Dustin Burns, Ph.D., GStat
Blowing stuff up in Exponent’s controlled burn room in the morning and feature engineering for deep learning computer vision models in the afternoon. This is not an atypical day for Dr. Dustin Burns, a Senior Scientist consultant in Exponent’s Statistical and Data Sciences practice. This week, he may be developing machine learning risk models to predict failure of assets of a utilities company, and next week he may be flying to the Middle East for targeted data collection for a consumer electronics company. Combining his background in laboratory experiments with his expertise in data analytics, Dr. Burns contributes to projects along the entire data science lifecycle, from experimental design and data collection, through data quality assurance, exploratory data analysis and cleaning, to modeling, visualization, and reporting.
Dustin received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, Davis, in the field of experimental high-energy particle and astroparticle physics. Dustin’s dissertation research was based at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), where he worked on the team that contributed to the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012. Dustin is a founding member of the CRAYFIS: Cosmic RAYs Found In Smartphones (http://crayfis.io) experiment, where he helped design a crowd-sourced comic ray detector array using the cameras in smartphones.
In his current role at Exponent, Dustin leads multidisciplinary teams of Ph.D.s serving many industries and government agencies to respond to the world’s most impactful problems and evaluate emerging technologies using AI. The teams of statisticians, machine learning developers, programmers, and cybersecurity experts can assist with developing custom algorithms, modernizing analytics programs, advising on regulatory issues (e.g. SOTIF, FDA software validation, ISO 90003/25000), and helping to evaluate intellectual property. Or just blow stuff up.
CREDENTIALS & PROFESSIONAL HONORS
- Ph.D., Physics, University of California, Davis, 2017
- M.S., Physics, University of California, Davis, 2013
- B.S., Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), 2011, summa cum laude, with research distinction in physics
- B.S., Applied Materials , Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), 2011, summa cum laude
Ursula Wiegand Scholarship Fund (2008-2011)
Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally (HOPE) Scholarship, Department of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology (2008-2011)
AT&T Foundation Scholarship (2010)
National Science Foundation Mentoring Through Critical Transition Points (MCTP) Scholarship, Department of Mathematics, Georgia Institute of Technology (2009, 2010)
Metha Phingbodhipakkiya Memorial Scholarship, Department of Mathematics, Georgia Institute of Technology (2009)
Student Marshal, Middle Georgia College Class of 2008
Engineering Physics Award, Department of Physics, Middle Georgia College (2008)
Sophomore Mathematics Award, Department of Mathematics, Middle Georgia College (2008)
Georgia Academy of Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement Award (2008)
Governor’s Scholarship, Georgia Institute of Technology (2008)
Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, Middle Georgia College (2006)
LICENSES & CERTIFICATIONS
Graduate Statistician (GStat), American Statistical Association
Applied Data Science with Python Specialization, Coursera
Publications
Measurements of properties of the Higgs boson decaying into the four-lepton final state in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV. By CMS Collaboration (Albert M Sirunyan et al.). arXiv:1706.09936 [hep-ex].
Search for associated production of dark matter with a Higgs boson decaying to bb or γγ at √s = 13 TeV. By CMS Collaboration (Albert M Sirunyan et al.). arXiv:1703.05236 [hep-ex].
Les Houches 2015: Physics at TeV colliders - new physics working group report. By G. Brooijmans et al.. arXiv:1605.02684 [hep-ph].
Searching for ultra high-energy cosmic rays with smartphones. By Daniel Whiteson, Michael Mulhearn, Chase Shimmin, Kyle Cranmer, Kyle Brodie, Dustin Burns. arXiv:1410.2895 [astro-ph.IM]. 10.1016/j.astropartphys.2016.02.002. Astropart.Phys. 79 (2016) 1-9.
For a complete listing of publications, see http://inspirehep.net/search?ln=en&p=find+a+Dustin+Burns+and+date+%3E+2013&jrec=1
Presentations
Burns D. Demystifying AI in Cyerbersecurity. Insider Threat Summit 2019. Monterrey, CA. 17-18 April 2019.
Burns D on behalf of CMS. A collider search for Dark Matter produced in association with a Higgs boson in the four-lepton final state at the 13 TeV LHC with CMS. US LHC Users Association Meeting. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA. 2-4 Nov 2016.
