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Georeferencing of Historical Imagery
Analyzing the Influence of Social Determinants on COVID-19 Indicators in Massachusetts
Improving the Regional Transport Network
Supporting Electric Vehicle Planning in African Cities
Tracking Threats to Digital Security
Georeferencing of Historical Imagery
Partner: UMass Libraries and UMass Department of Environmental Conservation
Aerial images can provide useful insights into how land and waterways change over time. To be able to compare images from different sources and time periods, georeferencing (identifying the exact latitude and longitude) is required. This time-consuming task can currently only be done by trained human analysts. Master’s students Collin Giguere and Sowmya Vasuki Jallepalli developed an image-processing system to automatically georeference historical images. [Write Up]
Save the Whales
Partners: Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, UMass Amherst Biology department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
When whales are encountered near the surface of the ocean, it can be useful to be able to quickly assess their health, for conservation, evaluation, and other purposes. Master’s students Chhandak Bagchi and Gizem Cicekli developed a tool for identifying a whale from an aerial image, automatically marking its head and tail, and estimating its size. [Write-up]
Analyzing the Influence of Social Determinants on COVID-19 Indicators in Massachusetts
Partner: MA Department of Public Health
The MA Department of Public Health is responsible for overseeing the COVID-19 response in Massachusetts, including vaccination rates. Master’s students Anushka Basu, Disha Singh, and Ian Birle created a tool that takes disparate data and merges it into a comprehensive dataset that the Massachusetts Department of Public Health can use to analyze vaccine uptake trends. [Write-up]
Improving the Regional Transport Network
Partner: Pioneer Valley Transit Authority
The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA) is the largest regional transport authority in Massachusetts.
Master’s students Anuksha Basu, Ian Birle, and Disha Singh developed models to help the PVTA determine how micro-transit (smaller scale vehicles that run on demand) can more effectively serve areas with low ridership.[Write-up]
Supporting Electric Vehicle Planning in African Cities
Partner: World Resources Institute
The Word Resources Institute is a global research organization that works on development issues such as energy efficiency and climate change. There is often a lack of critical data for developing countries on topics such as vehicle purchases and usage patterns. Master’s student Tanmay Agrawal and doctoral student Bob Muhwezi developed a tool to analyze aerial images to determine vehicle usage and density. [Write-up]
Tracking Threats to Digital Security
Partner: The Center for Digital Resilience
The Center for Digital Resilience (CDR) is a nonprofit organization that provides cybersecurity assistance to activists and nongovernmental organizations. Master’s students Paige Gulley and Virginia Partridge developed models to automatically analyze and categorize reports of cybersecurity incidents, as well as redact sensitive information, to aid CDR in sharing threat intelligence data with a global network of collaborators. [Write-up]
