How to build and manage better computer databases was the subject of a gathering of more than 100 industry leaders, students and researchers in the field, sponsored by Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute and six major technology companies.

The day-long SoCal DB Day 18 symposium was held Oct. 19 at San Diego Supercomputer Center, featuring representatives from sponsoring companies: Amazon, Couchbase, Google, Microsoft, Oracle and Teradata. In addition to UC San Diego, five universities also participated: UC Irvine, UCLA, UC-Riverside, UC Santa Barbara and University of Southern California. Nearly half the crowd was composed of students, and the majority of them presented project posters during the event.

Amazon Web Services hosted an after-event party. Lead organizer Arun Kumar, Assistant Professor in Computer Science and Engineering, created the event to foster connections and feedback within the community of database users and developers, and to discuss leading-edge advances in both the software industry and in academic research. Kumar said after this successful inaugural event, they plan hold the symposium annually rotating hosting duties between the six participating universities.