On Tuesday October 22, 2024, the first “SMASH” (UC San Diego Meetings between Astro/physics, SDSC, & HDSI) meeting took place.

This is a new initiative led by A&A’s Floor Broekgaarden between Astrophysics, Physics, and the data science, AI, and supercomputer centers on the UCSD campus. The initiative was started to create a collaborative environment that helps researchers at UCSD initiate novel interdisciplinary research collaborations, strengthen their skills, knowledge, and experience in AI, Machine Learning, and Data Science, and provides them with the tools to “smash” records in the Big Data era of Astronomy & Physics.

The first meeting was attended by over 50 different scientists and focused on introductions and getting to know each other. SMASH meetings will take place bi-weekly, and rotate between the different departments. Several A&A members are involved including Bryson Cale, Preethi Karpoor,  Yue Samuel Lu, and Sarah Jiang.

The next SMASH meeting will be at HDSI Multipurpose Room 123 on Nov. 19th, 12pm – 1pm.