NSF Award
2131269
This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).<br/><br/>Data science is an interdisciplinary field in which statistical, computer science, and mathematical concepts overlap for the acquisition, analysis, and extraction of valuable insights from large datasets. Similarly, data engineering promotes the flow and accession of data through the developing and application of software tools, interfaces and mechanisms. Together, tools from these fields are often applied to other domains (e.g., medicine, agriculture, urban planning) to generate new understanding from data. But insights gained through data science and engineering tools are far superior when applied in a transdisciplinary and collaborative approach that includes expertise in both the data tools and the fields to which they are being applied. To develop better insights into improving the state of nutrition-associated disorders in urban “food deserts,” the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology at the University of the District of Columbia will expand its capacity to train Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s students using an integrated training model in data science and engineering (IMDSE). This new program will build research capacity through transdisciplinary education program that systematically integrates data science, data engineering, and agriculture automation.<br/><br/>The IMDSE program will catalyze scientific discovery and innovation by training students in data science and engineering and urban aquaponics automation. Aquaponics automation focuses on creating sustainable food production in urban areas and requires knowledge and application of deep machine learning, cloud computing, data science and engineering technologies, internet-of-things technologies, sensor and actuator technologies, wireless communications, and web programming, as well as agriculture, agronomy, nutrition, biology, public health, and environmental sciences. This IMDSE program will be a first and original foundation for training undergraduate and graduate students with both experiential and transdisciplinary expertise in targeted interdisciplinary and convergent research areas. While the initial target is on agriculture automation, other research areas requiring insights from big data science and engineering will be included as the program grows into a national-scale program.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
