We created a technological infrastructure that has transformed our lives. Immense volumes of data are being captured by instruments, satellites, and sensors, 24/7. Huge data sets are available to scientists, engineers, governments, and the private sector. Areas such as bioinformatics, drug discovery, e-commerce, etc., require unprecedented levels of cooperation and new analytic methods in order to make sense of all these data. At the new frontiers of engineering, science and technology, the new generation of scientists and engineers needs to understand fundamental data mining algorithms in order to go beyond and above and design the new technologies that can truly benefit our communities. Computing is the driving force, at the center of this fundamental change. To celebrate the 2008 UTEP's Gold Nugget Awards, during this talk I will discuss my favorite data mining algorithms and will try to connect data mining with gold mining.

Dr. Juan E. Vargas Ortega currently serves as the University Relations Manager at Google. He is also a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of South Carolina, where he teaches data mining, Bayesian networks, embedded and distributed systems, data structures & algorithms, programming languages, and operating systems. His research interests include data mining, embedded systems, sensor networks, distributed systems and biomedical engineering. His research is published in more than 60 articles, several book chapters, and many conferences. Prior to Google, he was the Senior Academic Relations Manager for Microsoft Corporation. He earned a PhD from Vanderbilt University, a master’s degree from Centro de Investigacion y Estudios Avanzados del Instituton Politecnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from UTEP.