ICDS News

Guido Cervone, Penn State Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS) interim director and professor of geography and meteorology and of atmospheric science, welcomes attendees to ICDS Day MMXXIV: Shaping The Future of Penn State's Digital Research. ICDS Day brought Penn State faculty, staff and students and industry experts together to learn more about data ethics and analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, as well as available computational resources for interdisciplinary research. Credit: Scott Walther/ICDS

ICDS Day showcases interdisciplinary research opportunities, available resources

Editor’s Note: A version of this article originally appeared on Penn State News.

The Penn State Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS) recently hosted ICDS Day MMXXIV: Shaping the Future of Penn State’s Digitial Research, a symposium that aimed to foster innovation and explore the intersection of digital technologies and research on Oct. 23 at HUB-Robeson Center.

The event, which brought over 70 attendees, showcased 13 researchers and 24 students who are currently pursuing or seeking to pursue interdisciplinary research endeavors including computational and data sciences.

Penn State faculty, staff and students and industry experts participated in various panel discussions, flash talks, breakout and networking sessions that covered topics such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, research funding and resources, and data ethics and analytics. ICDS researchers led many of these discussions and spoke about their experiences utilizing AI and computer visualization, as well as the RISE engineering team and the Center for Immersive Experiences, to aid in their research projects.

ICDS co-hires Keith Cheng, distinguished professor of pathology, of biochemistry and molecular biology and of pharmacology; Vasant Honavar, professor of information sciences and technology and ICDS associate director; Soundar Kumara, Pearce Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering and director of the Center of Applications of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning to Industry (AIMI); and Edward O’Brien, professor of chemistry, led a panel aimed at providing insights into their current research efforts as well as how to find and manage funding for large, collaborative projects.

“The panel on developing concepts and teams for large grants was very informative. The panelists broke down the complex task into digestible activities and shared lessons learned,” said Wayne Figurelle, ICDS assistant director of innovation and outreach.

Chad Hanna, ICDS co-hire and professor of physics; Josh Stapleton, associate research professor and Materials Characterization Lab director; and Paul Esker, professor of epidemiology and field crop pathology, also spoke on their research successes using resources from ICDS and affiliated centers and facilities.

Bhavika Jain, third-year undergraduate student studying computer science and mathematics, and Praneeth Sunkavalli and Jainil Kakka, Penn State Great Valley graduate students, were celebrated with achievements for their research at the ICDS Day student poster session.

Jain, whose poster was awarded first place, worked in collaboration with Travis Hughes, a computer science and engineering student who recently graduated in August, under the mentorship of Mahfuza Farooque, associate teaching professor in the Penn State College of Engineering. Their research developed a machine learning-based recommendation tool to monitor and adjust social media content for users who are frequently engaging with sad content. The goal with this research is to balance out content exposure and promote a more positive online experience.

Sunkavalli and Kakka’s research was under the mentorship of Nonna Sorokina, assistant professor of business/finance at Penn State Scranton and AIMI fellow, and Dusan Ramljak, assistant professor of software engineering at Penn State Great Valley. This project quantified pressuring success in soccer matches. Pressuring, according to the students, is defined as when one opponent attempts to win the ball from another opponent. The goal of the research was to identify key indicators of successful pressing and explore predictive models that can enhance the execution of these strategies in a match. This research took second place.

Many attendees expressed the significance of interdisciplinary research, as well as learning lessons from ICDS researchers covering a broad range of topics.

“One of my key takeaways from ICDS Day was the significance of interdisciplinary collaboration,” Sunkavalli said. “Seeing how different fields approach data analytics inspired us to think outside the box in our own research.”

Share

Related Posts

• Featured Researcher: Nick Tusay
• Multi-institutional team to use AI to evaluate social, behavioral science claims
• NSF invests in cyberinfrastructure institute to harness cosmic data
• Center for Immersive Experiences set to debut, serving researchers and students
• Distant Suns, Distant Worlds
• CyberScience Seminar: Researcher to discuss how AI can help people avoid adverse drug interactions
• AI could offer warnings about serious side effects of drug-drug interactions
• Taking RTKI drugs during radiotherapy may not aid survival, worsens side effects
• Cost-effective cloud research computing options now available for researchers
• Costs of natural disasters are increasing at the high end
• Model helps choose wind farm locations, predicts output
• Virus may jump species through ‘rock-and-roll’ motion with receptors
• Researchers seek to revolutionize catalyst design with machine learning
• Resilient Resumes team places third in Nittany AI Challenge
• ‘AI in Action’: Machine learning may help scientists explore deep sleep
• Clickbait Secrets Exposed! Humans and AI team up to improve clickbait detection
• Focusing computational power for more accurate, efficient weather forecasts
• How many Earth-like planets are around sun-like stars?
• Professor receives NSF grant to model cell disorder in heart
• SMH! Brains trained on e-devices may struggle to understand scientific info
• Whole genome sequencing may help officials get a handle on disease outbreaks
• New tool could reduce security analysts’ workloads by automating data triage
• Careful analysis of volcano’s plumbing system may give tips on pending eruptions
• Reducing farm greenhouse gas emissions may plant the seed for a cooler planet
• Using artificial intelligence to detect discrimination
• Four ways scholars say we can cut the chances of nasty satellite data surprises
• Game theory shows why stigmatization may not make sense in modern society
• Older adults can serve communities as engines of everyday innovation
• Pig-Pen effect: Mixing skin oil and ozone can produce a personal pollution cloud
• Researchers find genes that could help create more resilient chickens
• Despite dire predictions, levels of social support remain steady in the U.S.
• For many, friends and family, not doctors, serve as a gateway to opioid misuse
• New algorithm may help people store more pictures, share videos faster
• Head named for Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering
• Scientific evidence boosts action for activists, decreases action for scientists
• People explore options, then selectively represent good options to make difficult decisions
• Map reveals that lynching extended far beyond the deep South
• Gravitational forces in protoplanetary disks push super-Earths close to stars
• Supercomputer cluster donation helps turn high school class into climate science research lab
• Believing machines can out-do people may fuel acceptance of self-driving cars
• People more likely to trust machines than humans with their private info
• IBM donates system to Penn State to advance AI research
• ICS Seed Grants to power projects that use AI, machine learning for common good
• Penn State Berks team advances to MVP Phase of Nittany AI Challenge
• Creepy computers or people partners? Working to make AI that enhances humanity
• Sky is clearing for using AI to probe weather variability
• ‘AI will see you now’: Panel to discuss the AI revolution in health and medicine
• Privacy law scholars must address potential for nasty satellite data surprises
• Researchers take aim at hackers trying to attack high-value AI models
• Girls, economically disadvantaged less likely to get parental urging to study computers
• Seed grants awarded to projects using Twitter data
• Researchers find features that shape mechanical force during protein synthesis
• A peek at living room decor suggests how decorations vary around the world
• Interactive websites may cause antismoking messages to backfire
• Changing how government assesses risk may ease fallout from extreme financial events
• Symposium at U.S. Capitol seeks solutions to election security
• ICS co-sponsors Health, Environment Seed Grant Program
• Differences in genes’ geographic origin influence mitochondrial function
• Using social media to solve social problems- study funded by ICS seed grant