Nair, director, SMU AT&T Center for Virtualization; and Peter K. Moore, associate provost for curricular innovation. Highlights from their conversation follow.

Moody School Dean James Quick: During the past decade, expenditures on research at SMU have increased over 400%. During that same time, conferral of Ph.D. degrees has increased over 300%. One of the keys to the increases in both these areas has been the universitys decision to focus on the digital revolution. Our ManeFrame II computing system provides both faculty and students access to advanced computing resources when they need them, without overburdening the system and delaying vital research.

For a tangible example of how we use advanced data science, look at the strong SMU program in monitoring nuclear weapons testing. The capabilities we have developed for analyzing seismic activity from around the world and distinguishing earthquake activity from nuclear tests can play a crucial role in improving our national capabilities in that vital arena.

Simmons School Dean Stephanie Knight: The Simmons School of Education and Human Development has always been a nontraditional institution. We take great pride in conducting cutting-edge research and then putting the results of that research into action.

Several years ago, we were approached by Toyota about creating a project to benefit the greater Dallas community. Toyota awarded us a $2 million, three-year planning grant to establish a pre-K through eight school in West Dallas focused on a STEM curriculum. Working with Toyota and Dallas ISD, our objective is to prepare students for jobs and college in STEM-related fields. We expect it to be a center for research and professional development that will not only benefit our students locally but also students throughout the country. Toyota also hopes that the school model can be taken to other communities to promote STEM education.

AT&T Center for Virtualization Director Suku Nair: Our partnership with AT&T came about when the company realized they were going to have to make tremendous changes to stay competitive in the telecom industry, which has seen unimaginable growth in recent years. As our research efforts have grown, other companies like Google, Ericsson, HPE and others are now coming to us for assistance. Of course, they could do much of their own research and data analysis, but one advantage we offer is that we can provide perspectives from many disciplines across our campus. To cite one example, we recently helped L3 Harris measure biometric data for student pilots to validate that the companys flight training systems were as effective as they need to be.

The SMU AT&T Center for Virtualization and the Data Science Institute are also providing invaluable assistance in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. We are currently in discussions with the federal governments Economic Development Administration to develop analytics tools for effective allocation of resources to deal with the pandemic. At the same time, we also provide data analysis assistance to many smaller medical facilities to help them improve their methods for treating COVID-19 patients.

Additionally, companies often come to us asking for short courses to train their workforce in some area of data science. To date, we have offered short courses in areas such as data security and advanced cryptography, cloud migration, and data center security and reliability.

Associate Provost Peter K. Moore: In the last two months of 2020, several data companies moved their headquarters from California to Texas. That situation makes SMU increasingly aware of the need to produce workers who can operate effectively in this big-data environment if we want to attract more of those companies to D-FW and to Texas.

Thats why several years ago we launched one of the nations first online masters programs in data science. We have also created a number of related professional programs in statistics, economics and business, and this coming fall we will offer a new online artificial intelligence program out of the computer science department.

Last year, we also established a bachelors degree program and a minor in data science. Both the masters and the undergraduate programs are interdisciplinary in nature and involve faculty from the arts, engineering, humanities, sciences and business.

If were going to be successful in confronting our nations most serious challenges in areas like education, public health and climate change, we will need to have expertise in both data science and in working across disciplines. We want to make sure that our students at all levels are prepared to live in the world of data. Its the water in which we all swim.

For additional information on the many academic opportunities offered at SMU, go to smu.edu.

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SMU meets the opportunities of the data-driven world with cutting-edge research and data science programs - The Dallas Morning News