{ "author": "Riyan Imam", "title": "Big Data: Big Potential!!!", "thumbnail": "big_data.jpg", "date": "2016-10-28T03:44:49Z", "tags": ["all"], "published": true }
Hello Hackers, Hustlers, and Hipsters!
Recently, on Wednesday, October 27th, 2016, PantherHackers held a “Big Data” meeting for people who were interested in Big Data and related topics. We had a good showing at the event and some of our own members came as well.
Now, Big Data is not a familiar subject to many people, so allow me to explain the basic concept of it: “Big Data” is simply analyzing extremely large sets of data (via computer, of course) in order to reveal patterns, trends, and associations. For example, someone investing would want to know what to invest to minimize loss and increase their gain. Using big data, said investor can input stock trends and history to properly predict which stocks can give him/ her a good gain from their investments or even prevent any potential mishaps.
Sounds pretty darn cool, right? Well, it is and we had an even better mentor leading the way! The meeting was led by Dr. Suranga Edirisinghe Pathirannehelage, HPC (High-Performance Computing) Facilitator of GSU and XSEDE (Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment) Campus Champion, and Semir Sarajlic, Research Computing Specialist and XSEDE Campus Champion. As for what actually occurred at the event, Semir kicked things off with what Big Data could be used for, showcasing Remote Sensing, GIS, among other Big Data examples. Afterward, Semir handed things off to Dr. Suranga and that’s when the hands-on experience started to kick in! Dr. Suranga showcased a tool that can process chunks of data that can be accessed later on, say in an app perhaps (that’s an idea there!). Now, after we put some data samples into our tool, we began to learn how to access it and how to potentially use it in any application.
With the Big Data event, we hoped to give potential participants attending PantherHacks insights into techniques they could potentially utilize during the hackathon and possibly even on personal projects.
As soon as you walked into the room, academia and advanced knowledge greeted you. When you left, it felt like you had something to add on to your arsenal of hacks and complexity. We are extremely grateful to Dr. Suranga and Mr.Semir for organizing this event with us and putting in the time and effort to teach us the basics of big data. We always have new things like this popping up at PantherHackers, so stay tuned and see what we come up with for you guys next! Anyways, that’s it, for now, guys. As always, stay hungry!
-Riyan Imam