Industrial Engineering Student Receives Poster Competition Award at Data Sciences Conference

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Xinchao Liu

Xinchao Liu, a doctoral student in the Department of Industrial Engineering, received the 2nd prize in the Poster Competition at the 2020 NextGen Data Science Day conference. The conference was organized by the NextGen committee of the New England Statistical Society and was held virtually.

NextGen is an annual event involving all major schools in the New England region, as well as a few schools outside the region and seeks to support the next generation of statisticians and data scientists. The conference, held Nov. 7, was the third annual gathering since the foundation of the New England Statistical Society in 2017. The first two were held at Yale University and Bentley University, respectively.

Liu's poster title is "Integration of Physics and Statistical Modeling: A Spatio-Temporal Model for Nonlinear Structural Dynamics," and represents joint work with Xiao Liu, of the University of Arkansas and Guang Lin from Purdue University.

Xinchao's research focuses on the integration of physics governing equation with time-variant operators into statistical learning. The objective is to develop physics-informed, interpretable, and defensible data-driven approaches for aircraft-UAV airborne collision severity assessment and prediction. The research employs modern model-reduction techniques, statistical learning, and operator inference methodologies that lead to efficient and accurate modeling of the nonlinear dynamics governing the high-dimensional spatio-temporal aircraft surface deformation process. The research has successfully demonstrated the continuing penetration (of data sciences) into the traditional fields of engineering, which hinges on the convergence of domain knowledge into statistical learning.

Professor Xiao Liu, Xinchao's advisor, commented "Considering the high-level competition in this event, I am very proud of his placement. He has demonstrated wonderful progress since beginning in our program."

The first and third prizes went to the research teams from University of Massachusetts-Amherst and Northwestern University.