LMI and UVA Partner to Lead the Data Science Community to Serve the Public Good

Interdependencies between academic programs and corporations create strong relationships and the exchange of ideas, resulting in innovative solutions, tools, and technologies that benefit the U.S. government’s critical mission requirements. With our country facing challenges in supply chain resiliency and biomedical innovation around COVID-19, the alliance of organizations and academia is increasingly important.

LMI’s partnership with academia facilitates a vitally important exchange of ideas. We work with universities on research and development initiatives to formulate, refine, and implement innovative solutions for U.S. government stakeholders. Leading the effort is Dr. Linda Bixby, director of Academic Programs. “It is a privilege for me to be involved with LMI staff and leadership as we collaborate with academia on research projects, to support our government clients, and to host, sponsor, and participate in academic events.” One of our longtime academic partners is the University of Virginia. UVA’s School of Data Science has been an integral partner in LRI workshops and events. “We seek to support events that are extremely relevant to what is happening throughout the U.S. and world today, especially in the area of emerging and remerging diseases and bridging data and policy,” said Dr. Bixby.

LMI sponsored the UVA School of Data Science’s Datapalooza 2020, a conference showcasing data science research while connecting the community. This year’s conference focused on civic and social responsibility. LMI has sponsored the event for the past two years and is proud of our ongoing partnership with UVA as it continues to evolve into one of the leading universities with a full and impactful data science program.

LMI members in attendance included data scientist Lisa Egeland, who introduced one of the panel discussions. “Datapalooza allows me to reconnect with my alma mater and gain valuable insights into the latest trends, topics, and innovations surrounding data science. Being able to invite clients to these events and begin focused conversations around ways to improve their business processes, from training to data ethics to analytic tools and methods, continues to set LMI apart.” Lisa represented LMI by introducing “Data Science That Works With and for Our Communities,” demonstrating how students take their academic expertise and apply it to real-world problems. The presentation is available on Facebook.

A few key takeaways from Datapalooza 2020 came from keynote speaker John McGowan, PhD, Deputy Director for Science Management at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health (NIH). His discussion on the inner workings of NIH and its extensive use of predictive analytics proves that data science is needed ever more to expedite analysis for pandemics and epidemics as they emerge and reemerge.

Knowing the importance of harnessing predictive analytics to deliver key insights to our government clients, LMI acquired Clockworks Solutions in 2019. We use this predictive analytics software platform to optimize performance, utilization, and return on investment for critical enterprise assets. This acquisition expanded our Digital and Analytic Solutions service offerings in the growing areas of predictive maintenance.

LMI remains deeply committed to supporting academia and participating in events such as Datapalooza 2020 to gain real-time collaboration and ideas that spur innovation and groundbreaking research to benefit our government clients. Keith Rodgers, LMI’s director of Advanced Analytics & Artificial Intelligence, adds, “We have proven that we are best able to advise and support our clients when we continue to team with world-class partners like the UVA School of Data Science. Our clients will only have more complex and data-driven conditions to address in the future. I could not be more excited to continue this dynamic with UVA into the future and see what amazing impacts we will make on the world around us!”