THE MAGAZINE OF THE SCHOOL OF DATA SCIENCE
A YEAR IN REVIEW
OUR MISSION
TO INSPIRE AND PREPARE a generation of diverse data scientists who can make our world more informed and secure.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR A MESSAGE FROM THE INTERIM
DEAR READERS,
I am incredibly proud as I reflect on the remarkable accomplishments the School of Data Science has achieved over the past year. Our journey has been marked by transformative growth, innovation, and impactful contributions that extend beyond UTSA, resonating throughout our city and on the global stage.
This year, our students and faculty have continued to push the boundaries of what is possible. From pioneering collaborations that leverage AI for healthcare innovation, to partnerships that expand opportunities for students. These accomplishments demonstrate our unwavering commitment to advancing education and fostering excellence for all.
We strongly emphasize student success and experiential learning, as seen in our Data Science & AI Community Innovation Scholars program and the Summer Immersion Experience. These programs provide invaluable opportunities for our students to apply their knowledge in real-world settings, collaborate with experts, and develop skills that prepare them for impactful data science and technology careers.
Our participation in national and international events, such as RowdyHacks, Rowdy Datathon, the 2024 SAS Curiosity Cup, and the Draper Data Science Business Plan Competition, has provided our students with exceptional opportunities to learn, innovate, and showcase their talents. We are not just preparing our students for the careers of tomorrow; we are actively shaping futures and fostering a culture of curiosity, creativity, and community.
Looking ahead, we are on the brink of an exciting new chapter with the establishment of a new college dedicated to artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, computing, and data science in 2025. This expansion marks a significant milestone in our growth and underscores our commitment to leading in these dynamic fields. Additionally, the merger between UTSA and UT Health San Antonio positions us to offer even greater opportunities for our students, advance our research initiatives, and amplify our impact within San Antonio and beyond.
I am deeply grateful for the hard work, dedication, and passion that each member of the School of Data Science brings to our mission and UTSA’s vision. Together, we are not just imagining the future – we are building it.
Warm regards,
JIANWEI NIU, P h .D. Dean, University College Hispanic Thriving Institution Endowed Chair Interim Executive Director | School of Data Science
SHAPING SAN ANTONIO’S INNOVATION LANDSCAPE
The School of Data Science (SDS) plays a pivotal role in advancing AI, cybersecurity, and data science in San Antonio, partnering with local industries and nonprofits to tackle real-world challenges and drive community growth.
STUDENT-CENTERED OPPORTUNITIES
The school offers programs like the Data Science and AI Community Innovation Scholars, which provides paid internships in the community, and the SDS Research Immersion Experience, where international students work directly with our toptier faculty in their labs.
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CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH WITH GLOBAL REACH
From utilizing AI in skin cancer research to advancing cybersecurity in electric vehicle charging stations, the School of Data Science is leading transformative research that impacts industries both locally and globally.
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ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND REAL-WORLD IMPACT
The Draper Data Science Business Plan Competition offers students the opportunity to develop datadriven business ventures, attracting participants from across North America, from Canada to Mexico.
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EXPANSION AND FUTURE GROWTH
With a new college focused on AI, computing, and cybersecurity, the School of Data Science is poised for growth, creating opportunities for research, innovation, and collaboration in cutting-edge fields.
A team of UTSA and UT Health researchers have brought artificial intelligence (AI) to the field of coronary imaging, allowing cardiologists to more accurately assess a patient’s heart health and their risk of heart attack. The technique combines optical coherence tomography (OCT) with a generative AI model that can interpret coronary OCT images faster and more reliably than human physicians.
AI IMPROVES CORONARY IMAGING
THE GOAL IS TO BUILD A GENERATIVE AI MODEL that can learn from the existing images Dr. Feldman has captured in his lab, so our model can predict heart attacks at the earliest stage.
PEYMAN NAJAFIRAD (PAUL RAD) Associate Director of Research | UTSA School of Data Science
FEDERAL CONSORTIUM TO ADVANCE AI SAFETY
WE ARE PROUD TO COLLABORATE WITH THIS CONSORTIUM to help lead the way in these cuttingedge fields and to continue to expand the university’s collective expertise for the benefit of the institution and our UTSA students.
HEATHER SHIPLEY
UTSA Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
In March, UTSA joined the U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute Consortium (AISIC), an organization established by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to support the development and deployment of trustworthy and safe AI. AISIC includes more than 200 organizations on the frontlines of researching, developing and/ or leveraging AI systems to positively transform society.
AI AND MUSIC MIX
UTSA art professor Mark McCoin partnered with the School of Data Science to develop Robotic Resonance (Roz), an experimental project that combines music and robotics. Thanks to McCoin’s work with SDS students and faculty, Roz is learning to improvise musically, and adapt to the acoustics of its environment.
I THINK IT’S FASCINATING HOW THIS CAN INTERFACE WITH THE WORLD. It’s not stuck as an art piece, or stuck as a performative piece, or even as a scientific-interest unit. It can be all of these things.
