From left to right, Associate Professor Matthew Kahle, Associate Professor Facundo Memoli, Assistant Professor David Sivakoff
We are proud to team-up with Ohio State statisticians and computer scientists in a leading-edge multidisciplinary data-science research collaboration. Our research team is among the first in the nation to receive funding from a new National Science Foundation (NSF) initiative to accelerate data science and discovery through such collaborative efforts.
The three-year, $1.5 million grant supports the research project, TRIPODS: Topology, Geometry, and Data Analysis (TGDA@OSU): Discovering Structure, Shape, and Dynamics in Data. It will leverage the mathematical tools of geometry and topology to address the inherent challenges of increasingly complex data.
Led by Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) and Mathematics Professor Tamal Dey; the team includes co-investigators Mathematics Associate Professor Matthew Kahle; Statistics Assistant Professor Sebastian Kurtek; Mathematics and CSE Associate Professor Facundo Memoli; Statistics and Mathematics Assistant Professor David Sivakoff; and CSE Professor Yusu Wang. Their multiple, diverse skills and expertise will enhance and expand the expected positive outcomes.
The researchers hope to discover, model and reveal the structure, shape and underlying dynamics of big data, using algorithms based on geometric and topological approaches.
Their findings could have real-world applications in a wide range of fields that include medicine, machine learning, geographic information systems, mechanical engineering designs—even political science. Project results will be implemented and disseminated via software packages and tutorials to facilitate widespread application both in academia and industry.
The TGDA@OSU TRIPODS team is well-positioned to translate their research to develop curricula for cross-disciplinary, undergraduate and graduate education on the foundations of data analytics. Ohio State’s Translational Data Analytics Institute, Mathematical Biosciences Institute and Data Analytics undergraduate major provide opportunities for immediate applications and partnerships. Additionally, the grant funds STEM outreach, research seminars, training workshops and summer schools.
