Eight of the nine data science majors who will graduate on Saturday gathered in the Division of Data Sciences on Friday to celebrate their achievement. From left: Jeevan Reddy Mokkala, Emanuel Lucban, Adam Osborne, Nikhil Krishnan, Thao Vo, Alexander Ivanoff, Liam Shi and Howe Cui. Not pictured: Ting Chih Lin. (UC Berkeley photo by Hulda Nelson)
Alexander Ivanoff couldn't get enough data science. After taking the introductory course Foundations of Data Science (Data 8) in the fall semester of his sophomore year, the UC Berkeley senior wanted to find out where else the numbers could take him. He also wanted to spread his new enthusiasm for data with other students, especially those who may not consider themselves "number people." He paired up with Vinitra Swamy and faculty member Niek Veldhuis to form one of the first data science "modules" - teams of students and faculty collaborating to build computational teaching tools for subjects ranging from history to cognitive neuroscience - and within months was creating a new platform for students to analyze ancient Sumerian texts in Veldhuis's Cuneiform languages class. One of the tools they developed was a language analysis software that could help pinpoint where different characters appeared in various texts, unveiling clues about what the Sumerians thought was important, which characters were related and what they did. "Veldhuis took us to the anthropology museum and we got to literally hold ancient Sumerian clay tablets to connect on that next level with what they are doing," Ivanoff said. "They showed me just how versatile data science tools were, which, combined with hearing about their capabilities in the news, made me really want to get involved more." On Saturday , Ivanoff will be one of nine students to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Data Science, the first set of degrees to be granted in this rapidly growing new major.
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