Machine Learning in Science & Engineering – MLSE 2020 – was held virtually on December 14 – 15. Through keynotes, conversations, demonstrations, and networking, this two day conference explored how artificial intelligence and machine learning can help solve emerging challenges. MLSE 2020 convened 11 dedicated tracks, each with their own programs, speakers, and participating research. These tracks highlighted new innovations from a diverse range of disciplines and practices.

Read our Recap

MLSE 2020 brought together 1,300+ attendees from academia, government, and industry, as well as 100+ speakers and dozens of research teams from national and international universities and organizations. The conference was hosted by The Data Science Institute at Columbia University, and was supported by an NSF TRIPODS+X award from the National Science Foundation.

MLSE 2020 marks the third annual MLSE conference. In 2017, an internal symposium on machine learning in science and engineering was held at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) to identify ways in which these computational tools can advance diversity in several fields. Based on the strong response, the first open MLSE conference was held in 2018 at the CMU campus in Pittsburgh in partnership with Georgia Tech. The second MLSE, also supported by an NSF TRIPODS+X award, was held at Georgia Tech in 2019 in conjunction with CMU and Columbia University.

Columbia University expanded the scope of the previous conferences by adding:

  • New tracks in science and engineering fields, such as biology, civil engineering, earth sciences, neuroscience, and transportation.
  • A track on the foundations of machine learning, driven by science and engineering data.
  • A track on the design of computational systems, from the hardware layer (CPUs, GPUs, TPUS, FPGAs) through the software stack, that focus on data-driven science and engineering.

MLSE 2020 Keynote Speakers included:

  • Cynthia Rudin, Professor of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Statistical Science, Duke University 
  • Barbara Engelhardt, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, Princeton University
  • William Dally, Chief Scientist & Senior VP of Research, Nvidia; Professor-Research, Computer Science & Electrical Engineering, Stanford University

MLSE 2020 Conference Chairs:

  • Jeannette M. Wing, Avanessians Director of the Data Science Institute and Professor of Computer Science, Columbia University
  • Qiang Du, Fu Foundation Professor of Applied Mathematics, Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia Engineering (SEAS)

A special thank you to prior MLSE Conference Chairs:

  • Dana Randall, Co-Executive Director of the Institute for Data Engineering and Science, Georgia Tech
  • Newell Washburn, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

Tracks, Track Chairs, and Agenda

Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Physics

  • Szabolcs Marka, Walter O. LeCroy, Jr. Professor of Physics, Department of Physics, Columbia University
  • David Kipping, Assistant Professor, Astronomy, Department of Astronomy, Columbia University
  • Zsuzsanna Marka, Associate Research Scientist, Department of Astronomy, Columbia University
  • Melissa Ness, Assistant Professor, Astronomy, Department of Astronomy, Columbia University

Biology

  • Itsik Pe’er , Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, Columbia Engineering
  • Maria Chikina, Assistant Professor, Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Materials Science

  • Sanat K. Kumar, Bykhovsky Professor of Chemical Engineering, Columbia Engineering
  • Simon Billinge, Professor, Materials Science and Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia Engineering
  • Yevgeny Rakita, Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Data Science Institute, Columbia University

Computing Systems

  • Martha Kim, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, Columbia Engineering
  • Sarah Bird, Principal Program Manager, Emerging Technology and Research Strategy Lead, Responsible AI Lead, Azure AI, Microsoft

Earth and Environmental Sciences

  • Pierre Gentine, Associate Professor, Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia Engineering
  • Laure Zanna, Professor, Center for Atmosphere Ocean Science, Department of Mathematics, Courant Institute, New York University

Health Sciences

  • Olena Mamykina, Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University
  • Adler Perotte, Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University

Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Mechanics, and Civil Engineering

  • Steve WaiChing Sun, Associate Professor, Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Columbia Engineering
  • Krishna Garikipati, Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics, University of Michigan

Methods and Algorithms

  • John Paisley, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia Engineering
  • John Wright, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia Engineering
  • Alexandr Andoni, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Columbia Engineering

Neuroscience

  • Paul Sajda, Professor of Biomedical Engineering; Professor of Electrical Engineering; and Professor of Radiology (Physics); Columbia Engineering

Quantum

  • Andrew J. Millis, Professor of Physics, Department of Physics, Columbia University
  • Hanhee Paik, Research Staff Member, Experimental Quantum Computing, IBM T J Watson Research Center

Transportation

  • Sharon (Xuan) Di, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Columbia Engineering

Sponsors

Speakers

All titles and affiliations accurate to time of event (December 2020)

