Marshini Chetty - Taming the Internet One Bit at a Time

Abstract: The Internet has become part of our everyday lives and we depend on it for everything from work to play. Even though we use it so often, most of us are not experts in managing Internet performance, Internet constraints such as data caps, or even Internet security. My research, in human-computer interaction, focuses on understanding how people use the Internet in their homes, on their mobiles, and everywhere in between and on empowering Internet users to better understand and manage the behind-the-scenes aspects of Internet use such as cost, data usage, security, and speed. Through this work, my ultimate goal is to help create a more efficient, affordable, and secure Internet for all, especially in resource-constrained settings. Come to my talk to hear more about the various projects my lab is working on and how you can get involved. 

Vanessa Frias-Martinez - From Digital Footprints to Social Insights

Abstract: The pervasiveness of cell phones, mobile applications and social media is generating vast amounts of information that can reveal a wide range of human behavior. From mobility patterns to social connections, these signals expose insights about how humans behave and interact with their environment. While a lot of work has focused on analyzing behaviors, relatively little effort has been dedicated to understanding ways in which such findings could be useful to decision makers in areas like smart cities or public health. In this talk I will briefly discuss three projects: (1) AlertImpact, an agent-based framework that uses geo-referenced cell phone data to model the impact of the preventive actions implemented by the Mexican government during the H1N1 flu outbreak; (2) CellCensus, a tool to automatically compute socioeconomic maps using social and mobility patterns extracted from cell phone data and (3) TweetLand, a tool for urban planners which uses geolocated tweets to automatically model land uses and identify points of interest. I will finalize the talk discussing new research directions in the areas of disaster management and traffic modeling.  

Sridhar Hannenhalli - Computational approaches to Gene regulation