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Diving Into The Strange World Of Xenobots – Science Friday

December 3, 2021 | Author: admin

Kinematically Replicating Organisms (KROs; beige) beside loose stem cells (white). AI-designed (C-shaped) organisms push loose stem cells (white) into piles as they move through their environment. Credit: Doug Blackiston and Sam Kriegman

Just under two years ago, Science Friday reported on the strange world of xenobotsstructures designed by an algorithm and crafted out of living cells taken from frog embryos. Those tiny constructs could slowly wriggle their way across a petri dish, powered by the contractions of frog heart cells. Now, the researchers behind the bots have created a new generation of structures that can swimand, if provided with additional loose frog skin cells in their dish, organize those cells into clumps that eventually begin to move on their own.

Josh Bongard, a professor of computer science at the University of Vermont and a member of the xenobots research team, joins Ira to talk about the advance in what he likens to living wind-up toys. The work was reported this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Bongard and colleagues say that they were interested in learning more about self-replicating systems, and the various factors that go into either speeding up or slowing down a systems ability to self-replicate. Theyre also interested in exploring whether such cellular systems might be able to do useful work. However, fear notBongard explains that without a ready supply of loose frog skin cells, these bots peter out.

See more video and photos from the research below.

Almost all organisms replicate by growing and then shedding offspring. Some molecules also replicate, but by moving rather than growing: they find and combine building blocks into self copies. Here we show that clusters of cells, if freed from a developing organism, can similarly find and combine loose cells into clusters that look and move like they do, and that this ability does not have to be specifically evolved or introduced by genetic manipulation. Finally, we show that AI can design clusters that replicate better, and perform useful work as they do so. This suggests future technologies may, with little outside guidance, become more useful as they spread, and that life harbors surprising behaviors just below the surface, waiting to be uncovered. Credit: Doug Blackiston and Sam Kriegman

Sculpting two of the AI-generated designs with a microcautery electrode. Credit: Doug Blackiston and Sam Kriegman

A computer simulation was created in which a swarm of nine simulated frog-cell parents (pink) build piles out of simulated adhesive frog stem cells (green) that are strewn across the bottom of a simulated petri dish. The default body shape of parents (and their children) is a sphere: this is what the stem cells want to make (due to surface tension) when brought together. The default spherical parents (pink) often fail to self replicate in simulation. Credit: Doug Blackiston and Sam Kriegman

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Women of the Well House supports new campus programs: Indiana University Kokomo – IUK Newsroom

December 3, 2021 | Author: admin

KOKOMO, Ind. A project to add native plant species to campus, a digital storytelling and spoken word workshop, opportunities for students to mentor other students, and initiatives to diversify students studying computer sciences, received $28,077 in grants from Indiana University Kokomos Women of the Well House.

The giving circle provided funding for 10 programs led by faculty, staff, and students.

Cathy Clearwaters, director of development, said since its inception in 2017, the circle has given approximately $110,000 to programs benefiting not only IU Kokomo, but the surrounding community.

By pooling our resources, the Women of the Well House experience how these initiatives are positively impacting our community, and that is so rewarding, she said.

M. Abdullah Canbaz, assistant professor of computer science, said his grant will help attract students who are underrepresented in computer science to consider the field.

Not only do female, Black, and Hispanic students lack some of the access and exposure to computer science that their counterparts have, there are long-standing social barriers that foster narrow views of who does computer science that can halt interest and advancement, he said. As our field continues to grow and mature, it is vital to identify and nurture diversity in our ranks and publication. We want to provide a financial incentive, positive encouragement, and peer mentoring for selected students in our program.

Christina Romero-Ivanova, assistant professor of education, was honored to receive grants to support a week of workshops in spoken word and digital literacy for the Indiana State Literacy Association, of which she is an executive board member.

The festival provides an opportunity for community voices that may have been marginalized to speak their stories, she said. The grants allow it to continue, and for us to support secondary teachers and students in Indiana, while collaborating with my colleagues and students on our campus, as well as others around the state.

Part of the grant also provides more than 2,000 books for foster youth statewide.

