Perspective: Materials informatics and big data: Realization of the “fourth paradigm” of science in materials science

Our ability to collect “big data” has greatly surpassed our capability to analyze it, underscoring the emergence of the fourth paradigm of science, which is data-driven discovery. The need for data informatics is also emphasized by the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI), further boosting the emerging field of materials informatics. In this article, we look at how data-driven techniques are playing a big role in deciphering processing-structure-property-performance relationships in materials, with illustrative examples of both forward models (property prediction) and inverse models (materials discovery). Such analytics can significantly reduce time-to-insight and accelerate cost-effective materials discovery,…

• NI
  National Institute of Standards and Technology

  Award: 70NANB14H012
• DA
  Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

  Award: N66001-15-C-4036
• AF
  Air Force Office of Scientific Research

  Award: FA9550-12-1-0458