News
Explainable AI
University of Delaware computer scientist and DSI Resident Faculty member Xi Peng and oceanographer and DSI Faculty Council member Art Trembanis are using artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze seafloor data from the Mid-Atlantic Ocean. The goal is to develop robust machine-learning methods that can accurately and reliably detect objects in seafloor data.
For The Record
Interdisciplinary disaster research involving the College of Health Sciences and the College of Engineering will be supported by a nearly $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). DSI Faculty Council member Jennifer Horney, professor and founding director of the Epidemiology Program, will work on research that aims to improve the ability of infrastructure and communities to withstand severe natural hazards.
Davis, Shores Named 2023 Gerard J. Mangone Young Scholars
Kyle Davis (left), DSI Resident Faculty member and assistant professor of geography and spatial sciences and plant and soil sciences, and Kenneth Shores, DSI Affiliated Faculty member and assistant professor in the School of Education, are the 2023 Gerard J. Mangone Young Scholars in recognition of being promising faculty and accomplished work as researchers by the University of Delaware’s Francis Alison Society.
At the Center of a Business Revolution
UD’s Financial Services Analytics (FSAN) doctoral program began with the first cohort of students in 2014. It forges a link between different fields of study and the corporate world via a partnership between the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, the College of Engineering and JPMorgan Chase. The program offers doctoral students financial support and access to top-notch facilities while they pursue an intensive program of research and learning with input from multiple disciplines. It’s competitive, with only a few students accepted every two years.
“As far as I know, there’s no (other) such a program at the Ph.D. level,” said Bintong Chen, DSI faculty council member and director of FSAN.
DSI Director Cathy Wu presents at UD Board of Trustees Meeting
Cathy Wu, director of the Data Science Institute and Unidel Edward G. Jefferson Chair in Engineering and Computer Science, presents on artificial intelligence, health equity and financial technology at the semiannual Board of Trustees meeting.
Wu defined artificial intelligence as “giving computer systems the ability to do things that typically require human intelligence” and explained the ways in which AI can be used to drive science and technology forward for the benefit of all.
Predicting Patterns
DSI Affiliated Faculty member Tarang Parekh, Epidemiology Assistant Professor, and colleagues used Google Trends search data to find a link between RSV searches and pediatric hospitalizations. The study, recently published in the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Hospital Pediatrics journal, is the first of its kind, showing lead-time predictions that could have significant ramifications on overburdened healthcare systems.
For the Record
The Delaware Center for Cognitive Aging Research (DECCAR) has received a $575,000 award from the Paul H. Boerger Fund of the Delaware Community Foundation to advance Alzheimer’s research in the state. With more than 600,000 people living with Alzheimer’s in the region, this funding will support a one-year initiative to identify essential mechanisms linking modifiable lifestyle factors to accelerated dementia risk. DSI Resident Faculty member Austin Brockmeier, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is a co-investigator on this project.
Offshore Wind Energy Grants
DSI Affiliated Faculty member Nina David, associate professor in UD’s Joseph R. Biden Jr., School of Public Policy and Administration and the director of the Energy and Environmental Policy Program, is part of a multi-institutional team of researchers looking at how coastal communities perceive offshore wind in order to better understand their concerns, preferences and values.
Allured by Night Light
New research published in the journal Nature Communications by DSI Faculty Council member Jeff Buler, a University of Delaware professor of wildlife ecology, finds that skyglow — how bright the night sky is because of artificial light — is a top predictor of where large numbers of migrating birds are going to stop and rest during their migrations across the U.S.
Western Water Crisis
DSI Resident Faculty member Kyle Davis, assistant professor at UD, and Dongyang Wei, a doctoral student at UD, are part of a research group investigating six agriculturally important river basins in the western U.S. that are experiencing water scarcity: the Great Salt Lake, the Lower Colorado River, the Rio Grande, Snake River, Platte River and the San Joaquin River. Through their research, they determined which crops are currently being grown in the areas and examined how switching to less water-intensive crops would help with water scarcity while also allowing farmers to remain economically viable.