This is important, as it helps families with home literacy, said Romero-Ivanova, who applied for the grant with Brooke Komar, visiting lecturer of psychology.

Additional programs receiving funding included:

Dedicate and Educate: IU Kokomo native plant project: Andy Tuholski, director of the Office of Sustainability and visiting lecturer in political science, applied for funding to expand annual campus planting efforts, with focus on introducing more native species, and creating university-approved identification signs for native trees and plants on campus in prominent locations.

Podfest 22: Paul Cook, Podfest chair, and board of directors members Erin Doss, Tess Barker, Meg Galasso, Jamie Oslawski-Lopez, Quiana Preston, Julie Deem, and Jim Coby plan to continue the podcasting festival that began in 2021 with a virtual edition. The 2022 event will be a month-long podcasting festival, both in-person and online, where students from diverse backgrounds and experiences can share creative digital stories, engage with the community, and celebrate the power and connective power of human storytelling.

Pedagogical Partnerships: Julie Saam, assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs, applied for funding for a Students and Learners and Teachers program in which Multicultural Center Equity Ambassadors will serve as paid pedagogical consultants to faculty.

From STEM majors to educators a STEM teacher recruiting initiative: The project, led by Leah Nellis, dean of the School of Education, Christian Chauret, dean of the School of Sciences, Lu Wang, assistant professor of science education and Patrick Motl, associate dean of the School of Sciences and professor of physics; attempts to address the need of preparing high-quality STEM teachers, and serves as the first step to recruit STEM majors and professionals to consider teaching.

NMAT student leaders/tutors: This program will hire high-performing new media, art, and technology juniors and seniors to assist, train, or mentor foundation level students, or students preparing for their thesis work. It will empower upper-level students through mentoring and teaching their peers, while also helping students in need of extra support, skills, or knowledge. Erik Deerly, chair of NMAT and professor of NMAT, received the grant.

Educator wellness and resilience: Dean Leah Nellis and Cheryl Moore-Beyioku, lecturer in special education, applied for funding to expand its program, which is designed to support the well-being and resilience of preservice educators and recent School of Education alumni, through mentoring, self-care practices, and connection, to support retention of teachers.

Support for launch of KEY Center for Innovation: Funding will help with infrastructure for the new Center, which provides experiential learning for students through community-based projects, while expanding the campuss presence in the community. Director Alan Krabbenhoft said needs include workspace and equipment for presentations, as well as professional association dues.

Prince Edward Island trip for the Anne of Green Gables Literacy Circle: Grants would help pay for travel costs for undergraduate and graduate students, alumni, staff, and faculty as a culminating trip to provide experiences related to the Anne of Green Gables book series. Christina Romero-Ivanova, assistant professor of education, facilitates the group.

Membership in Women of the Well House is open to women who make a $1,000 per year commitment. Each member has a voice in selecting projects to fund. For more information contact Clearwaters at cclearwa@iuk.edu or 765-455-9410.

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Silicon Valley beckoned, but he went home to Delaware – MIT News

December 3, 2021 | Author: admin

During his first year at MIT, Max Williamson felt lost and unsure of his long-term goals. By spring, he faced what felt like a career-altering decision: pursue a coveted summer computer science research position at MIT or return home to Delaware and intern for his senator.

His friends thought he was crazy to pursue public service over a high-paying career in Silicon Valley. However, after working hands-on with local communities in Delaware while also learning the tangible, human impact of policymaking, Williamson knew he made the right choice.

The technical side of policy

Now a senior majoring in computer science and electrical engineering with a minor in public policy, Williamson sees his technical background and coding skills as important assets in the policy arena. They have equipped him with the tools to tackle big, structural problems with an engineering mindset, and have allowed him to make contributions in a variety of policy areas.

During his summer internship in Senator Chris Coons Delaware office, Williamson supported the constituent advocacy team, helping people with everything from filing taxes to avoiding eviction. He was exposed to a wide range of public policy issues in the process, but was particularly struck by a lack of access to computer science education in his hometown.

Recognizing how lucky he had been to receive exposure to computer science through his charter school in Delaware, Williamson wanted to support other students in his home state. Through the PKG Center at MIT, he worked with community centers in the state to start a program dubbed CoDE, teaching young people the fundamentals of computer science. Williamson has also taught computer science in Italy as a part of MITs Global Teaching Labs program, instructing students on the basics of JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.

