Bloch symposium explores how data drives innovation, discovery

The “sweet spot” for data-driven science. The growing importance of population data. What’s next for the fourth industrial revolution?

These topics and more — online misinformation and using culture to address climate change, to name a few — are under discussion this week during the 2021 Erich Bloch Symposium.

The two-day virtual event June 7-8, hosted by the Department of Materials Design and Innovation (MDI), serves as a forum to bring together renowned researchers, policymakers, academics, and industry and community leaders to explore the areas of sustainability with a focus on materials, technological innovation and community health.

“The Erich Bloch Symposium serves as a platform enabling the convergence of diverse disciplines to address pressing social needs,” says Krishna Rajan, Erich Bloch Chair and SUNY Empire Innovation Professor in MDI.

Free and open to the public, this year’s symposium features nine presentations from a diverse group of scholars whose expertise encompasses astronomy, engineering, geography, art, media and more.

The topics are centered around the symposium’s theme: “The World Through the Lens of Data: Accelerating knowledge discovery in the service of science and society.”

The symposium also includes panel discussions from academic and industry leaders, as well as poster demonstrations that showcase how MDI students are working to provide solutions to critical societal challenges.

The Erich Bloch Symposium is an annual event organized by MDI that is dedicated to the late Erich Bloch, a former director of the U.S. National Science Foundation and UB alumnus, who established the Erich Bloch Endowed Chair for MDI in 2014.

MDI is centered on establishing knowledge discovery in materials science by harnessing the tools of information and data science. The department offers undergraduate, graduate and PhD programs that provide students with a unique data intensive perspective of materials science and engineering that is integrated with a strong foundation in informatics. It is a collaboration between the College of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.