"Computational Optimization and Statistical Methods for Big Data Analytics: Applications in Neuroimaging" by Wanpracha Art Chaovalitwongse, professor of industrial engineering and 21st Century Leadership Chair in Engineering, has been selected to be in the Editor's Cut collection. The Editor's Cut is a collection of top research papers primarily from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) journals and industry articles, as well as videos and podcasts that discuss successful applications of big data analytics from a variety of resources, including seminal work from the INFORMS community. He presented the research at the INFORMS Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in November 2015.

Chaovalitwongse notes that the term "big data" has been defined as an umbrella term for any collection of large and complex data from a great variety of sources, i.e. mobile phones, online shopping, sensors, videos, tweets, etc. that are difficult to store, process, and analyze- often referred as the three V's — volume, velocity, and variety. Working with petabyte data sets, collecting data in real time or near real time, he said a big challenge that remains is the fourth V — value. Many ask how business can extract value from this flood of information. According to his research, integration of different data from these disparate sources is essential to getting value from big data. But key to getting even greater value from big data applications is the use of analytics. Therefore, the focus is not on big data per se but "Big Data Analytics."

W. Art Chaovalitwongse joined the faculty of the Department of Industrial Engineering in August of 2016 and is serving as co-director of the university's new industry research partnership, the Institute for Advanced Data Analytics. The vision is to be the premier academic institute for analytics research, innovation and practice by helping enterprises meet their needs for talent, tools, education, and solutions in the analytics space. The Institute is designed to be a cross college, interdisciplinary initiative that unites the UA faculty who have deep strengths in analytics, operations research, statistics, information systems, and related disciplines and to create a powerful, productive partnership with local and national industry with the goal of accelerating research on analytics.

Chaovalitwongse received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in industrial and systems engineering from the University of Florida in 2000 and 2003. His research group conducts extensive Analytics research, ranging from basic computational science/statistics, applied mathematical modeling, and translational research at the interface of engineering, medicine, and other emerging disciplines. He holds three patents of novel optimization techniques adopted in the development of seizure prediction system, which have been licensed to use in IdentEvent by Optima Neuroscience Inc. He is a recipient of the 2006 NSF CAREER Award and serves as the president of the Association of Thai Professionals in America and Canada (ATPAC).