Williamson also used his computer science background when he found himself at the forefront of his county governments Covid-19 response efforts. He worked as a special projects manager for New Castle County, tasked with overseeing around $8 million in federal and charitable funds, which culminated in the launch of a Covid-19 testing and genomics lab at Delaware State University. His role was to facilitate communication between key players in the operation, such as consultants, lawyers, contractors, and county and university staff. Although he was initially unfamiliar with specific medical science policies and regulations, Williamsons problem-solving skills helped him to engage with experts, digest a large amount of information, and learn what he needed to know. Over the next several months, he and the team scaled the lab to process thousands of tests each day, which allowed the university to host all of its students for in-person learning last spring.

Williamson has also been involved in electoral politics. After working as a fellow with Massachusetts for Biden in the winter of 2020, Williamson founded MIT for Biden, which mobilized students to vote for his hometown hero. Later, he took the fall semester off from MIT to serve as the data director for Senator Coons reelection campaign.

However, while he enjoyed working in politics and on domestic policy issues, Williamson has recently been drawn to tackle problems on a more global scale.

A global focus

Williamson moved to Washington last summer to work for Coons again, this time as a foreign policy legislative fellow. Soon he found himself drafting letters to cabinet officials, holding meetings with nongovernmental organizations, and preparing Coons for meetings with ambassadors and foreign ministers. He believes his exposure to local social policy problems has helped prepare him to address global development issues. Ultimately, he wants to focus on foreign assistance policy that seeks to remove barriers to peoples fundamental needs, such as access to health care and education.

Williamson has also worked to facilitate conversations and find common ground with his peers at MIT. He is currently the director of outreach for Civic Synergy, an organization that seeks to bring students across political divides together to have meaningful conversations about current political issues. If I can get students from different ideological camps to come together and learn to hold substantive conversations about the thorny issues my generation faces, then thats a win for me, he says.

Williamson sees Civic Synergy as an opportunity to get students interested in public service. He wants to reinforce the connection between STEM-based careers and social impact, showing students in engineering and other STEM-based fields how they can impact social change and policy, even if they dont realize it. As engineers, we can and should make meaningful, positive differences in public policy, he says.

In April 2021, Williamson was named a Truman Scholar, which funds graduate study for students pursuing leadership careers in public service. He hopes to use the scholarship to pursue either law school or a masters degree in public policy. On either path, he hopes to gain a more thorough academic understanding of the policymaking process before working in government again. In the future, he hopes to use his unique combination of skills and experiences to inform U.S. foreign assistance and national security policy.

Given the opportunities Williamson has been granted by MIT, he now feels a responsibility and a desire to pursue a career in public service. I have had opportunities that very few people get to have, and I hope to use them to serve others, he says.

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Santa Reminds Us to Be Our Best Year Round – goskagit.com

