Stay Connected, Stay Well

with news from CHHS

September 2021

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Helluva Energy-neers

One ISyE Senior Design team ("Helluva Energy-neers") collaborated with the Georgia World Congress Center to create a tool which utilizes machine learning techniques to enable convention centers to predict energy consumption of events. This capability has historically been absent, preventing convention centers from charging clients for power usage and leading to enormous energy expenses. The team joined Georgia Tech CREATE-X Capstone due to the project's entrepreneurial nature and won the CREATE-X best project award. Congratulations!

Improving the Human Condition

Two ISyE Senior Design teams are living up to Georgia Tech's new mission statement: "to develop leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition." One team ("Watt-lanta") took action to reduce crime and vehicle accidents by optimizing investment in street lighting in the city. The team's work is informing the street lighting expansion efforts of the city of Atlanta. 

A second team ("Improving the Children's Condition") worked with the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) to reduce the burden placed on caseworkers responsible for children which are under the care of the state, improving outcomes for caseworkers and children alike. The team provided specific recommendations to help DFCS more equally distribute caseloads. More about these two teams' work can be found here. Way to go!

The 13th annual Health and Humanitarian Logistics (HHL) Conference is taking place virtually September 20-22, 2021. The conference will address sustainable local procurement, health and supply chain capacity strengthening, and last-mile transportation. Each day of the conference will focus on a different region of the world (Middle East/Africa, Asia, and the Americas). View the conference's program and register today!

CHHS Director Pinar Keskinocak and CHHS co-founder Julie Swann recently collaborated with other researchers at Georgia Tech, North Carolina State University, and the University of North Carolina to model the potential for continued Covid-19 intervention measures to reduce the number of cases. Their model shows that, despite growing vaccination coverage, social distancing and masking are still needed. Read more about the group's work here.

Insights from the CHHS Georgia Covid-19 Vaccine Dashboard indicate that racial and geographic disparities in vaccination coverage still exist in the state. The dashboard was developed by ISyE Professors Dima Nazzal and Pinar Keskinocak as well as ISyE Ph.D. students Akane Fujimoto and Tyler Perini. The team worked with the Georgia Department of Public Health to develop the dashboard. More on the team's work can be found here.

CHHS Research Director Dima Nazzal recently presented her work related to election systems engineering as a segment in the forum "Today's Electronic Voting Machines: An Examination of the Use and Security of Ballot Marking Devices." The research, inspired by voter experiences during the 2020 elections, aims to determine how to design election systems which are both resilient and robust. The forum was facilitated by Free Speech for Free People and the Coalition for Good Governance.

Women in Technology (WIT) has named CHHS Director Pinar Keskinocak as a finalist for the 2021 Women of the Year in STEAM award in the math category. The winner will be announced at the annual WIT awards show to be held on October 16, 2021. The awards "celebrate female visionaries, ground-breakers in business and remarkable leaders who make a difference in our community." Finalists in all categories and additional information can be found here. Congratulations, Dr. Keskinocak!

CHHS affiliate Professor Annie Anton recently joined the ADVANCE Program at Georgia Tech. The program unites professors across the university to

1. Advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion,
2. Advise campus leadership on policy and structure,
3. Increase awareness of and reduce the impact of implicit bias, and
4. Make data-driven recommendations for faculty retention, advancement, and satisfaction.

CHHS affiliate Professor Shatakshee Dhongde was recently named Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. Her new role in the college's redesigned executive leadership team will include advising the dean regarding academic programs and initiatives at both the graduate and undergraduate level as well as ensuring that academic affairs receive the necessary support to meet the goals of both the college and institute. Congratulations, Dr. Dhongde! 

CHHS affiliate Professor Shihao Yang recently published a paper entitled "COUnty aggRegation mixup AuGmEntation (COURAGE) Covid-19 Prediction." The work uses modern deep learning techniques to generate two-week-ahead predictions of Covid-19 related deaths for counties and states in the United States. Compared to existing benchmarks, COURAGE performs exceptionally well. Great work, Dr. Yang!

A research group at Georgia Tech has been awarded a $20 million grant to fund the development of the NSF AI Institute for Collaborative Assistance and Responsive Interaction for Networked Groups (AI-CARING). CHHS affiliate Professor Beth Mynatt is the co-principal investigator on the project. The goal of the initiative is to develop AI tools which support family members and caregivers of aging adults. AI-CARING is one of 11 new NSF AI institutes across the United States.