Data Science Corps at Bowie State to Develop Urban Solutions

BSU Joins Three Maryland Universities in New Elite Training Program

MEDIA CONTACT: Damita Chambers, dchambers@bowiestate.edu, 301-832-2628 mobile

(BOWIE, Md.) – In meeting the growing need for qualified professionals to analyze large amounts of data, Bowie State University joined three other Maryland universities to form a Data Science Corps, an elite interdisciplinary group of undergraduate students who will become proficient in these skills through specialized instruction and real-world projects. The research team will engage Baltimore government agencies and nonprofit organizations to design projects to improve the quality of life for city residents, like developing a model to predict the next vacant building.

In partnering with the other University System of Maryland institutions, Bowie State received a three-year, $180,000 grant through the National Science Foundation’s Harnessing the Data Revolution: Data Science Corps program. The University of Maryland Baltimore County is the program’s lead institution, and Towson University, University of Baltimore and Bowie State are the collaborators. Bowie State’s lead researcher is Dr. Sharad Sharma, a virtual reality expert who leads the university’s Virtual Reality Laboratory in the Department of Computer Science. Each semester, Dr. Sharma will work with five to six BSU students, studying computer science, computer technology, information systems, biology or chemistry.

In the past five years, the internet has changed the way of life for people around the globe and contributed to a data revolution, prompting more organizations and businesses to hire data scientists to analyze data to make effective decisions. This program will establish a talent pipeline of new data scientists coming from the partner universities, as well as provide practical solutions to problems affecting urban areas.

“If you just look at what happens within a house: the internet of things is proliferating: a family may have so many devices and accounts that are active, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and email. They may connect devices like the thermostat. You can even see what is inside of your refrigerator because it may be internet-enabled. The question is how to extract what’s meaningful from the data being generated. What do you need it for?” said Dr. Sharma. “On a city-level, there are so many things you could use it for from emergency response, public safety and generally getting resources to the public according to what they want. There is no end to analyzing the data, and we are just at the starting point.”

After completing extensive data science training developed and shared by the program’s faculty with the entire Data Science Corps, the students will work on real-world projects. Those projects include analyzing crime data to predict where the next crime may occur and designing smart streetlights that measure air quality, monitor traffic and identify available parking.

At Bowie State, Dr. Sharma will develop a training on virtual reality in data science, focusing on how to build complex virtual environments that can be distributed on digital networks. The students will design an interactive, 3-D game or educational application to demonstrate mastery of the advanced concepts.

Dr. Sharma’s real-world project extends his previous work on augmented reality for building evacuation during emergencies using mobile devices and a smartglasses device, on which he has published several research papers. He plans to use the Data Science Corps to expand his research on a larger scale to incorporate an individual’s data to inform evacuation strategies. With the combination of instruction and real-world experience, the Data Science Corps students will be prepared for successful careers in data science.

“The idea is the Data Science Corps will lead to workforce development, which is needed for filling jobs in the industry,” said Dr. Sharma. “Once the students complete these instructional modules, they will be better equipped to join the data science workforce. Plus, it will allow them to work on real-world projects and research that might be part of published papers and poster, which would add to their resume and make them more marketable.”

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About Bowie State University
Bowie State University (BSU) is an important higher education access portal for qualified persons from diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds, seeking a high-quality and affordable public comprehensive university. The university places special emphasis on the science, technology, cybersecurity, teacher education, business, and nursing disciplines within the context of a liberal arts education. For more information about BSU, visit bowiestate.edu.