December 3, 2021 | Author: admin

Country

United States of AmericaUS Virgin IslandsUnited States Minor Outlying IslandsCanadaMexico, United Mexican StatesBahamas, Commonwealth of theCuba, Republic ofDominican RepublicHaiti, Republic ofJamaicaAfghanistanAlbania, People's Socialist Republic ofAlgeria, People's Democratic Republic ofAmerican SamoaAndorra, Principality ofAngola, Republic ofAnguillaAntarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S)Antigua and BarbudaArgentina, Argentine RepublicArmeniaArubaAustralia, Commonwealth ofAustria, Republic ofAzerbaijan, Republic ofBahrain, Kingdom ofBangladesh, People's Republic ofBarbadosBelarusBelgium, Kingdom ofBelizeBenin, People's Republic ofBermudaBhutan, Kingdom ofBolivia, Republic ofBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswana, Republic ofBouvet Island (Bouvetoya)Brazil, Federative Republic ofBritish Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago)British Virgin IslandsBrunei DarussalamBulgaria, People's Republic ofBurkina FasoBurundi, Republic ofCambodia, Kingdom ofCameroon, United Republic ofCape Verde, Republic ofCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChad, Republic ofChile, Republic ofChina, People's Republic ofChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombia, Republic ofComoros, Union of theCongo, Democratic Republic ofCongo, People's Republic ofCook IslandsCosta Rica, Republic ofCote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of theCyprus, Republic ofCzech RepublicDenmark, Kingdom ofDjibouti, Republic ofDominica, Commonwealth ofEcuador, Republic ofEgypt, Arab Republic ofEl Salvador, Republic ofEquatorial Guinea, Republic ofEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFaeroe IslandsFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Fiji, Republic of the Fiji IslandsFinland, Republic ofFrance, French RepublicFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabon, Gabonese RepublicGambia, Republic of theGeorgiaGermanyGhana, Republic ofGibraltarGreece, Hellenic RepublicGreenlandGrenadaGuadaloupeGuamGuatemala, Republic ofGuinea, RevolutionaryPeople's Rep'c ofGuinea-Bissau, Republic ofGuyana, Republic ofHeard and McDonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican City State)Honduras, Republic ofHong Kong, Special Administrative Region of ChinaHrvatska (Croatia)Hungary, Hungarian People's RepublicIceland, Republic ofIndia, Republic ofIndonesia, Republic ofIran, Islamic Republic ofIraq, Republic ofIrelandIsrael, State ofItaly, Italian RepublicJapanJordan, Hashemite Kingdom ofKazakhstan, Republic ofKenya, Republic ofKiribati, Republic ofKorea, Democratic People's Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwait, State ofKyrgyz RepublicLao People's Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanon, Lebanese RepublicLesotho, Kingdom ofLiberia, Republic ofLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtenstein, Principality ofLithuaniaLuxembourg, Grand Duchy ofMacao, Special Administrative Region of ChinaMacedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascar, Republic ofMalawi, Republic ofMalaysiaMaldives, Republic ofMali, Republic ofMalta, Republic ofMarshall IslandsMartiniqueMauritania, Islamic Republic ofMauritiusMayotteMicronesia, Federated States ofMoldova, Republic ofMonaco, Principality ofMongolia, Mongolian People's RepublicMontserratMorocco, Kingdom ofMozambique, People's Republic ofMyanmarNamibiaNauru, Republic ofNepal, Kingdom ofNetherlands AntillesNetherlands, Kingdom of theNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaragua, Republic ofNiger, Republic of theNigeria, Federal Republic ofNiue, Republic ofNorfolk IslandNorthern Mariana IslandsNorway, Kingdom ofOman, Sultanate ofPakistan, Islamic Republic ofPalauPalestinian Territory, OccupiedPanama, Republic ofPapua New GuineaParaguay, Republic ofPeru, Republic ofPhilippines, Republic of thePitcairn IslandPoland, Polish People's RepublicPortugal, Portuguese RepublicPuerto RicoQatar, State ofReunionRomania, Socialist Republic ofRussian FederationRwanda, Rwandese RepublicSamoa, Independent State ofSan Marino, Republic ofSao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic ofSaudi Arabia, Kingdom ofSenegal, Republic ofSerbia and MontenegroSeychelles, Republic ofSierra Leone, Republic ofSingapore, Republic ofSlovakia (Slovak Republic)SloveniaSolomon IslandsSomalia, Somali RepublicSouth Africa, Republic ofSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSpain, Spanish StateSri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic ofSt. HelenaSt. Kitts and NevisSt. LuciaSt. Pierre and MiquelonSt. Vincent and the GrenadinesSudan, Democratic Republic of theSuriname, Republic ofSvalbard & Jan Mayen IslandsSwaziland, Kingdom ofSweden, Kingdom ofSwitzerland, Swiss ConfederationSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwan, Province of ChinaTajikistanTanzania, United Republic ofThailand, Kingdom ofTimor-Leste, Democratic Republic ofTogo, Togolese RepublicTokelau (Tokelau Islands)Tonga, Kingdom ofTrinidad and Tobago, Republic ofTunisia, Republic ofTurkey, Republic ofTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUganda, Republic ofUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited Kingdom of Great Britain & N. IrelandUruguay, Eastern Republic ofUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofViet Nam, Socialist Republic ofWallis and Futuna IslandsWestern SaharaYemenZambia, Republic ofZimbabwe

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Two UB faculty receive NSF funding to study social media in disaster response – UB Now: News and views for UB faculty and staff – University at…

December 3, 2021 | Author: admin

A UB interdisciplinary research team has been awarded a $378,940 grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation to explore how to better utilize the social media platform Twitter for improving disaster response.

