Juan Reutter and Aidan Hogan take over as new directors of IMFD

Scientific research, when accompanied by an important component of self-reflection, and when its leaders make room for the vision of younger researchers, is more likely not only to renew its vision, but also to be more in tune with what society requires.

This is the vision of Marcelo ArenasMarcelo Arenas, professor and academic of Computer Science at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, on the change of directors of the Millennium Institute Foundational Research on Data (IMFD) for the second five-year period (2023-2028) of this research center. In this process of progressive change in 2022 Pablo Barcelódirector of the Institute of Mathematical and Computational Engineering UC, had left the position of deputy director.

As of December 2023, Juan Reutter de la Maza will officially take over as principal director and Aidan Hogan as alternate director of the IMFD, a role they have been performing since June 2023, the beginning of the sixth year of operations of this research center funded by the Millennium Science Initiative, which is part of the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID).

Juan Reutter de la Maza is Associate Professor and Head of Graduate Studies at the Department of Computer Science at the Catholic University of Chile . at the Catholic University of Chile (DCC UC). (DCC UC). He is also an academic at the Institute of Mathematical and Computational Engineering of the Catholic University (IMC UC).

"One of my goals for IMFD's new five-year term is to enhance the science-based innovation that IMFD has been creating in recent years. We have experience in health with the KoR Test platform we developed during the pandemic and with the use of thick-data methodology to study complex social phenomena, such as the Loom Platform and our studies of sacrifice zones," says Juan Reutter.

In addition to these experiences , there are new projects, among which the following stand out MillenniumDBa powerful search engine for graph databases, whose promising applications show that it is competitive with others on the market.

"The IMFD has been known until now for having leading scientists in their fields, who generate knowledge that is at the frontier of research. We now want to be known also for being creators of innovation, for our developments that can be applied to substantial improvements in different fields," adds the new IMFD director.

Focus on innovation and strengthening the community of learners

Aidan Hogan, Ph.D. in Computer Science from the National University of Ireland, Galway, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Chile. associate professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Chile, where he was awarded thewhich awarded him the Best Undergraduate Teaching Award in 2016 and 2020. Hogan has been an important driver of the connection between the different areas of computer science that are addressed in the IMFD, such as database systems with query languages for graphs.

The academic indicates that one of his first goals would be to increase the participation and visibility of the IMFD in the institute's partner universities, starting this work at his alma mater, the University of Chile. "In addition, I would like to strengthen the IMFD student community, generating spaces in which they can share experiences, perspectives, and give them support. This goal for me has the highest priority, considering that students are emerging from the isolation associated with the pandemic and its impact is still being felt, in different dimensions."

The two researchers also share IMFD's main objectives: to promote high-impact research for the benefit of society, to increase IMFD's visibility internationally as a center of excellence, to foster new collaborations between people who have not worked together before, and to train the next generation of experts to meet the challenges of an increasingly data-driven society.

In the footsteps of the promotion of interdisciplinarity

For both Reutter and Hogan, following in the footsteps of the work done by Marcelo Arenas and Pablo Barceló represents a great challenge, but also the opportunity to enrich what has been sown by the academics. "Forming collaborations between people with expertise in areas as diverse as statistics, political science, communications and computer science is a huge challenge, and requires leadership not only in scientific terms, but also in human terms. It also requires being open and creative about how to bring the different disciplines together. This is something that Marcelo and Pablo have achieved in a remarkable way and will be an example to follow," says Aidan Hogan.

For Reutter, the outstanding evaluation at the end of the IMFD's first five years is evidence of the leadership and capabilities of Arenas and Barceló, who gave birth and impetus to the institute. "They left us a legacy that today allows us to look to the future with solid foundations, with a work in interdisciplinary scientific research that allows us to be at the forefront in Latin America. Their management is also marked by the creation of an environment at the IMFD that is not only one of excellence and professionalism, but also of openness to new ideas, pluralism and friendliness. His achievements form a solid foundation for further progress in the next five years," concludes Reutter.