Scientists and Applications

CS4760 & CS5760 Scientists and App Ideas

Below is the list of scientists and their potential applications for collaborative CS4760 & CS5760 teams.

Abdolmajid (Mazi) Erfani – Assistant Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering

Contact Information

Email: aerfani at mtu.edu
Phone:
Office:
Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering Department
Michigan Technological University
https://www.mtu.edu/cege/people/faculty-staff/faculty/erfani/
https://sites.google.com/view/erfani/home

App Idea:  Construction Risk Generator

Risk identification in infrastructure projects involves systematically recognizing potential problems and risks that could impact the project’s timeline, budget, quality, or safety.  Historical data and lessons learned from previous projects serve as valuable tools for risk identification in new projects, enabling more accurate forecasting. This app is designed to streamline risk identification by generating customized templates that incorporate user-specified project attributes such as size, location, and type, and by utilizing historical data through the application of Natural Language Processing (NLP). The app will feature an intuitive user interface that allows users to review the most frequent and impactful risks (in terms of cost overrun and delay) in historical data, and to compare identified risks across different combinations of input scenarios. The app will provide output in a structured format, such as CSV, allowing users to easily download the developed risk templates created using the app. The app will be a valuable tool for project officials, risk managers, and engineers, enabling them to quickly review lessons learned from previous similar projects.
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Initial Meetings

First Team-Scientist Meeting: January 14, Tuesday, 1/14/2025, 4 pm
Second Team-Scientist Meeting: January 21, Tuesday, 1/21/2025, 4 pm
By Zoom ask Robert Pastel or Scientist for Zoom link

Bo Xiaxo – Assistant Professor, Construction Management

Contact Information

Email: boxiao at mtu.edu
Phone: 906-487-2804
Office: Dillman 301G
Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering Department
Michigan Technological University
https://www.mtu.edu/cege/people/faculty-staff/faculty/xiao/
https://bxiao2.wixsite.com/my-site/

App Idea: Construction Dataset Requestor

Alberta Construction Image Dataset (ACID) is a state-of-the-art construction image dataset for training AI algorithms in construction management scenarios. The dataset can be accessed by www.acidb.ca; Currently, users need to fill a Google form questionnaire and then the ACID team will manually check applicants’ eligibility  for sharing the dataset link. The goal of this APP is to automate this process for dataset applications. The APP is expected to collect applicants’ information, automatically checking if the applicants are eligible for dataset download, allow administrative users to approve the eligibility, and send emails to accepted/rejected applicants. This APP will help the ACID team to better serve the construction research community by reducing the applicant eligibility checking time.

Initial Meetings

First Team-Scientist Meeting: January 15, Wednesday, 1/15/2025 at 10 or 11 am
Second Team-Scientist Meeting: January 22, Wednesday, 1/22/2025 at 10 or 11 am
By Zoom.

Kathryn Kass – Physician Assistant

Contact Information

Email: srkckass at gmail.com
Phone:   (906) 281-0992
Office: Upper Great Lakes Family Health Center Houghton Clinic
600 Mac Innes Drive
Houghton MI 49931

App Idea: Dermatome Mapper

Medical personnel and those training for medical professions are responsible for more information than can be memorized.  Spinal nerve distributions can be difficult to completely memorize without a consulting resource.  The world is lacking a great interactive resource created by skilled computer science students, which could make it easier for health professionals, trainees, and patients to remember and understand. Users could review a nerve distribution map and interact with it by clicking on a level to learn what it innervates and what deficits a patient may have if a level is affected.  Additionally this resource could provide a list of deficits that can be searched to uncover the affected spinal nerve.

Initial Meetings

First Team-Scientist Meeting: January 14, Tuesday, 1/14/2025 at 5:15 pm
Second Team-Scientist Meeting: January 21, Tuesday, 1/21/2025 at 5:15 pm
By Zoom

 Jason Harman – Associate Professor, Psychology and Human Factors

Contact Information

Email: jharman at mtu.edu
Phone: 906-487-1958
Office: Meese 209
Psychology and Human Factors Department
Michigan Technological University
https://www.mtu.edu/psychology/people/faculty-allied-content/harman/

App Idea: Recovery Ninja: A gamified behavioral change app

Recovery Ninja will be a behavior tracking/modification app aimed at people in outpatient or inpatient treatment for substance abuse. The app will use gamification elements to motivate and help build positive behavioral habits. Users will record daily activities conducive to their recovery program (e.g. meeting attendance, journaling etc.) with their frequencies being tracked additively as they pursue daily and weekly goals, earning badges and achievements. Both health care professionals and prospective users will be available for collaborative development and testing.