Yingjie Hu, assistant professor in the Department of Geography, College of Arts and Sciences, is the projects principal investigator, with Kenneth Joseph, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, serving as co-principal investigator.

The team also includes an industry partner, Geocove a geographic information system (GIS) and disaster management company started by UB alum Karyn Senneff Tareen. Graduate and undergraduate students in both geography and computer science will be involved.

The frequency of natural disasters and peoples novel usage of social media to request help during these events have revealed a need for further research, Hu and Joseph say. They cite Hurricane Harvey as a catalyst for the project.

During that emergency, some callers were left on hold for long wait times, according to news reports. The prevalence, familiarity and accessibility of social media makes it a powerful tool for helping responders to effectively provide aid, Hu and Joseph say.

National Public Radio reported that some people stranded in Houston turned to social media for help when they couldnt get through quickly to 911, Hu says. Essentially, we are looking at how people describe locations on social media to seek help in the context of natural disasters. We will extract the information using AI methods and through a process called geoparsing to translate location mentions from texts into locations on a map.

Data collected from sample tweets from Hurricane Harvey and other natural disasters will provide insight into the ways people describe locations. Research findings could be of value to emergency responders and cities, potentially helping to inform rescue operations for future disasters.

Twitter was selected for studying location descriptions because of its accessibility. Hu explains that its open API (application programming interface) allows academic researchers to access large datasets. Other social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, are more restrictive, he says.

This whole project is about understanding and extracting location descriptions from social media during natural disasters using a three-step framework, Joseph says.

This framework includes understanding location descriptions during natural disasters; investigating different geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI) approaches for location extraction; and understanding the spatial biases in location descriptions.

Hu and Joseph will partner with Geocove to study Tweets from Hurricane Harvey and classify them into different categories. Collaboration with Geocove connects Hu and Joseph with emergency managers and municipalities data on disaster response.

The research team will develop and integrate AI models to extract and determine coordinates of the locations where people were asking for help. They will also research whether location descriptions were concentrated in certain areas and determine if certain neighborhoods were neglected through the response process.

Although social media users tend to be younger, Hu and Joseph note that younger generations spoke on behalf of older community members to request help during Hurricane Harvey. The researchers are still working to address the question, What do we miss? by also focusing on the platforms demographics to better determine how to help.

Such research examines disaster response through the alternative lens of social media. It serves as a basis through which to inform future response efforts to ultimately reduce inequalities and save lives, says Hu.

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Announcing SWENext Award Recipients from WE21 – All Together – Society of Women Engineers

December 3, 2021 | Author: admin

These outstanding future engineers and computer scientists were honored for their pursuits of engineering projects, their understanding of engineering principles, their roles in inspiring young girls to pursue engineering, and their contributions to the communities they live in.

The SWENext Global Innovator Award recognizes outstanding young women shaping the future of SWE who have demonstrated a commitment to bettering the lives of women in STEM.

Hiya, an aspiring Computer Science and Electrical engineer from California, is the President of her high schools SWENext Club and the founder and Executive Director of TheCodeBakery, a global peer-learning non-profit that provides hands-on teaching to underrepresented youth. When she learned residents of her local community were not aware of their own water quality, she built an IOS app and Arduino sensor to estimate real-time household water quality and was selected as the winner of the Congressional App Challenge for Californias 15th Congressional District.

Madalyn, an aspiring Computer Science engineer from California, is the Founder and former President of her high schools SWENext Club. In 2019, she traveled to WE Local in St. Louis to represent her team for the DesignLab Community Engagement Challenge and received a grant for their proposed event, Girls in STEM Inspiration Day 2019. The following year, her team received a DesignLab grant for their Go Baby Go program that provides modified ride-on cars to young children with disabilities.

