What is the Big Deal with Big Data?

by Carol Rios Rocha and Eugenia Tettey

Technology is the discipline that unites all STEM fields. The study of Physics,Biology, Chemistry, Engineering and Mathematics all depend on the advanced power of computational tools and techniques to store and analyze data. However, some science students struggle with learning foundational IT (Information Technology) skills. Instead of thinking of programming languages, data structures and algorithms as allies, some students consider these as obstacles to their success. How can these future scientists change their view about technology?We believe that demystifying difficult technology topics is one of the solutions for this issue. One of the most convoluted topics is Big Data. It is also an incredibly popular topic. The term is a buzzword in the world of sales, marketing, business, health care, and many other fields. What is interesting about Big Data is that everyone talks about it ,but most people do not know what it means. We decided to explore Big Data during our podcast project and cover the topic in an approachable way.In the first episode, we offered an explanation and a simple example of Big Data.We also covered some of the keywords and the challenges related to dealing with BigData. The second episode furthers the discussion about the challenges and also touches the topic of the future of Big Data. Our goal was to simplify Big Data, so that anyone could follow our podcast.The main challenge we faced during the execution of our project was to schedule meetings. Since we had distinct schedules, it was difficult to find time to plan the material, to record the episodes, and to collect feedback. The coaching sessions we had were very helpful. Our coach, Sarah Dickinson, was very supportive and she offered us helpful suggestions. In particular, when we mentioned we wanted to talk about future trends, our coach offered us some real-life examples that she has encountered during her career.Ultimately, it was a very interesting experience to team up as a ComputerScience and a Biological Sciences duo. Although we had different levels of experience with the topic, after recording the episodes we feel like we learned new things about BigData.