Henry Kautz to direct intelligent systems division for NSF
In his three-year term at the National Science Foundation, Kautz will direct the agency’s support for research in artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, and data science.
Millions of tweets are a gold mine for data mining
Researchers can track the flu, consumer preferences, and movie box office sales, all from the millions of tweets posted every day.
10 years later, ‘inconsequential’ tweets a boon for researchers
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey chose the name because “twitter” described “a short inconsequential burst of information.” And yet, the social network is anything but inconsequential in terms of data science research and its applications. Twitter, which went public on this date in 2006, is fertile ground for Rochester researchers interested in tracking everything from disease outbreaks to the dynamics of political campaigns and consumer preferences.
Can a computer tell if you’re drinking while tweeting?
Computer science graduate student Nabil Hossain and his collaborators have taught computers to analyze tweets about drinking to determine if people were actually drinking at the time they were tweeting and if they were tweeting from home or some other location.
Data mining Instagram feeds can point to teenage drinking patterns
By extracting information from Instagram images and hashtags, computer science researchers have shown they can expose patterns of underage drinking more cheaply and faster than conventional surveys.
New smartphone app would track spread of Ebola
Node, a new smartphone app developed by Medical Center research associate Solomon Abiola, would track the spread of Ebola and other infectious diseases and allow victims to receive the help they need more quickly.
Robin and Tim Wentworth make $3 million commitment to endow directorship of Institute for Data Science
“We view being part of the formative stages of the Institute for Data Science as a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Tim Wentworth, a member of the University’s Board of Trustees since 2013.
Tracking Tweets to Enhance Food Safety
The system combines machine-learning and crowdsourcing techniques to analyze millions of tweets to find people reporting food poisoning symptoms following a restaurant visit.
What’s Big Data Got to Do with It?
A lot, as it happens. Henry Kautz, chair of the computer science department, and his colleagues have shown that Twitter messages can be harnessed to predict the spread of infectious diseases, for example.