Big Data Summer Program 2018

PictureStudent-Designed Sticker for 2018 BDSP
Building on last year's program, the 2018 Big Data Summer Program (BDSP) 30 SFSU students from biology, chemistry, economics, and mathematics in computer programming, statistical analysis, scientific communication, and applied research.  With the guidance of near-peer mentors, the students worked in collaborative teams to learn how to program in either python or R, and then applied their skills to an original scientific research or programming project.  Project topics included
  • Analyzing REU program assessment data
  • Applying machine learning methods to classify HIV sub types
  • Creating an app to help students find parking near the university
  • Identifying geographic relationships between teen birth rates and cannabis legality
  • Performing principal component analyses of high-dimensional gene expression data
  • Programing pedagogical physical chemistry simulations in python
The program culminated in the students presenting their  work in the poster session at the SFSU Summer Research Symposium. Most BDSP alum are now actively performing research in labs at SFSU. 

Personnel

Biology faculty organizers and advisors: Pleuni Pennings and Rori Rohlfs
Chemistry faculty organizer and advisor: Nicole Adelstein
Economics faculty organizer and advisor: Sepideh Modrek
Near-peer mentors: Mayra Banuelos, Fran Catalan, Victoria Caudill, Selena Hernandez, Jeanice Nyung, Chinomnso Okorie