Thomson Reuters and Imperial College Celebrate Open Innovation in Big Data

-- Thomson Reuters recognizes students for innovative approaches in managing Big Data

LONDON, Nov. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Intellectual Property & Science business of Thomson Reuters, the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, today announced the winners of the Thomson Reuters Award for Innovation in Big Data, part of an ongoing collaboration with The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine of London to drive scientific innovation and research in the life sciences. This collaboration was designed to explore innovative new technologies to better manage and interpret the volume and diversity of data generated in pharmaceutical and clinical research environments, while providing Imperial College students with real-world experience as they contribute to Thomson Reuters driving innovation. The award was presented to the students who demonstrated the best technical applications, specifically related to data modeling and integration, visualization, and analytics.

From left to right: Winners of the Thomson Reuters Life Sciences Big Data Innovation Challenge: Panagiotis Tzirakis, winner, Michal Bachman, winner, Jon Brett-Harris, managing director of Thomson Reuters Life Sciences, and Barnardo Lemos Caldos, winner. Not pictured: Paul Williams, winner.

The award, presented on November 13 at the Thomson Reuters Hatton Garden office in London, was given to four Imperial College Masters students: Panagiotis Tzirakis, Michal Bachman, Bernardo Lemos Caldas and Paul Williams for their significant contributions to projects focused on data integration, analytics, visual integration, linked data, algorithms, machine learning and text mining. The winners received GBP500 each and were chosen from among 167 students.

"Our ongoing relationship with Thomson Reuters Life Sciences division has proven to be mutually beneficial," said William Knottenbelt, director for Imperial College. "Our students gain valuable insight and experience into cutting-edge research through their placements with Thomson Reuters, while also offering fresh perspectives and ideas to provide innovative solutions to stakeholders in the life science industry."

"We are pleased to be working with Imperial College and supporting future generations of computer and data scientists," said Jon Brett-Harris, managing director of Thomson Reuters Life Sciences. "These Awards are recognition of the innovative work these students are doing to help develop new technologies that integrate and interpret the large volumes of data generated in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries."

The Thomson Reuters Award for Innovation in Big Data is part of the company's continued efforts to drive innovation for better managing Big Data in life sciences, specifically by converting large amounts of content or data into meaningful and accessible Little Data. To learn more about this approach, download the whitepaper, Big Data and the Needs of the Pharma Industry.