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Imagine taking a few photos with your mobile phone and quickly converting them into a 3D scene that you could navigate. This may soon be possible with a new technology developed by UC Berkeley researchers that can reconstruct photorealistic 3D worlds in just minutes — without the aid of artificial intelligence.

Educators from five continents will participate in the fifth annual National Workshop on Data Science Education at UC Berkeley, which promises to bring together diverse perspectives on teaching data science. The 2022 workshop, held from June 27 to July 1, incorporates in-person and online sessions in a unique format. The first two days offer training on campus, while the following three days feature hybrid online presentations, panel discussions and technology demonstrations. It’s free for both in-person and online participants to register for the conference.

Designers, artists and scientists celebrated the creativity of data science and called for a more inclusive, transparent and ethically-focused field in a new anthology published this month.

The new Berkeley AI Research Climate Initiative aims to build partnerships and conduct groundbreaking artificial intelligence research in service of solving one of society’s most intractable problems: climate change.

As access barriers to in-person abortion care increase due to legal restrictions and COVID-19–related disruptions, a team of UC Berkeley researchers wondered if individuals were turning to the internet for information on out-of-clinic medication abortions. 

The Statistics commencement on May 18 at Zellerbach Playhouse honored more than 100 students who earned bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degrees in 2022 and those who graduated in 2021 and returned to campus for an in-person commencement. The guest speaker was Peng Zhao, CEO of Citadel Securities, who reflected on his journey studying math and statistics, including his time as a doctoral student at UC Berkeley.

UC Berkeley Professor Bin Yu responded to a nonprofit organization’s urgent call for data science experts to help distribute personal protective equipment (PPE) most effectively. Yu quickly organized a team of statistics and computer sciences students to address the challenge. Though they began with no data in hand or plans on how to find it, the team’s COVID hot spot predictions ultimately helped inform the shipment of at least 349,000 face shields to doctors and healthcare workers.

UC Berkeley formally launched this week a research lab aimed at building a new backbone for interconnected cloud computing, a milestone that would revolutionize the industry.

Graduates reflected on their journeys and heard advice from acclaimed author Neal Stephenson at the Data Science commencement on May 18. The last time Berkeley data science students lined up to receive diplomas at an in-person commencement, it was the very first time any students had graduated with that major from the university. At the 2019 ceremony in Wheeler Hall, 82 students graduated in data science. At this week’s commencement, nearly 500 graduates walked across the stage at the Hearst Greek Theatre to receive their Data Science bachelor’s degree, with approximately 700 expected total graduates this year.

Kai Koerber is a Parkland shooting survivor and mental health advocate. He’s also a UC Berkeley undergraduate student who developed a model for identifying a user’s emotional state based on their tone of voice, and he plans to use this technology as a mental health and public safety intervention.