Janise, an aspiring Computer Science and Electrical engineer from Pennsylvania, is Co-Founder of her schools SWENext Club and serves as its Director of Outreach. She co-founded and developed the BuzzBandSM, a patent-pending vibration device that motivates youth with autism to exercise through tactile stimulation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led a team in developing CITISYNC, a highly accurate occupancy tracking system, and was selected as grand champion of the Governors STEM Competition.

Alyssa, an aspiring Computer Science and Robotics engineer from California, is the Founder and President of the STEM Out club at her school, and the Founder and Executive Director of the organization Full STEAM Ahead. She developed an app that connects students with STEM teams based on their location, interest and availability, which received an Honorable Mention in the Congressional App Challenge and is currently in the Google Playstore for testing.

Megan, an aspiring Computer Science engineer from California, is the founder and executive director of Tech Girls United and president of the organization GAITEway (Girls in AI and Tech Education). In 2020, she hosted a summer camp to teach girls about data sciences, reaching over a hundred participants from 15 states and 18 countries. Over the last year shes hosted workshops and panels on UX design, fintech, robotics and information science, and this summer she will host a conference for women pursuing careers in tech.

Kiley, an aspiring Civil Engineer from Virginia, is the Founder and President of her high schools SWENext Club, and Vice President of a Girls Who Code club. As president of her SWENext club, she organized virtual events with five fifth grade classes to talk about the Perseverance Rover and created a presentation that reached 1,800 students. Through SWENext, she was inspired to apply for a role as the president of her schools Science National Honor Society and next year, shell get to continue to share her love of engineering as co-president.

Christine an aspiring Computer Science and Electrical engineer from Georgia.

Jannath an aspiring Chemical and Environmental engineer from Michigan.

Aneet an aspiring Biomedical engineer from California.

Aroshi an aspiring Computer Science engineer from California.

Mericel an aspiring Computer Science engineer from California.

Katherine an aspiring Computer Science and Software engineer from California.

Archishma an aspiring Computer Science and Robotics engineer from Georgia.

Rhea an aspiring Computer Science engineer from California.

Priyanka an aspiring Computer Science and Robotics engineer from Colorado.

Faye an aspiring Chemical and Environmental engineer from California.

Watch the winning Global Innovator submission videos on the SWENext YouTube Channel and be inspired!

The SWENext Community Award emphasizes the impact SWENexters have in their communities to solve real-world problems. For the 2021 awards, students submitted a poster addressing environmental issues affecting the state of Indiana, as well as their proposed solutions.

Bliss, a high school sophomore from Washington, addressed issues of air pollution in Indiana and provided solutions to work toward net zero carbon emissions in the state. Check out this interview of Bliss at the WE21 Annual Conference in Indianapolis in October!

Felicia, a high school junior from North Carolina, proposed ideas to reduce Indianas carbon footprint by reimagining the Indy 500 race experience.

Alicja, a high school sophomore from Maryland, provided suggestions to incentivize environmentally-friendly practices in Indiana.

Geetika, a high school junior from Indiana, offered insights into preserving the individuality of the Indy 500 while protecting the surrounding environment.

Libby, a high school junior from Wisconsin, outlined a plan to replace diesel-powered vehicles with electric automobiles to reduce negative impacts on the environment.

Ashika, high school junior from California, offered innovative solutions to reduce toxic chemicals in Indianas environment.

The SWENext Clubs Best Practice Award recognizes outstanding SWENext Clubs and the best practices they are implementing. The focus for the 2021 award was best practices in college preparation.

Sierra Canyon School SWENext Club

Sierra Canyon School SWENext Club was founded in California in 2020 with a mission to give members insight into a wide variety of STEM careers. In early 2020, the club hosted the GEMS (Girls Exploring Majors in STEM) Speaker Series, a collection of webinars featuring interviews with collegiate and professional women in STEM designed to offer insight on STEM career pathways.

The SWENext Clubs Challenge Award invites SWENext clubs to consider who or what has inspired them in their STEM journey and how they are paying it forward by inspiring the future generation of engineers in their community.

