07/29/08 CMOP Seminar: Scientific Data Modeling: Reaching Beyond What we Know
Spaccapietra from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology to present

TITLE
Scientific Data Modeling: Reaching Beyond What we Know
SPEAKER
WHERE
OHSU West Campus, Paul Clayton Building, Room PC401
ABSTRACT
There is sometimes a feeling that there is not much new to be found about data modeling. This talk will first introduce a few examples of research directions that extend the scope of data modeling beyond traditional limits. Next, the talk will focus on a more radical questioning about the correctness of how real world phenomena are modeled. This represents a shift from modeling reality to modeling our understanding of what reality may possibly be. We call it hypotheses modeling. The talk advocates for a holistic approach to hypotheses modeling and management, dramatically needed by scientists to support their investigations into and theories about how nature works.
SPEAKER BIO
Stefano Spaccapietra is a full professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, where he heads the Database Laboratory. He received his PhD from the University of Paris VI, in 1978. He has been a university professor since 1983 (Dijon, France). His research focus has always been on data semantics issues, in particular data conceptual modeling. He recently co-authored a book on conceptual modeling that sums up his findings, including spatio-temporal data modeling (MADS) and multiple representation modeling. His latest research addresses ontological support with database techniques, context-awareness in location-based systems, and hypothesis modeling. He is an IEEE fellow, the editor-in-chief of the Journal On Data Semantics, and currently co-chairs the Program Committee for the 2008 International Conference on Conceptual Modeling (ER 2008).
ARCHIVE WEBCAST
This seminar is available to view on your computer as a webcast. Go to the webcast login page and enter the following:
Username: lecture
Password: (leave blank)