  • Adam Wheeler, Graduate Student in Astronomy, Department of Astronomy, Columbia University
  • Addis Kidane, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering and Computing, University of South Carolina
  • Aditi Jha, PhD Candidate with focus in ‪Computational Neuroscience‬, Machine learning‬, ‪Artificial Intelligence‬, and Cognitive Science‬, Princeton University
  • Alex Gorodetsky, Assistant Professor, Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan
  • Alex Hexemer, Senior Scientist and Computing Program Lead Computing, Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • Aleyda Trevino, Graduate Student, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University
  • Andre E. Vellwock, PhD Candidate, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
  • Andrew Ferguson, Associate Professor of Molecular Engineering; and Deputy Dean of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago
  • Andrew Gordon Wilson, Assistant Professor, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Center for Data Science, New York University
  • Anqi Wu, Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University
  • Anshul Kundaje, Assistant Professor, Genetics and Computer Science, Stanford University
  • Anushri Arora, Masters Student, Department of Computer Science, Columbia University
  • Arunesh Mittal, PhD Candidate with focus in Machine Learning, Columbia University
  • Assad Oberai, Professor in the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department, Viterbi School of Engineering, USC
  • Atul Butte, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg Distinguished Professor; and Inaugural Director, Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
  • Aviv Landau, Associate Director, SAFElab; and Postdoctoral Research Scientist, The Data Science Institute, Columbia University
  • Barbara Jones, Researcher in Quantum Computing Applications, IBM Research
  • Barry C. Barish, Ronald and Maxine Linde Professor of Physics, Emeritus, The Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, Caltech
  • Craig Connolly, Postdoctoral Researcher, Environmental Health Sciences, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
  • Danielle Bassett, J. Peter Skirkanich Professor of Bioengineering and Electrical and Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania (Penn Engineering)
  • Daniel Tamayo, NASA Hubble/Sagan and Lyman Spitzer, Jr. Postdoctoral Fellow, Princeton University
  • Dario Gil, Director, IBM Research
  • David Kueh, Program Manager, Federal Highway Administration. U.S. Department of Transportation
  • David Sontag, Associate Professor, Medical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT
  • Dries Sels, Assistant Professor of Physics, Arts & Science, New York University; and Associate Researcher, Center for Computational Quantum Physics (CCQ), Flatiron Institute
  • Elias Bareinboim, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, Columbia University
  • Elizabeth Barnes, Associate Professor, Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University
  • Emily Sandford, Research Fellow at Gonville & Caius College, University of Cambridge
  • Emma Lejeune, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Boston University
  • Eric C. Cyr, Principal Member of the Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories
  • Eric Darve, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University
  • Eun-Ah Kim, Professor, Department of Physics, Cornell University
  • Florence d’Alché-Buc, Full Professor, Télécom Paris, Institut Polytechnique de Paris
  • Gabriele Vajente, Research Scientist, Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Lab, Department of Physics, Caltech
  • Galen McKinley, Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University and the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory
  • George Karniadakis, Charles Pitts Robinson and John Palmer Barstow Professor of Applied Mathematics, Brown University; and Research Scientist, MIT
  • Georgia Karagiorgi, Assistant Professor of Physics; and Member, DSI Computing Systems Center for Data Driven Science, Columbia University
  • Gerbrand Ceder, Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
  • Gustau Camps-Valls, Full Professor, Image Processing Laboratory, Universitat de València
  • Hae Young Noh, Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University
  • Hani Mahmassani, Professor of Civil and Environmental and (by courtesy) Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences Engineering, Northwestern University
  • Henry Yuen, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Mathematics, University of Toronto; and (incoming faculty) Computer Science Department at Columbia University
  • Hugh Osborn, Postdoctoral Researcher, Kavli Institute for Astrophysics, MIT
  • Irina Rish, Associate Professor, Computer Science and Operations Research Department, Université de Montréal
  • J. Emmanuel Johnson, Researcher & PhD Candidate, University of Valencia
  • Jade Powell, Posdoctoral Researcher (Gravitational Waves, Data Science), Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
  • Javad Shabani, Assistant Professor of Physics, Arts & Science, New York University
  • Jeff Johnson, Research Engineer, Facebook AI Research
  • Jennifer M. Hayes, Graduate Student (Ph.D. program), College of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Howard University
  • Jing Gao, Assistant Professor of Geospatial Data Science, Department of Geography, University of Delaware
  • Jiun-Shyan (JS) Chen, William Prager Chair Professor, Structural Engineering Department Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department Director, Center for Extreme Events Research, UCSD
  • John Paisley, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia Engineering
  • John Wright, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia Engineering
