My name is Wade Fagen-Ulmschneider – I am faculty in the Department of Computer Science in the Grainger College of Engineering at The University of Illinois (UIUC). My passion is at the intersection of systems, data, and creating tools to nerd out with both systems and data through interactive data visualizations. In my work, I work to educate, encourage, and inspire you to change the world.
Since August 2021, I have worked to build the best data science resource online: Data Science DISCOVERY. This free-to-consumer website is used daily as part of teaching of CS/STAT/IS 107, but also provides lectures, guides, and projects for anyone who wants to learn data science to use.
My greatest passion is visualizing data in a way that readers can nerd out with for hours. If this interests you, you may be interested in my visualizations of GPAs at The University of Illinois, my data-forward, interactive visualizations of COVID-19 as part of my 91-DIVOC project, or any of my other visualizations.
Finally, I’ve worked on several other projects that aim to highlight Illini or make our Illinois courses world-class courses. These projects include the Illini LinkedIn Banner Generator, Queue@Illinois, and others.
“Ten years from now, things we can’t even imagine will be commonplace because of data science.”
Late last year, I sat down with Mary Timmins with the Illinois Alumni magazine! Check out her profile of my work in the article “Data Driven” that appears as part of the In Class section of the Winter 2022 Illinois Alumni Magazine!
I believe that education should be available and accessible. To the further extent possible, my teaching at Illinois has been archived online and open for anyone to nerd out. You can find links to my courses dating back to 2013:
Most of my scholarly work is exploring engagement through data visualization systems and similar art, and much of this work is done in collaboration with undergraduate students and faculty from other domains. If I have done a good job, you’ll be able to spend hours nerding out with data in these visualizations:
Beyond data visualizations, I work on open source tools and software to make life a bit nicer, easier, or more enjoyable. A few recent tools:
I have been able to share data and knowledge with many through the use of my tools, talks and workshops at conferences, and more.
The best way to reach me is by e-mail (waf@illinois.edu). Alternatively:
