Wolfram Computation Meets Knowledge

Wolfram Innovator Award

Wolfram technologies have long been a major force in many areas of industry and research. Leaders in many top organizations and institutions have played a major role in using computational intelligence and pushing the boundaries of how the Wolfram technology stack is leveraged for innovation across fields and disciplines.

We recognize these deserving recipients with the Wolfram Innovator Award, which is awarded at the Wolfram Technology Conferences around the world.

2022

Paul R. Garvey

Distinguished Chief Engineer/Scientist, The MITRE Corporation

Areas: Authoring and Publishing, Data Analysis, Data Analytics, Economic Research and Analysis, Modeling Dynamical Systems with Mathematica, Risk Analysis, Risk Management, System Modeling

Paul R. Garvey is a distinguished chief engineer/scientist at The MITRE Corporation, a not-for-profit organization operating federally funded research and development centers for the US government. He has decades of experience in systems operations research, network modeling, mission systems risk analyses, and the application of risk-decision analytics across a variety of problems in the federal government. His current work involves modeling the network structure of the US food supply chain, which is being done in collaboration with datasets and published studies by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) research team led by Professor Megan Konar.

Garvey has authored several textbooks, written numerous papers, holds a US patent, and continues to contribute his expertise and extensive Wolfram Language abilities to tackle big problems. One example is his work “US Food Supply Chain Security: A Network Analysis,” in conjunction with UIUC.

Utilizing Mathematica’s network modeling technologies, they identified critical US counties and links associated with the meat supply chain, which is characterized by 2,817 US counties (nodes) and 30,670 origin-to-destination links (edges) that exist between them.

2021

Trevor Bennett

Cofounder, Starfish Space

Areas: Aerospace, Control Engineering, Risk Analysis, Software Development, Systems Engineering

Trevor Bennett is a cofounder at Starfish Space, where he’s giving life to on-orbit services. He earned a PhD from the University of Colorado, where he was a NASA Space Technology Research Fellow and one of Aviation Week’s “20 Twenties.” Prior to Starfish Space, Trevor designed and developed guidance, navigation and control (GNC) software at NASA and more recently Blue Origin. His journey with Mathematica started in 2013 when he was studying charged spacecraft formation flying. Wolfram’s software allowed development and refinement of a new set of orbit element use cases that could aid spacecraft operations. He has broad technical expertise in GNC, with a particular focus on rendezvous, proximity operations and docking (RPOD).

2021

Edmund Robinson

Director of Data Analytics, Afiniti

Areas: Actuarial Sciences, Data Analysis, Data Analytics, Data Science, Industrial Mathematics, Risk Analysis, Risk Management, Software Development

Edmund Robinson is an industrial mathematician and software developer who has made many noteworthy contributions in the fields of fund and risk management as well as reinsurance. His prominent work includes the creation of interactive visualizations to provide breakdowns and comparisons of funds on the fly; generation of highly formatted performance figures with financial measures and statistics; summary infographics and PDF export; and rapid modeling, simulation and analysis of bespoke contract structures with interactive data, model and parameter selection. Edmund has also given talks focusing on workflows that combine third-party geographic information system (GIS) datasets with the contract loss distributions to produce a dynamic tool to estimate and visualize incurred but not reported (IBNR) claims related to a windstorm event and historical analysis of sunny-day flooding occurrences and forecasting with time series analysis.

2020

Dr. Kenneth Bogen

Areas: Biomedical Research, Chemical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Molecular Biology, Risk Analysis

Kenneth T. Bogen, DrPH, DABT, is a nationally recognized, board-certified consulting toxicologist and former University of California environmental scientist who has done extensive work in environmental health risk assessment, with over one hundred published (including award-winning) scientific journal publications in the field. Since 1988, he has developed RiskQ, a comprehensive package for efficient, symbolic, documented statistical and data analysis in the Wolfram Language. Dr. Bogen has used RiskQ and Mathematica in a broad range of research and applied assessment topics including zinc-ion diffusion and cytotoxicity in the nasal cavity, nickel biokinetic modeling, multi-route exposure assessment, biologically based and mode-of-action-informed cancer risk modeling, physiologically based organophosphate pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling, and applications of environmental, occupational and consumer product-related toxicology and epidemiology.

2019

Robert Rasmussen and Kirk Reinholtz

Senior Engineers, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Areas: Aerospace, Control Engineering, High-Performance and Parallel Computing, Probability Theory, Risk Analysis, Software Development, Systems Engineering

Robert Rasmussen and Kirk Reinholtz are systems engineers who have used the Wolfram Language to develop a set of methodologies for building complex control system applications. Their integrated mission operation systems utilize the Wolfram Language to provide live updates to local data stores, keeping information consistent throughout processes. Both have used Mathematica extensively for large probability and engineering computations—including hundred-day distributed computations and the processing of gigabyte-scale datasets. They evangelize Mathematica and the Wolfram Language to others in the aerospace field, encouraging them to use Wolfram Notebooks for exploration and the expression of ideas.

2018

David Creech

Manager of Engineering Analysis and Development, McDermott (formerly CB&I)

Areas: Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Risk Analysis, Software Development, System Modeling

David Creech is the manager of engineering analysis and development at McDermott (formerly CB&I) and a longtime user of the Wolfram Language. In his undergraduate and graduate programs, Creech used the Wolfram Language for mechanical engineering work, including the development of a Wolfram Language package for automating calculations to produce consumer ratings diagrams. At McDermott, he uses Wolfram technology in the development and management of leak detection and repair (LDAR) programs for industrial facilities. In 2012, he started an initiative at McDermott to replace hundreds of FORTRAN and Excel programs with Wolfram Language packages, modernizing their engineering workflow to provide easier access and customization for engineers. Creech’s colleagues are now using the Wolfram Language for their own computations and connecting them to these centralized packages to create more efficient tools for engineering their products.