MARK MCCOIN Associate Professor of Art and Director of New Media | College of Liberal and Fine Arts
Students from across Texas came together to participate in UTSA’s ninth annual RowdyHacks hackathon.
The event, themed “A Land Before RowdyHacks,” featured challenges for hackers of all skill levels, as well as workshops and professional development opportunities.
9TH ANNUAL ROWDYHACKS
ROWDYHACKS WELCOMES ANYONE AND EVERYONE. We want to see people from all backgrounds and all skill levels there. It’s an event about learning and community experience.
LIAM MURRAY ACM VP and RowdyHacks Logistics Lead | Junior Computer Science Major
SDS RESEARCH TEAM PRESENT AT ATHLETIC SYMPOSIUM
Faculty from UTSA’s School of Data Science and College of Liberal and Fine Arts presented at the 2024 American Athletic Conference Academic Symposium, hosted at UTSA. Seok Kang and Adel Alaeddini combined social science and data science to study student athletes’ well-being.
THIS IS A PARADIGMATIC CHANGE in our disciplinary studies.
SEOK
KANG Professor in Digital Communications and Director of Digital Initiatives | College of Liberal and Fine Arts
Four graduate students from the UTSA School of Data Science earned top prize in the data presentation category of the 2024 SAS Curiosity Cup, an annual global data analytics competition. Named the Data Crusaders, the UTSA team analyzed data from the 17 most populated countries in the world to explore how population growth affected energy usage.
We’re starting to transition into mature data analysts. WE’RE GAINING A SENSE OF CONFIDENCE IN OUR ABILITIES.
KI JEONG UTSA Data Analytics Student
GLOBAL DATA ANALYSIS
THE UNITED WAY PARTNERSHIP
THE SCHOOL OF DATA SCIENCE HAS PARTNERED WITH UNITED WAY OF SAN ANTONIO AND BEXAR COUNTY TO PLACE 13 UTSA STUDENTS WITH FIVE LOCAL NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS IN NEED OF DATA SCIENCE EXPERTISE.
HEALY-MURPHY CENTER
This connection with the nonprofits will provide our students with A BROADER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW DATA SCIENCE CAN BE USED FOR SOCIAL GOOD while helping them gain a deeper understanding of the wide variety of career options available.
LIZET CASAS Senior Program Manager | School of Data Science
UNITED WAY
THE DATA SCIENCE & AI
COMMUNITY INNOVATIONS
SCHOLARS PROGRAM
PROVIDED STUDENTS WITH INVALUABLE EXPERIENCE
TACKLING DATA SCIENCE
CHALLENGES IN A NONPROFIT ENVIRONMENT.
THIS PROGRAM ALLOWS STUDENTS TO GAIN THEIR OWN INSIGHTS into how data collection and analysis are conducted in real-world situations and offers them the opportunity to develop a different skillset as they enter the workforce.
SIMON SALAS CEO | Good Samaritan Community Services
GOOD
RESPITE CARE OF SAN ANTONIO
MERCEDES ALEJANDRO COMPUTER SCIENCE College of Sciences
SAMIN ALIKHANI COMPUTER SCIENCE
College of Sciences
ASHMAL ALI BUSINESS ANALYTICS
Alvarez College of Business
ANH NGUYEN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design
LIZETTE MARTINEZ CYBERSECURITY
Alvarez College of Business
NOEL FOTO ARCHITECTURE
Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design
MY HA COMPUTER SCIENCE College of Sciences
ANIK BANARJEE STATISTICS AND DATA SCIENCE
Alvarez College of Business
ROSHON WILLIAMS COMPUTER ENGINEERING
Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design
TIEN VO COMPUTER SCIENCE AND DATA SCIENCE College of Sciences
SHWE SEIN MARKETING
Alvarez College of Business
QUENTIN ARVIZU ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES College of Sciences
SECOND DRAPER COMPETITION
SHOWCASES INNOVATION, ENTREPRENEURSHIP
We felt we had won even before the competition started because it was really a priceless learning experience for us. We not only learned about our business, but we learned about ourselves.
WE BELIEVE WE GREW AS A BUSINESS BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, WE GREW AS PEOPLE.
SANTIAGO FERNANDEZ DEL CASTILLO SODI Penta Labs CEO
Four teams were selected as winners of the 2024 UTSA Draper Data Science Business Plan Competition. The six competing teams, which included students from universities in Texas and Mexico, pitched data-science related business plans ranging from AI-powered cancer screening to algorithms designed to improve a soccer team’s performance.
This competition provides each and every participant A PLATFORM TO EXPLORE THEIR PASSION IN DATA SCIENCE RESEARCH and to showcase their vision.
AMANDA BROWN Associate Director, Strategic Initiatives | School of Data Science
In April, the School of Data Science hosted an exhibition of immersive audio and visual art, created by faculty and students in the College of Liberal and Fine Arts (COLFA). The exhibit, entitled Tech(no)logic Outlet Mall, featured live, pre-recorded, and interactive exhibits created by students from the San Antonio Improvisatory Laptop Orchestra (SAILOR) and a Master of Fine Arts seminar course.
