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By Kelsey Kendall

�鶹��ý’s School of Data Science hosted dozens of professionals from regional military and research facilities for a data science bootcamp this month. Participants worked on foundational skills in data science and artificial intelligence to take back to their organizations.

This “first of its kind,” three-day program welcomed 35 individuals from local Navy facilities and NASA Langley. University instructors taught programming skills in data science and how to use AI tools which might help them in their fields.

Faryaneh Poursardar, the program’s lead instructor and a research assistant professor, said the group was high-energy and ready to learn, which was “really enjoyable.”

For Kristiana Boehmer, computer scientist at Dam Neck Naval Base, the program was a return to the University. She graduated with a degree in computer science in 2023. Even if she already had the background knowledge on some of the programming material included in the bootcamp, Boehmer was able to gain some hands-on experience with AI tools that she can later build on.

“The ChatGPT portion of (the program) was very enlightening as to all the different features that come with it and all the variations between these Open AIs,” Boehmer said.

Cody Alexander, asset management specialist at Jacobs, a contractor with NASA, said the training provided the groundwork for some data science skills. He said he had “zero” experience with programing, so the program served as a crash course in some of the basics.

He appreciated there was a range of experience in the room throughout the program – from beginners like him and others like Boehmer – and found it was a great way of developing a more tech-savvy workforce.

“A lot of the workforce is behind where we should be in terms of technology, so being a part of the four people from Jacobs who came here to kick-start our career was pretty cool,” Alexander said.

The School of Data Science regularly connects with the community – especially the partnerships the school and University have with local agencies. Poursardar said this new program was designed to connect specifically with some of their strongest partnerships with the regional military bases and research facilities.

Frank Liu, director of the School of Data Science, said the hope is to continue with these kinds of community workforce partnerships. So far, the feedback has been positive, he said, and attendance was higher than expected.

“The participants all welcomed the opportunity to have time away from their daily work and to refresh their knowledge on the latest AI and data science methods and techniques,” Liu said.