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Michael Way Author of Evaluating Organization Development
FEATURED AUTHOR

Michael Way

Astronomer, Computer Scientist, Information Technology Specialist
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

Mike's background is in observational cosmology. He spent many nights at the high altitude optical observatories in the country of Chile in the early 1990s. Since that time he has focused his energies on applying novel statistical techniques to large area surveys like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey that allow researchers to get a better handle on how well modern cosmological theories fit the data.

Biography

Mike is the leader of the biennial New York Workshop on Computer, Earth and Space Science. His background is mainly in the Astrophysical Sciences where he is working to find new ways to understand the multi-scale structure of our universe, modeling the atmospheres of exoplanets and applying kernel methods to new areas in Astronomy. He is also involved in interdisciplinary research with Climate Scientists, Astrobiologists, Mathematicians, Statisticians and researchers in Machine Learning and Data Mining.

Education

    Ph.D. Physics 1998, University of Missouri, St. Louis, USA

Areas of Research / Professional Expertise

    Observational Cosmology, Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics

Personal Interests

    Reading Literature & History. Travel. Spending time in the countryside with family.

Websites

Books

Featured Title
Featured Title - Advances in Machine Learning and Data Mining for Astronomy - 1st Edition book cover

Videos

100 Years of Cosmology: From Spiral Nebulae to the CMB

Published: Oct 16, 2012

I discuss the complicated early history of the prediction, discovery and confirmation of Big Bang cosmology. We'll start with the early 20th century observations of Leavitt and theories of Einstein, and end up with the 2006 Nobel Prize. I will also show that some of the common wisdom today is misplaced with respect to the accolades given to various "titans" of Astronomy in this field.

Big Mirrors, Bayesian Evangelists and the Public: How Advances in Mirror Technology, detectors, databases, machine learning and crowd-sourcing are driving Astronomy into the future

Published: Oct 16, 2012

A plethora of technology advances over the past 40+ years have coalesced to drive ground-based Astronomy into directions barely imagined a generation ago. Advances in everything from materials science to information technology have made this possible. I will go through the historical record in some of these technologies and show how radically things have changed for the workaday Astronomer today and perhaps see where these technologies are taking us.
Dismantling Hubble's Legacy?

Published: Oct 16, 2012

This is a short talk given at a recent history conference I co-organized (http://www.lowell.edu/workshops/slipher) that discusses the forgotten scientists whose discoveries contributed to the legacy of Edwin Hubble.