DATA-LIFE 2021
NYU-Politecnico di Milano Joint Program on Data Science
INTRO
DATA-LIFE is an interdisciplinary education experience involving students and professors from NYU-CUSP (Center for Urban Science and Progress of the New York University) and from DEIB/Design-POLIMI (Departments of Computer Science and Engineering and of Design of Politecnico di Milano).
Six selected students, three from NYU and three from Politecnico di Milano, will work collaboratively to solve data science problems, under the supervision of a team of professors from both universities; problems will cross the disciplines of data management, machine learning, data analysis, statistics and mathematics, data visualization and user experience design. Students will craft their solutions by developing the methodology and then the software.
This joint venture will provide an exciting project work to students in applied data science, with emphasis on the problems of society.
PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS
NYU - CUSP
New York University’s Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) is an interdisciplinary research center dedicated to the application of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the service of urban communities across the globe. Using New York City as our laboratory and classroom, we strive to develop novel data- and technology-driven solutions for complex urban problems. CUSP’s research and educational initiatives seek to improve city services; optimize decision-making by local governments; create smart urban infrastructures; address challenging urban issues such as crime, environmental pollution and public health issues; and inspire urban citizens to improve their quality of life.
CUSP offers a Master of Science in Applied Urban Science and Informatics, empowering our students with the knowledge and technical expertise to make cities around the world more productive, livable, equitable, and resilient.
POLIMI
The master school in Computer Science and Engineering and the master school in Communication Design of Politecnico di Milano share the mission of creating qualified professionals, capable of understanding, monitoring and mastering the pressing needs of a continuously evolving society. The two schools offer master programs that produce several hundreds of top-quality graduates yearly.
The two schools are increasingly engaged in promoting interdisciplinary educational experiences with mixed teams of students; the interaction between engineers and designers produces very powerful forms of innovation, thanks to the mix of information technology and sound computational and mathematical foundations from one side, and creativity, design thinking and effective interaction design from the other. Both schools are engaged in new programs and courses centered on data science, which includes data-driven management, analysis, and visualization, with a problem-solving approach to training.
FOCUS OF THE PROJECT
The project aims to analyze and represent the behavior of young generations towards blood donations in the cities of Milano and New York and to understand the main drivers for encouraging these segments to donate blood. More precisely, the issues the project may explore include:
The role of blood centers and blood donation in young generations' life
The level of knowledge about the use of blood and the behavior towards donating blood
How much are these generations sensitive towards the blood donation topic?
What do they think about donating blood? What is their perception and attitude towards blood donations?
How much are they aware that donating blood has a social and ethical impact on the future world they are going to live in?
Can we find analogies with other social-ethical and future impacting topics i.e. ecology and sustainability?
What are the main behavioral traits of young people actively engaged with such topics?
Are people with those traits also blood donors? If not, are they willing to take concrete actions to contribute to such causes? Are they more likely to donate blood?
What are the main drivers that we can leverage - in the cities of Milano and NY - to boost blood donation on social media among young generations?
Are there analogies and differences in the behavioral traits and blood donation drivers between the two cities in the target segment?
The project aims at defining a high-level model, an experimental setting, and a data analysis method that aims at addressing these points and will result in a report and interactive analysis that describe the results of the work.
Some examples of projects from past years can be found on the CUSP web site.
SPONSOR
The Data-Life 2020 program is sponsored by Delcon.
Founded in 1981, Delcon is a “technology boutique” inspired by Italian design towards customer centric solutions. Delcon is a leading player in the design and production of software and medical devices for transfusion medicine, blood collection and processing, hematology and microbiology, Delcon has established its worldwide footprint through proprietary brand and white-label agreements with leading corporations of the transfusion medicine industry.
Delcon has its core business in the design and development of innovative solutions for the blood industry, exploiting new technologies and a design thinking approach. In the last years, Delcon has introduced a strong design driven approach and created a solid ecosystem of innovative partners through the collaboration with some of the most renowned academic organizations and forward thinking business and technology partners in Italy and USA.
PROJECT TIMELINE
The project will be scheduled along the following phases:
Beginning of Feb 2021: faculty and students kick-off the project jointly at CUSP and POLIMI through remote meetings (due to COVID-19 pandemic, travel to NYC is suspended).
Feb to Jul 2021: Student teams interact to develop their project under the osmosis of the capstone course, jointly tutored by Polimi and NYU faculty.
Mid March 2021: faculty and students set up an intensive joint work week at CUSP and POLIMI through remote meetings (due to COVID-19 pandemic, travel to Milano is suspended). As result of this work, they deliver a mid-term presentation to the sponsor.
End of July 2021: Final presentation of results take place simultaneously in Milan and NY (with possibility of a trip for a joint conclusion of the project, in case the COVID-19 emergency allows it).
APPLICATION AND BENEFITS
POLIMI
This program will select students currently attending the second year of the Master (Laurea Magistrale) of Politecnico di Milano, two from Information Engineering and one from Design. Applicants should have obtained at least 40 CFU during their first year of Master studies, with an average grade above 25/30. Applications must be sent by email to Marjorie Ballesteros (marjorie.ballesteros@polimi.it) within the strict deadline of December 20, 2019. The email must include as subject: "Application to Data-life 2021 + Name of the applicant + Faculty of the applicant (Design or Comp.Sci.)".
The application must include as attachments: an up-to-date record of exams, the English proficiency certificate, a CV (including a description of experiences of programming and of group projects); and a motivation letter explaining the candidate’s interest in this educational opportunity. Design student must also attach a portfolio including experiences with data visualization and group projects; Proved experience with HTML, JS, digital prototyping is not required but welcome.
Notice that all the application material must be either attached or linked in the email, in the form of PDF files (possibly compressed). No relevant information shall be added directly in the email text.
Students may be interviewed by the selection committee. Selected students must attend the two full-immersion periods of February and March. In addition to the full-immersion period, they are expected to work throughout the semester by using the format of the Capstone Course, by interacting with professors of Politecnico and NYU. They are expected to deliver a public presentation of their results at the end of the program (with possibility of a trip for a joint conclusion of the project, in case the COVID-19 emergency allows it).
NYU
The Data-Life program is being offered as a part of the NYU – CUPS Capstone course, so students signing up for this program must commit to taking this course during the spring semester.
Selected students must attend the two full-immersion periods of February and March. In addition to the full-immersion period, they are expected to work throughout the semester by using the format of the Capstone Course, by interacting with professors of Politecnico and NYU. They are expected to deliver a public presentation of their results at the end of the program (with possibility of a trip for a joint conclusion of the project, in case the COVID-19 emergency allows it).
Applications should be submitted according to the Capstone Course rules.
POLIMI CONTACTS
Professor of Data Management at Politecnico di Milano.
Professor of Web Science and Digital Innovation at Politecnico di Milano.
Professor of Design, Politecnico di Milano.
Assistant Professor of Information Design, Politecnico di Milano.
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