Azadeh Keivani, "Transforming Your Physics Knowledge and Skills Into Solutions for Real-World Challenges"
Join us on Friday, July 12, 2024 at 2:00pm in White Hall G09 for a special seminar presented by Azadeh Keivani (Digital Age Academy). Dr. Keivani will speak on Transforming Your Physics Knowledge and Skills Into Solutions for Real-World Challenges. Continue reading for her abstract and biography.Abstract
This talk is designed for individuals with a passion for continuous learning. A passion that is not only about exploring new ideas within your specific research domain, but also delving into subjects that lie beyond your typical area of expertise, possibly even extending into fields outside the scope of physics. My goal here is to show you how your curiosity and love for learning can help you develop your unique and remarkable career journey.
My physics education has played a significant role in my professional career. From studying the most violent phenomena in the universe by detecting and analyzing subatomic particles, to creating new pedagogical methods for empowering the next generation of workforce, to developing machine learning models for detecting cancer and cardiac diseases, I believe physics has always given me the vision and mindset to overcome challenges and make strategic decisions.
As a physicist, you constantly grow your knowledge and skill set and accumulate valuable tools applicable across various domains. I will demonstrate how you can transform your physics knowledge, skills, and experience into tangible impact outside of the academic world. And how believing in your capabilities will help you more openly choose the next steps in your journey that leads to fulfilling achievements. I will also discuss the contributions of physicists in various roles across industries, especially in data science with a few examples including from my own career journey and explore the emerging data science and machine learning jobs in the next few years.
Biography
Azadeh Keivani holds a B.Sc. in physics from Sharif University of Technology (2008) and a Ph.D. in physics from Louisiana State University (2013). As a postdoc at Pennsylvania State University, she developed a cyber-infrastructure for real-time analyses of multi-messenger astrophysical data. Awarded by NASA, she searched for high-energy astrophysical sources emitting X-rays, UV/optical waves, neutrinos, and gravitational waves. She and her collaborators at AMON, IceCube, Swift, and other observatories discovered the first evidence of an astrophysical high-energy neutrino source in 2017. In 2018, she joined Columbia University as a lecturer in discipline and continued her research in multi-messenger astrophysics. She co-founded Digital Age Academy Inc. in 2020, an EdTech nonprofit empowering underserved youth with digital and entrepreneurial skills. Azadeh transitioned to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in 2021, where she applied her scientific problem-solving skills, physics knowledge, and quantitative background to develop predictive models for cancer care. She is currently a senior data scientist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, developing deep learning models to detect cardiac diseases early. Beyond her scientific contributions, Azadeh is a champion for immigrant and underserved students in STEM. She co-founded Staryab, the first Farsi-language professional astrophysical literature website, winning the 2018 Cheragh prize for scientific outreach to Farsi speakers.