SISL-Yahoo!

The joint Caltech - Yahoo! conference, also known as SISL-YAHOO!, took place November 9- November 11. In the words of Yahoo! Research scientist Michael Schwarz, the event was “an interdisciplinary delight.”

SISL is short for the Social and Information Sciences Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. The lab studies how markets and other social systems aggregate large amounts of widely distributed information. Researchers at SISL also work on designing new and improved markets, network protocols, sensor systems, and political processes.

One of the unique aspects of SISL is its focus on understanding how humans interact with technology—and what that means for the design of the technology. To address the intersection of human behavior and technology, SISL brings together researchers from the social sciences, engineering, and applied and computational mathematics.

This year’s conference featured a number of thought-provoking papers and presentations by both Yahoo! scientists and Caltech students. David Reilly and Michael Schwarz gave well-received talks, as did Bill Zame, whose engaging presentation on selfish/social behavior was a big hit with the audience.

“I really enjoyed the lively exchange of information and diversity of content,” says Yahoo! Research scientist Elizabeth Churchill, who presented the work she did with Yahoo! summer intern Elizabeth Goodman on the use of technology to initiate new relationships and find dates online.

Her talk struck a chord with audience members. “Many people offered their personal online dating stories and as well as ideas and insights into matching algorithms,” Churchill says. “The folks from SISL were very friendly and smart.”