Benjamin Franklin High School SWENext Club

Benjamin Franklin High School SWENext Club was founded in 2016 in Louisiana with a focus on K-12 STEM education advocacy. Inspired by the support and inclusivity of the SWE community, the club members were united under the common goal of fostering equality in the field of engineering. The club has hosted a series of inventive outreach events designed to provide girls with a positive-hands on experience with engineering, including a Mentor Mash event with STEM professionals, a virtual Back-to-School STEM Day and a Rocket Launch event where girls constructed their own homemade rockets.

SWE Blog

SWE Blog provides up-to-date information and news about the Society and how our members are making a difference every day. Youll find stories about SWE members, engineering, technology, and other STEM-related topics.

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Hundreds of UC faculty named among the world’s Highly Cited Researchers – University of California

December 3, 2021 | Author: admin

More than 300 University of California researchers from across the UC system have been named among the most influential in their fields, according to the 2021 Highly Cited Researchers list released last month by Clarivate.

The annual list identifies a virtual whos who in the sciences and social sciences from around the world. Clarivates 2021 list identified 6,602 researchers who had significant influence in their chosen field or fields, as evidenced by the publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade.

Across the UC system, faculty and researchers accounted for 317 of those listed or nearly 5 percent of the global total with four UC campuses among the top 15 institutions globally for their number of highly-cited researchers. UC Berkeley was 7th, UC San Diego was 9th, while UCLA and UC San Francisco were 13th and 14th respectively.

This list identifies and celebrates exceptional individual researchers at the University of California who are having a significant impact, said David Pendlebury, senior citation analyst at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate. The research they have contributed is fueling the innovation, sustainability, health and security that is key for our societys future.

Clarivates list of standouts included four UC-affiliated researchers who won Nobel Prizes in October: UC Berkeley economist David Card, UC San Francisco physician David Julius, UCLA alum Ardem Patapoutian and UC Irvine alum David McMillan.

It also included UC San Diegos Rob Knight, the only person out of the entire list of 6,602 people to be highly cited in four or more disciplines. Knight, the founding director of the Center for Microbiome Innovation and a professor of pediatrics and computer science and engineering was named a highly cited researcher in the fields of biology and biochemistry, environment/ecology, microbiology, and molecular biology and genetics.

He was one of 54 UC San Diego researchers recognized for having significant influence in their various fields of study.

Having over 50 highly cited researchers from diverse fields of research on the 2021 Clarivate list is the mark of a great research university, said UC San Diego Vice Chancellor for Research Sandra A. Brown. Were excited to see our faculty and researchers get the recognition they deserve for their groundbreaking and impactful research.

Clarivate, formerly known as Clarivate Analytics and Thomas Reuters, provides analytics on scientific and academic research. Its 2021 list contains 6,602 highly cited researchers in 21 fields from more than 70 countries and regions.

Highly cited researchers were identified using data and analysis performed by bibliometric experts from Clarivates Institute for Scientific Information at the Web of Science Group.

The fields are defined by sets of journals and, in the case of multidisciplinary journals such as Nature and Science, a paper-by-paper assignment to a field based on an analysis of cited references in the papers. This percentile-based selection method removes the citation advantage of older papers relative to those more recently published since papers are weighed against others in the same annual cohort. The full 2021 Highly Cited Researchers list, executive summary and methodology can be found at Web of Science.

Editor's note: Minor discrepancies between counting in this story and campus stories can be attributed to whether or not campuses included secondary affiliations in their count. This story includes primary and secondary institutional affiliations to reach its 317 researchers number.

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App State researchers working to save honeybees with informatics – Watauga Democrat

December 3, 2021 | Author: admin

BOONE Hardworking honeybee populations responsible for a third of the food on Americans plates are on the decline in the U.S., meaning food shortages and higher prices at grocery stores could become the future norm. Data gathered by faculty researchers at Appalachian State University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte could alter that trend.

The research team, led by App States Rahman Tashakkori, will conduct a three-year honeybee research program to help address this decline. The program is supported by a nearly $1.1 million grant through the University of North Carolina Systems Research Opportunities Initiative.