Initial Meetings

First Team-Scientist Meeting: January 14, Tuesdays, 1/14/2025 at 4:15
Second Team-Scientist Meeting: January 21, Tuesday, 1/21/2025 at 4:15
By Zoom, ask Robert Pastel or Scientist for Zoom link.

Erin Johnston – Wildlife Biologist/Wildlife & Habitat Section Lead

Contact Information

Email: ejohnston at kbic-nsn.gov
Office Phone:  (906) 524-5757 ext. 4227
Office:
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community
Natural Resources Department
14359 Pequaming Road
L’Anse, MI 49946
https://nrd.kbic-nsn.gov/

App Idea: Frog & Toad Call Survey

Frogs and toads are environmental indicators as they are sensitive to changes in their surroundings (water levels, water temperatures, pollution, etc.). Because of this sensitivity to environmental changes and their important role as both predators and prey in a variety of ecosystems, Biologists often monitor frog and toad populations as an indirect measure of ecosystem health.  There are 13 species of frogs (11) and toads (2) in the State of Michigan. An easy and non-invasive way to monitor frogs and toads is through a Call Index Survey.  The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community has been conducting Call Index Surveys for frogs and toads within the L’Anse Indian Reservation for over 20 years. 

Similar to the annual Backyard Bird Survey (one of the best known Citizen Science efforts), the Frog & Toad Call Survey App would allow citizens to monitor frogs and toads on their own property or within a place of personal interest (a local wetland or pond).  Sharing this information with the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community expands our monitoring footprint and contributes to our understanding of where certain species exist within the landscape.  It also allows for a greater understanding of species distribution across Baraga County.  The app will significantly improve the ability of citizen scientists to connect with their surroundings and support county-wide data collection in real-time. The app will provide users with a quick, reliable, and streamlined way to document frogs and toads, promoting species conversation.

Initial Meetings

First Team-Scientist Meeting: January 15, Wednesday, 1/15/2025, 3:30 pm
Second Team-Scientist Meeting: January 22, Wednesday, 1/22/2025, 3:30 pm
By Zoom.

Leo Ureel – Asstiant Professor of Computer Science

Contact Information

Email: ureel at mtu.edu
Phone/Text: 906-487-1816
Office: Rekhi Hall 209
Computer Science Department
Michigan Technological University
Houghton MI

App Idea:  ???

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Initial Meetings

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Second Team-Scientist Meeting: ???
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Kuilin Zhang – Civil Engineer Associative Professor

Contact Information

Email:  klzhang at mtu.edu
Phone/Text: 
Office:
Remote Professor currently living in Cincinnati OH
Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering Department
Michigan Technological University
https://www.mtu.edu/cege/people/faculty-staff/faculty/zhang/
https://sites.google.com/site/zhangmichigantech/

App Idea:  Intersection Traffic Observer App

This project aims to develop an Intersection Traffic Observer App to collect dynamic traffic data at a signalized intersection. At each leg (or approach) of the intersection, this App will be able to record vehicles departing from the upstream and arriving downstream of the leg simultaneously, as well as the number of vehicles in the queue (if there is a red signal) over the time. The App will provide an easy-to-use user interface to record the event (e.g., the timestamp of a vehicle passing the upstream or leaving the stop bar). Ideally, the upstream user will use the App to record the number of vehicles passing some location from the upstream,  the downstream user will use the App to record the number of vehicles departing from the stop bar, and the queue observer user will record the number of queued vehicles. After an observation period (e.g., 1 or 2 hours), the App will save dynamic traffic data in some structured format (e.g., csv) that can be used for further traffic flow dynamic analytics for a smaller interval such as 5-min dynamically. 

Initial Meetings

First Team-Scientist Meeting: January 15, Wednesday, 1/15/2025, at 8am EST
Second Team-Scientist Meeting: January 22, Wednesday, 1/22/2025, at 8am EST
By Zoom, ask Robert Pastel or Scientist for Zoom Link

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Contact Information

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Initial Meetings

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