  • Jorge A. Lava, Professor, Transportation Systems Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Tech
  • Josh Bloom, Professor of Astronomy and Chair, Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley
  • Julien Grand-Clement, PhD Candidate, Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Columbia Engineering
  • Julius Busecke, Associate Research Scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
  • Katharine Hyatt, Postdoctoral Scholar, Center for Computational Quantum Physics, Flatiron Institute
  • Katherine Heller, Assistant Professor, Department of Statistical Science, Duke University
  • Kathy Li, PhD Candidate in Applied Math, Columbia University
  • Keith A. Brown, Assistant Professor (ME, MSE, Physics), Department of Mechanical Engineering, Boston University
  • Krishna Garikipati, Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics, University of Michigan
  • Krishna Rajan, Erich Bloch Chair, Empire Innovation Professor, Department of Materials Design and Innovation, University at Buffalo
  • Maria Chikina, Assistant Professor, Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
  • Markus Buehler, Jerry McAfee (1940) Professor in Engineering, MIT
  • Martin L. Green, Leader, Materials for Energy and Sustainable Development Group, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
  • Maryam Shanechi, Andrew and Erna Viterbi Early Career Chair; and Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California
  • Mercè Crosas, University Research Data Management Officer, Harvard University Information Technology (HUIT); and Chief Data Science and Technology Officer, Harvard Institute for Quantitative Social Science
  • Mers Sameki, Senior Technical Program Manager (Responsible AI Products), Microsoft
  • Miles Stoudenmire, Research Scientist, Center for Computational Quantum Physics (CCQ), Flatiron Institute
  • Mohammed AlQuraishi, Assistant Professor of Systems Biology, Columbia University
  • Monika Filipovska, Monika Filipovska, Graduate Research Assistant, Northwestern University
  • Morgan Fouesneau, Postdoctoral Fellow, Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA, Heidelberg)
  • Myles Ingram, Senior Research Analyst, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
  • Nathaniel Trask, Senior Member of the Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories
  • Nidhi Seethapathi, Postdoctoral Researcher, Bioengineering and Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania
  • Nongnuch Artrith, Research Scientist, Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University
  • Paul Sajda, Professor of Biomedical Engineering; Professor of Electrical Engineering; and Professor of Radiology (Physics); Columbia Engineering
  • Pedram Hassanzadeh, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Rice University
  • Petar Jurcevic, Research Staff Member (Quantum), IBM
  • Peter Mattson, General Chair, MLPerf
  • Po-Ling Loh, Associate Professor, Department of Statistics, University of Wisconsin – Madison
  • Pradip Bose, Research Staff Member and Manager of Efficient and Resilient Systems, T. J. Watson Research Center, IBM
  • Rea Rustagi, Undergraduate Student (3rd year), Major in Applied Math, Columbia Engineering
  • Roger G. Ghanem, Gordon S. Marshall Professor of Engineering Technology and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering, USC
  • Romy Lorenz, Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Cambridge, Stanford University, and the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive & Brain Sciences
  • Rose Yu, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, UC San Diego
  • Rutuja Gurav, PhD Candidate in Computer Science, University of California Riverside
  • Sahika Genc, Principal Applied Scientist, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  • Samory Kpotufe, Associate Professor, Department of Statistics, Columbia University
  • Sebastian Will, Assistant Professor of Physics, Department of Physics, Columbia University
  • Sergei V. Kalinin, Corporate Fellow, The Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
  • Shantanu Bailoor, PhD Candidate in the Flow Physics and Computation Lab, Johns Hopkins University
  • Sophia Shao, Assistant Professor, University of California, Berkeley
  • Sridevi V. Sarma, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering; and Vice Dean for Graduate Education, Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins
  • Stephen Smith, Research Professor, The Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
  • Tai-Danae Bradley, Postdoc at X, the Moonshot Factory (formerly Google X); and a recent Mathematics PhD Graduate, CUNY Graduate Center
  • Tal Golan, Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Columbia University
  • Tamara Broderick, Associate Professor, MIT
  • WaiChing (Steve) Sun, Associate Professor, Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Columbia Engineering
  • Wing K. Liu, Walter P. Murphy Professor of Mechanical Engineering & Civil and Environmental Engineering and (by courtesy) Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University
  • Xueqing Li, PhD Candidate, Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University
  • Xun Huan, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Michigan Institute for Data Science, University of Michigan
  • Yi-Ming Qin, PhD Student, Environmental Science and Engineering, Harvard University
  • Yoo-Geun Ham, Associate Professor, Chonnam National University (South Korea)
  • Yudi Wu, PhD Candidate, College of Engineering, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
  • Yueyue Fan, Program Director, National Science Foundation (NSF)
  • Zhiwei (Tony) Qin, Principal Research Scientist, Director of AI Research, DiDi Research America
  • Zoran Kostic, Professor of Professional Practice, Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia Engineering
  • Zoë Ashwood, PhD Candidate, Computer Science and Neuroscience, Princeton University