About Us

Data defines the future of an information society. Without means to find data, archive it, to use it, and convert data to knowledge, information sources will largely remain untapped. The Center for Data and Search Informatics (DSI), was founded in 2006 in the Indiana University School of Informatics to promote cross-disciplinary research and education, and innovation transfer in the multidisciplinary area of large-scale data and search.

The DSI studio is located at 901 E. 10th St., Room 323, in Informatics West.

Leadership and Staff

DSI Director: Dr. Beth Plale is Director of DSI and an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science. She has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from State University of New York Binghamton with Postdoctoral studies at Georgia Institute of Technology, and an MBA from LaVerne University. She is the PI or Co-PI on over $7M in active research grants, has organized international panels and workshops, and has been a program committee member on over 20 committees. Dr. Plale worked in the software development industry for 7 years prior to returning to academia.

DSI Curriculum Lead: Dirk Van Gucht is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science. His research interests are in database theory and systems, data mining, and machine learning.

Staff Technologist: Felix Terkhorn is the resident software engineer and research technologist at Indiana University's Center for Data and Search Informatics. He has a B.S. in Computer Science from Indiana University, and is currently pursuing his Master's degree in the same field. He has assisted with the redesign of the studio space and manages the technology within the lab, as well as this collection of web pages.

Colloquium Director: Bin Cao is a Postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Data and Search Informatics (DSI). She received her Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering in 2006 from the University of Louisville. Her research interests also include query languages, data models, distributed query processing, and data provenance. She joined DSI in June 2008.