KATY MCCARTHY, MFA
Assistant Professor of New Media | College of Liberal and Fine Arts
ART, MUSIC, AND DATA COLLIDE AT SAN PEDRO I
RECORDED AUDIO IS RECORDED DATA, AND THEN YOU’RE MANIPULATING IT AND PUTTING IT IN DIFFERENT FORMS. You can do that through graphic manipulation, but you can also go in and program and code and work with the audio on a numerical basis.
MILES JEFFERSON FRIDAY, DMA Assistant Professor of Digital Music | College of Liberal and Fine Arts
The UTSA School of Data Science hosted the 29th annual Symposium on Access Control Models and Technologies (SACMAT), the leading international conference for the presentation and discussion of access control tools and techniques and general area of cybersecurity and privacy. This year’s event also celebrated the retirement of Ravi Sandhu, access control pioneer and founder of ACM SACMAT, who is also the director of the UTSA Institute for Cyber Security and Lutcher Brown Endowed Chair in cyber security.
SYMPOSIUM ON DATA SECURITY
INTERNATIONAL SUMMER IMMERSION EXPERIENCE
UTSA’s School of Data Science welcomed 12 international students from Tecnológico de Monterrey (TEC) and the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) to spend a month in San Antonio assisting SDS core faculty in research and exploring the city and its culture. Students assisted in a variety of projects, researching topics such as artificial intelligence, smart cities, and virtual reality. They also engaged with the San Antonio community and learned about its culture, both technological and historical.
THESE ARE THE MITs OF MEXICO, and with UTSA being a Tier One Research University, this is a great opportunity for collaboration. We hope to give students a glimpse of this ongoing partnership so they can give us feedback and help us optimize these kinds of joint projects for future students.
PEYMAN NAJAFIRAD (PAUL RAD) Associate Director of Research | School of Data Science
FRIENDS OF THE SCHOOL OF DATA SCIENCE
The School of Data Science is seeking more friends to inspire and prepare a generation of diverse data scientists who can make our world more informed and secure. We encourage you to befriend our faculty, researchers and staff so they can boldly fulfill this vision for our diverse students.
As a Friend of the School of Data Science, you will be a foundational member of the next chapter in UTSA’s history as it creates a new college of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, computing, and data science in 2025. There is power in numbers. As we launch this new era, the more Friends the better!
JOIN FRIENDS OF THE SCHOOL OF DATA SCIENCE and become a game-changer, providing road-running data scientists the opportunity to pursue bold futures.
In appreciation, Friends of the School of Data Science receive special recognition and invitations to our events to hear from world-renowned speakers and network with colleagues and students. Moreover, Friends will be invited to convene with school leadership guiding academic and research programs for the opportunity to inform our engagement with industry and government and to influence school strategies. Friends helping friends!
BECOME A FRIEND OF THE SCHOOL OF DATA SCIENCE AT ANY OF THE FOLLOWING SUPPORT LEVELS
$25,000
Receive the highest level of recognition at SDS events along with frequent and meaningful interaction with our students.
$10,000
Tailored acknowledgement as a partner for SDS events and publications.
$5,000
As a leader, receive invitations to various student-focused events, including career fairs, and be recognized at key academic events.
$2,500
For questions about becoming a Friend of the School of Data Science, or for additional philanthropic opportunities benefiting students and advancing research, contact: Jeanette Miller | jeanette.miller@utsa.edu.
Receive social media spotlights and invitations throughout the year. Recognition on school’s website and donor wall.
$1,000
Receive invitations to School of Data Science events and recognition on school’s donor wall.
INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jianwei Niu
EDITOR
Rosalinda Montero
CONTRIBUTING WRITER AND EDITOR
Christopher Reichert
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Coral Díaz
STAFF
ASSISTANT TO THE INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Melissa Platt
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH
Paul Rad
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
Jeanette Miller
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
Amanda Brown
SENIOR PROGRAM MANAGER
Lizet Casas
SENIOR PORGRAM MANAGER
Cynthia Rodriguez
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
Rosalinda Montero
COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST
Kayla Martinez
SENIOR EVENTS MANAGER
Denise Villarreal
AV EQUIPMENT TECH II
Blas Vazquez
FACILITIES COORDINATOR II
Amir Ravassipour
STAFF WRITER
Christopher Reichert
Los Datos is a publication for faculty, students, staff, partners, and friends of the School of Data Science. It highlights groundbreaking achievements, key milestones, and innovative contributions in data science education and research.
The School of Data Science
506 Dolorosa St. San Antonio, TX 78204
(210) 458-3282 sds.utsa.edu
UTSA HAS AMAZING STUDENTS, FACULTY AND STAFF and we do a wonderful job supporting students who make meaningful contributions to our communities.
TAYLOR EIGHMY UTSA President