2018

Aaron Santos

Data Scientist, EMC Insurance

Areas: Authoring and Publishing, Computational Physics, Data Science, Industrial Engineering, Internet of Things, Nanotechnology, Risk Analysis

Dr. Santos is a data scientist, professor and author who uses Wolfram technology to advance data and device integration in a variety of sectors. He and his team at EMC Insurance have used the Wolfram Language and Wolfram Enterprise Private Cloud for valuable research analyzing data from IoT devices to help improve driver safety, reduce fuel consumption and identify worksite hazards. As part of a recent startup, Dr. Santos also worked on the development of a nanotechnology device for efficiently identifying the genetic makeup of food products, with future plans to integrate Wolfram Cloud technology to provide additional analytics and services to consumers.

2014

Mark Kotanchek

Areas: Data Mining and Analysis, Economics, Financial Risk, Mathematica Consulting, Probability Theory, Risk, Risk Analysis

Mark Kotanchek left Dow Chemical in 2005 to form the startup Evolved Analytics. DataModeler, one of the largest Mathematica applications produced outside of Wolfram Research, handles data modeling via evolutionary programs. It also performs data analysis and makes sophisticated use of both user interface and kernel technology. At the 2014 Wolfram Technology Conference, Kotanchek revealed a GUI for DataModeler that makes it even easier to use Wolfram’s world-class analysis capabilities.

2014

Rodrigo Murta

St Marche Supermercados

Areas: Data Mining and Analysis, Economics, Finance, Interface Design, Physics, Population Dynamics, Risk, Risk Analysis

Rodrigo Murta is Retail Intelligence Manager for St Marche Supermercados, a high-end supermarket chain, and the first customer to purchase Mathematica Enterprise Edition in Brazil. He uses Mathematica as a hub for all of the company’s data, workflows, computation, and processing, and EnterpriseCDF to construct reports for store managers and company executives. He is currently experimenting with a web-based report interface that provides even greater access to intelligence reports.

2014

Chad Slaughter

Enova Financial

Areas: Actuarial Sciences, Data Mining and Analysis, Economics, Finance, Financial Risk, Risk, Risk Analysis

At Enova Financial, Chad Slaughter used Mathematica’s deep analysis capabilities to better understand the relationship between performance data and top-level business metrics. This led to the Colossus Project, a completely automated platform that handles Enova’s online loan approval system and can process more than 20,000 loans per hour. Now a consultant, Slaughter is also using Wolfram Development Platform (formerly Wolfram Programming Cloud) to create solutions for Eligo Energy.

2013

Stefan Braun

Managing Director of SmartCAE

Areas: Aerospace, Biotechnology, Chemical Engineering, Control, Data Mining and Analysis, Engineering, Finance, Financial Risk, High-Performance and Parallel Computing, Image Processing, Industrial Engineering, Interface Design, Materials Science, Mathematica Consulting, Mechanical Engineering, Pharmaceutical, Physics, Risk Analysis, Signal Processing, Structural Engineering

Stefan Braun is recognized for using Mathematica in industrial applications. He has used Mathematica and the SmartCAEFab in more that 150+ industrial projects in different application areas. SmartCAE’s software solutions allow practical users to simulate complex applications problems, with a lot of parameters, without being a simulation or Mathematica expert.

2013

Dr. Thomas Weber

HighQ-It

Areas: Data Mining and Analysis, Finance, Financial Risk, Risk Analysis

Thomas Weber is recognized as an expert on quantitative methods in finance and risk. Being a heavy user of Mathematica since Version 1.2, Thomas utilizes this powerful tool for his consultancy for big banks, energy suppliers, and other institutions. Over these many years he has extended Mathematica as needed. For example, he developed a database link long before the Data Access Kit was available. He also integrated different pricing libraries into Mathematica, which allow kinds of risk analysis that go way beyond what is normally possible within financial institutions.

2012

Dr. Kazuhiro Iwadoh

Tokyo Women's Medical University

Areas: Biology, Data Mining and Analysis, Risk Analysis

Dr. Kazuhiro Iwadoh is a medical doctor who studies biostatistics at Tokyo Women’s Medical University. He constructed a decision-making support system in Mathematica to estimate the possibility of injury to a transplanted organ by determining examining parameters that could change over time. The end result is a program that displays an array of a patient’s information such as prescription history and other factors, allowing the physician to select a treatment option tailored to the patient. Dr. Iwadoh hopes the system will contribute to a higher rate of success in organ transplants and for medical procedures in general.

Learn more about Kazuhiro Iwadoh's work »

2012

Thomas Roux

Financial Risk Manager, BRED Banque Populaire

Areas: Finance, Financial Risk, Risk Analysis

Thomas Roux is recognized for developing an innovative web service solution for financial risk management, based on webMathematica and webUnRisk. Thomas has shown how Wolfram technologies are integral to the fundamental sustainability of the global banking system, from his native France to the United States.

2011

Seth Chandler

University of Houston Law Center

Areas: Actuarial Sciences, Economics, Financial Risk, Risk Analysis

Seth Chandler, director of the Program on Law and Computation, studies insurance policy, patent law, and other facets of the US legal system. After Hurricane Ike in 2008, Chandler analyzed catastrophe models and other data in Mathematica to show how the insurance market can better handle paying for hurricane damages. He developed several interactive Demonstrations to help examine the allocation of losses from hurricanes and used them in his testimony before the Texas legislature.

Hear Seth Chandler talk about Mathematica's role in hurricane insurance research » View the interactive CDF transcript of Chandler's testimony before the Texas Legislature »

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