As part of the program, the team will create a new beekeeping information system called AppMAIS (App State Multipurpose Apiary Informatics System) to investigate the health, development and genomic diversity of honeybee hives in North Carolina.

The shared data from their research will inform scientists, researchers, educators, beekeepers and the public.

The researchers will employ an open-source internet platform and the Beemon hive monitoring system designed and built by computer science faculty and students at App State.

This award underscores the impactful, high-quality research being conducted by Appalachian faculty, said App States Ece Karatan, vice provost for research. The project has the potential to make App State and North Carolina a national and international hub for apiary informatics.

App State students taking part in the projects cutting-edge research opportunities will be well positioned for graduate school or careers in computer science and biology, Karatan added.

The science of AppMAIS

AppMAIS will provide both beekeepers and researchers with an opportunity to remotely monitor their hives growth and health, according to Tashakkori, who serves as the Lowes Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and chair of the Department of Computer Science. Tashakkori noted manual observation and monitoring of the hives is not feasible on a large scale.

Using AppMAIS, 30 healthy and unhealthy hives in different environments across the state will be monitored. The system will collect and analyze audio and video recordings of hive activity, along with data on hive humidity, temperature and weight.

The team will also extract DNA samples from multiple honeybees and observe the bees genetic diversity changes over the course of a season and between hives.

The project will provide hands-on training opportunities for computer science, biology and biochemistry students at App State and UNC Charlotte, as well as for North Carolina beekeepers who participate in the project.

The AppMAIS faculty team is one of only three at institutions across the UNC System awarded an ROI grant for the 202224 cycle.

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App State researchers working to save honeybees with informatics - Watauga Democrat

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Data Science Program | The George Washington University

December 3, 2021 | Author: admin

EXPERT PROBLEM SOLVERS Meeting the worlds demand for data-driven solutions

Nearly every profession relies on data to succeed. And with the huge quantities of digital information being collected and exchanged in todays marketplace, the demand for trained data scientists is higher than ever.

The STEM-designated Data Science Program at GW's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences prepares students to meet that need and enter competitive careers in government, technology, private industry and much more.

Onward GW: COVID-19 Updates

"The data community is huge here in Washington, D.C. From politics to health to technology, a lot of companies are just so interested in data science."

What We Do

Data science experts learn how to make sense of massive data sets, and they use that information to improve the way we live, work and communicate. Whether forecasting stock market trends, constructing a social media profile for a marketing client or capturing GIS locations for disaster relief, Data Science Program students become adept at meeting todays most pressing challenges.

Alongside classwork, students strengthen their rsums with the practical knowledge required for data-intensive jobs. The program offers access to partnerships with numerous startups, companies and agencies, connectingstudents with internships and careers at employers like Amazon, Booz Allen Hamilton, Capitol One, D.C. Government, the National Institutes of Health, Oracle, the U.S. Department of Defense and more.

Degree Programs

Tailai Jin (MS '17) led a team of five data science students to participate in the Virginia Datathon.The team analyzed text mining on job descriptions in Virginia cities, and their final product was a job recommendation system based onuser-input preferences and keywords.

Originally posted here:

Data Science Program | The George Washington University

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Data Science

December 3, 2021 | Author: admin

Data science is everywhere

Incredible amounts of data are generated every day, from apps on your phone to medical devices. And, every part of society connects with data: agriculture, engineering, finance and more.

Make a difference.Use data to solve global hunger or drive better business decisions. Maybe one day you could shape a hurricane disaster response plan, improve self-driving cars or define a military defense strategy.

Challenge yourself.Engage your quantitativeandcreative side. Youll learn to apply the technical fundamentals of data science to data analysis pipelines and develop the knowledge and skills to transform data into insights. Learn about data visualization and how to communicate your findings to inform actions.

Create your future.Data scientists have the skills for a rewarding career in almost any industry!

Were a place where you can ask new questions and chase big ideas. Conduct undergraduate research with award-winning faculty. Intern in Silicon Valley, or explore a new culture through study abroad. Compete in a case competition with the Data Science Club or do outreach with K-12 students.

At Iowa State, it all adds up to your innovative adventure.

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Data Science

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