IDSS News July 2019

The past year has been one of the busiest for IDSS. We have grown our industry programs, started exciting new research collaborations, and opened our MicroMasters program to thousands of learners worldwide. One signature project of note: our collaboration with Moroccan fertilizer leader OCP, which aims at creating a data-sharing market for farmers in sub-Saharan Africa to accelerate their adoption of technology and increase their production and profit-- all by unlocking the power and potential of data. We've also run many successful events this year, most recently our annual celebration of statistics and 'L4DC,' a new conference we hosted that focuses on the exciting area emerging at the intersection of real-time physical data, machine learning, optimization and control. I congratulate our 2019 graduates and look forward to seeing what they accomplish in the years to come. Munther Dahleh, Director William A. Coolidge Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

NEWS

Empowering African farmers with data New IDSS research funded by OCP, a global leader in the phosphate fertilizer industry, aims to help African farmers increase their production and profits with better prediction.

IDSS grows industry connections with new partners, new alliance IDSS is building new global connections with a refined partnership program, a new Industry Alliance, and new research collaborations.

Building a community for statistics and data science at MIT and beyond Our third annual MIT Statistics and Data Science Conference (SDSCon) brought together a growing interdisciplinary community of researchers and practitioners.

IDSS hosts inaugural 'Learning for Dynamics and Control' conference L4DC explores an emerging scientific area at the intersection of real-time physical data, machine learning, control theory, and optimization.

IDSS hosts 'Conference on Synthetic Control and Related Methods' Researchers shared ideas on a statistical method gaining prominence in economics at a two-day event sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the National Bureau of Economic Research.

STUDENT AND ALUMNI SPOTLIGHTS

IDSS congratulates 2019 graduates IDSS and IDSS-affiliated graduates were awarded 25 doctoral degrees, 52 Master of Science degrees, 7 Master of Engineering degrees, and 14 bachelor’s degrees with a Minor in Statistics and Data Science.

Welcoming our 2019 Hammer Fellows Meet the four incoming students in the IDSS Social and Engineering Systems doctoral program -- and the two postdocs -- who have joined the ranks of the Michael Hammer Society of Fellows.

MIT Policy Hackathon connects data-driven problem solvers Interdisciplinary teams propose creative policy solutions that address societal challenges at a unique event run by students from TPP and IDSS.

Designing water infrastructure for climate uncertainty A research team that includes TPP/IDSS alum Sarah Fletcher and TPP alum Megan Lickley have developed a flexible planning framework that seeks to learn and adapt to changing temperature and precipitation trends.

FACULTY SPOTLIGHTS

Team led by Ali Jadbabaie receives ARO MURI award The team was awarded the grant for a project that proposes a new interdisciplinary research program working towards a unified theory on human decision-making.

Saurabh Amin and Sertac Karaman awarded tenure "Saurabh and Sertac are exceptionally accomplished as both scholars and teachers," said John Tsitsiklis, director of LIDS. "I know that both will continue to make seminal contributions in their fields."

EDUCATION

Master the skills needed to solve complex challenges with data with an MIT MicroMasters. MicroMasters in Statistics and Data Science Turn your big data into even bigger results in this 7-week online course. Data Science and Big Data Analytics course

Pathways to extend the MicroMasters Explore pathways to masters and doctoral degrees using the MicroMasters in Statistics and Data Science credential.

RESEARCH

Spotting objects amid clutter Robots can quickly find objects hidden in 3D data thanks to a new technique developed by researchers from LIDS, including Aero/Astro and IDSS/LIDS professor Luca Carlone.

Cracking open the black box of automated machine learning New interactive tool developed by LIDS research scientist Kalyan Veeramachaneni and colleagues lets users see and control how automated model searches work.

Bringing human-like reasoning to driverless car navigation Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS) professor Sertac Karaman and colleagues have created a system that learns to use simple maps and image data to navigate new, complex routes.

Studying the behavior of AI IDSS affiliate Iyad Rahwan is part of a team of thinkers at MIT and beyond who are calling for a new interdisciplinary field of research, machine behavior, to study intelligent machines and the impact they are having on society.

Protecting our energy infrastructure from cyberattack Researchers including IDSS affiliate and MIT Sloan professor Stuart Madnick address cyber vulnerabilities in energy systems using a methodology that examines the interaction of people, equipment, and policies.

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