Burns D on behalf of CMS. A collider search for Dark Matter produced in association with a Higgs boson in the four-lepton final state at the 13 TeV LHC with CMS. APS Far West Section Meeting, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA. 29 October 2016.
Burns D on behalf of CRAYFIS. Cosmic RAYs Found In Smartphones. Grad Slam research presentation competition. Grad Studies, UC Davis, Davis, CA. 1 March 2016.
Mobs E, Meyer C, Burns D, Agapitos A, Koutava I, Kokabi A. CMS Create: Jumping for particles. Report and product demonstration at: 2015 CMS Create Competition. Ideasquare, CERN. 20 November 2015.
Burns D. Dark matter search via mono-Higgs → ZZ → four leptons. Report presented at: CMS Exotica Workshop 2015. Venice, Italy. 13 November 2015.
Academic Appointments
Teaching Assistant, Department of Physics, University of California, Davis, 2011-2013, 2017
Graduate Student Researcher, Department of Physics, University of California, Davis, 2013-2017
Graduate Student Researcher, CERN, 2013-2017
Undergraduate Researcher, Department of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-2011
Undergraduate Researcher, Department of Mathematics, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009
Undergraduate Researcher, Department of Mathematics, University of Georgia, 2008
Professional Affiliations
American Statistical Association (member)
American Physical Society (member)
Project Experience
Independent cross validation of proprietary AI-based marketing forecasting models.
Optimizing data collection and cleaning procedures for a large utilities client, including over 100 sources of data from 70+ years of collection.
Collecting big data for client algorithm development across many US and international cities, including project management, logistics coordination, proprietary equipment operation and security, and database management.
Automated data quality inspection on a production line using image analysis and computer vision techniques.
Application of data visualization theory to produce or improve data graphics for multiple clients.
Expertise in the application of AI in cybersecurity and securing AI data pipelines, including mitigating malicious attacks like poison data injection and spoofing autonomous vehicle sensors.
Improved performance of computer vision and machine learning algorithm for prototype internet connected device. Continually analyzed incoming data, diagnosing field failures and quantifying performance of algorithm.
Performed network packet sniffing analysis of consumer electronic devices as part of a litigation case for potential patent violations. Disassembled, documented, and performed chipset and patent claims analysis.
Subjected identity cards to various stress and failure tests according to ANSI and NIST standards, including precision measurements, abrasion, and chemical testing.
Analyzed mobile device computer forensics data. Cleaned evidence documents with OCR and cross referenced multiple data streams.
Developed software for programming secure medical device technology, responding to client requests for additional feature improvements.
Analyzed battery charging data to characterize the over discharged and charging cutoff behavior of various cells in Matlab. Measured force applied to mechanical components and prepared plots and presentation of results.
Designed test stand for failure replication of consumer electronics devices via three-point bending. Performed further failure replication testing with reproducible drop and torque testing.
Performed field inspections of multiple electrical devices, evaluating damage to sites and acquiring data recorded by devices for future analysis.
News & Events
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CREDENTIALS & PROFESSIONAL HONORS
- Ph.D., Physics, University of California, Davis, 2017
- M.S., Physics, University of California, Davis, 2013
- B.S., Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), 2011, summa cum laude, with research distinction in physics
- B.S., Applied Materials , Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), 2011, summa cum laude
Ursula Wiegand Scholarship Fund (2008-2011)
Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally (HOPE) Scholarship, Department of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology (2008-2011)
AT&T Foundation Scholarship (2010)
National Science Foundation Mentoring Through Critical Transition Points (MCTP) Scholarship, Department of Mathematics, Georgia Institute of Technology (2009, 2010)
Metha Phingbodhipakkiya Memorial Scholarship, Department of Mathematics, Georgia Institute of Technology (2009)
Student Marshal, Middle Georgia College Class of 2008
Engineering Physics Award, Department of Physics, Middle Georgia College (2008)
Sophomore Mathematics Award, Department of Mathematics, Middle Georgia College (2008)
Georgia Academy of Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement Award (2008)
Governor’s Scholarship, Georgia Institute of Technology (2008)
Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, Middle Georgia College (2006)
LICENSES & CERTIFICATIONS
Graduate Statistician (GStat), American Statistical Association
Applied Data Science with Python Specialization, Coursera