Welcome to the Data Systems Group

The Data Systems Group at the University of Waterloo's Cheriton School of Computer Science builds innovative, high-impact platforms, systems, and applications for processing, managing, analyzing, and searching the vast collections of data that are integral to modern information societies — colloquially known as “big data” technologies.

Our capabilities span the full spectrum from unstructured text collections to relational data, and everything in between including semi-structured sources such as time series, log data, graphs, and other data types. We work at multiple layers in the software stack, ranging from storage management and execution platforms to user-facing applications and studies of user behaviour.

Our research tackles all phases of the information lifecycle, from ingest and cleaning to inference and decision support.

News

  1. Oct. 29, 2024Q&A with Professor Xiao Hu, who studies fundamental problems in database theory
    Professor Xiao Hu on a bench in Waterloo's rock garden

    Xiao Hu joined the Cheriton School of Computer Science as an Assistant Professor in July 2024. She is broadly interested in database theory and its applications to practical database systems, such as massively parallel query processing, dynamic query processing, oblivious query processing, and machine learning in query optimization.  Her research awards include the PODS 2024 Distinguished Paper Award, the SIGMOD 2024 Best Paper Award Honorable Mention, and the ICDT 2024 Best Paper Award.

  2. Sep. 3, 2024Professor Ihab Ilyas named Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
    Professor Ihab Ilyas

    Professor Ihab Ilyas of the Cheriton School of Computer Science has been named a 2024 Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the highest national recognition for researchers in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. He is among 103 distinguished individuals across Canada recognized this year for their exceptional scholarly, artistic, and scientific achievements.

  3. Aug. 19, 2024 Professor Ihab Ilyas receives C.C. Gotlieb Computer Award for advancing computer science
    Professor Ihab Ilyas

    Professor Ihab Ilyas has been awarded the prestigious 2024 C.C. Gotlieb Computer Award in recognition of his contributions to building large-scale machine learning systems for data integration, data cleaning and knowledge construction. Established in 2007 and named in 2012 after Calvin Carl Gotlieb, a founding figure of computing in Canada, the award celebrates outstanding Canadians whose work has significantly advanced computer science and engineering.

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