Rochester Data Science Consortium<\/a>, says the former Xerox researchers have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to quickly acquire new computational skills, then pivot to apply them to new and interesting challenges different from anything they worked on previously.<\/p>\n\u201cAs companies in the Rochester area move from a traditional manufacturing base to a software-based economy, we want to educate them about what data science can do for them and provide a pipeline of people who can go and work with them,\u201d says Johnson.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where Handley, Wu, and Xu fit in as the consortium’s newly hired research scientists.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re all very, very smart. They like to work on interesting problems. They work hard, and they do a good job,\u201d says Johnson, a former a former vice president and director of the Intelligent Systems Laboratory at PARC, the renowned Palo Alto-based Xerox research center that eventually spun off as a wholly-owned subsidiary.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pace of development is very fast right now,\u201d he adds. \u201cYou can\u2019t just say \u2018I\u2019ll get to it eventually\u2019 when a company approaches you. You have to deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n
Handley, Wu, and Xu did that repeatedly during their Xerox careers. Focusing initially on various aspects of image quality and document processing, they \u00a0eventually branched into quite different applications\u2014especially when Xerox\u2019s\u00a0 Webster research center became part of PARC.<\/p>\n
Handley, who has a master\u2019s degree in math and a PhD in imaging science, joined Xerox in 1995 and initially worked on processing document images. But he soon became engaged in mining data from printer networks, both to analyze usage patterns and to see how those patterns related to structures of warranties and contracts. The work involved fundamentals of financial engineering, \u201ca big change from my image processing days,\u201d Handley says.<\/p>\n
When Xerox acquired a computer services company involved in public transit, Handley pivoted again. He read three undergraduate textbooks to gain a broad understanding of public transportation systems, then applied transportation analytics, time series modeling, and spatial modeling to drill deeper into how people \u201cmove around in a big city,\u201d resulting in a mobility analytics platform.<\/p>\n
Wu, who has a PhD in electrical and computer engineering, initially worked on image quality and detection of print defects. However, he says that over the course of 17 years at Xerox, he \u201ctransformed myself from imaging scientist to computer vision scientist through self-learning and hands-on development. On the job learning is especially useful. You talk to the customers and try to figure out what they need.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wu applied machine learning and visual analytics as lead researcher in developing Xerox\u2019s first robotic imaging system for retail applications. He developed prototype image analytics engines to detect railway defects, and to estimate skin age for cosmetics companies. He also helped develop a video-based parked vehicle detection system for the Washington, D.C., Department of Transportation. \u00a0\u201cI enjoy seeing my research outputs being used in the real world, and take pride in such achievements,\u201d he says. He also has 112 patents.<\/p>\n
Xu, who has a PhD in medical physics, says she knew nothing about printing when she interviewed at Xerox fresh out of college in 1997. But she was hired anyway. \u201cThey had to trust in me that I could learn down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n
She did, eventually accumulating 116 patents, and applying machine learning, statistical modeling, and computer vision to a range of projects, including vision tools to detect and monitor abnormal gait in patients with Parkinson\u2019s disease and other disorders; to enable non-contact monitoring of heart rate and respiration; to help detect violators using high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) traffic lanes, and like Wu, to detect railway track defects.<\/p>\n
The consortium has received $7.5 million in New York State funding for three years to demonstrate it can help create \u201cknowledge-based\u201d jobs in Rochester and further the region\u2019s development as a high-tech hub. Funding is also provided by corporate partners, which so far include Harris Corp. and Wegmans.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur job is to put people on data science projects that are too hard or out of the scope of what local companies can do with existing resources,\u201d Johnson says. \u201cYou come here, and we’ll get a team together that can solve your problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the addition of Handley, Wu, and Xu, he’s confident he\u2019ll be able to deliver.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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