{"id":760,"date":"2013-07-28T08:41:06","date_gmt":"2013-07-28T12:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/?p=760"},"modified":"2017-07-28T09:09:11","modified_gmt":"2017-07-28T13:09:11","slug":"making-sense-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2013\/07\/making-sense-data\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Sense of Data"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"DIZZYING<\/a>
DIZZYING DATA: Ari Balogh oversees data storage, network infrastructure, and cloud computing at Google. (Photo by Will Kirk \/ Homewood Photography)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the quarter century since Ari Balogh \u201986, MS \u201989, left Johns Hopkins University with a master\u2019s degree in electrical and computer engineering, the world of data has changed dramatically.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I get a text saying we only have 5 petabytes of free space left, I start getting a little nervous.\u201d Ari Balogh<\/cite><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Today companies such as his employer, Google Inc., can process enough data from 235 million users each day to fill as many as 400 million four-drawer filing cabinets. \u201cWe are talking a totally different scale,\u201d says Balogh, who delivered the keynote address at the 47th Annual Conference on Information Sciences and Systems, hosted by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, in March.<\/p>\n

In his role as Google\u2019s vice president of storage and network infrastructure, Balogh sits at the epicenter of data storage, networking applications, and cloud engineering at one of the world\u2019s leading information companies.<\/p>\n

In previous jobs as executive vice president and chief technology officer at VeriSign Inc. and Yahoo, the technology executive worried about network security and cyber attacks. Now it\u2019s petabytes\u2014one petabyte stores up to 20 million four-drawer filing cabinets\u2019 worth of text\u2014 that keep him up at night. \u201cIf I get a text saying we only have 5 petabytes of free space left,\u201d Balogh says, \u201cI start getting a little nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ability to capture, store, and make sense of all this data will drive the future of industries such as big pharma, biophysics, and genomics, he says. It\u2019s not inconceivable that researchers could generate as much as 50 terabytes of data per experiment, enough to fill 1,000 Encyclopedia Britannica books.<\/p>\n

The key is having the storage capacity, algorithms, and automated detection software to retrieve relevant information. That takes a hefty dose of machine learning and artificial intelligence. \u201cBut that\u2019s what we like at Google,\u201d he says. \u201cIf it\u2019s so big we don\u2019t know how to get it done, we\u2019re going to figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Google mindset requires a different business model, too, he says. At Google, researchers work side by side with developers to keep technology cutting edge. Because of that need to constantly push the digital envelope, Google attracts PhDs and other academics.<\/p>\n

But what does it take to succeed? \u201cYou have to love what you do,\u201d says Balogh, who clearly feels that way about his life. Balogh and his wife, fellow Hopkins Engineering alum Rina Sera \u201990, both have busy careers, and together they are raising their four children in Sunnyvale, Calif.<\/p>\n

Balogh\u2019s passion for coding began at Hopkins when he switched his pre-med major (he had a 3.9 GPA, was a teaching assistant, and was solidly \u201con the path\u201d) for electrical and computer engineering. Under ECE\u2019s former chair Gerard Meyer, he hit his academic stride. His Hopkins experience, he says, taught him how to think.<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessor Meyer was one of those professors who teaches you to think differently,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s the mantra, but that\u2019s what I got out of my time at Hopkins.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ari Balogh \u201986, MS \u201989 oversees data storage, network infrastructure, and cloud computing at Google.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-big-ideas","issue-summer-2013"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMaking Sense of Data - JHU Engineering Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2013\/07\/making-sense-data\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Making Sense of Data - JHU Engineering Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ari Balogh \u201986, MS \u201989 oversees data storage, network infrastructure, and cloud computing at Google.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2013\/07\/making-sense-data\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"JHU Engineering Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-07-28T12:41:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-07-28T13:09:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/ari-balogh.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Abby Lattes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Abby Lattes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2013\\\/07\\\/making-sense-data\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2013\\\/07\\\/making-sense-data\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Abby Lattes\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0244393be370fbc3ead8ec26062e9742\"},\"headline\":\"Making Sense of Data\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-07-28T12:41:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-28T13:09:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2013\\\/07\\\/making-sense-data\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":536,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2013\\\/07\\\/making-sense-data\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/ari-balogh.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Big Ideas\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2013\\\/07\\\/making-sense-data\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2013\\\/07\\\/making-sense-data\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2013\\\/07\\\/making-sense-data\\\/\",\"name\":\"Making Sense of Data - 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