This Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site aims to deliver a unique and holistic cross-disciplinary research experience on the cutting edge topics of big data for future smart cities development. As the fields of big data and smart cities are reshaping our societies, changing our everyday life, and providing new opportunities for economic growth, the overarching goal is to inspire and prepare undergraduate researchers to pursue academic studies and careers in STEM via cross-disciplinary research, education, and training on big data analytics in smart cities. The project will provide 10 undergraduates per summer the opportunity to work with faculty mentors on important research projects. The participants will also be involved in various professional development activities that will help them to build not only important research skills but also self-confidence to pursue graduate education in big data for smart cities.
This REU Site leverages the unique infrastructures at University of Nevada-Reno (e.g., AlertTahoe Fire Camera Network and the intelligent mobility facilities) that provide real data and experimental environments to enhance undergraduates' cross-disciplinary research experience. Undergraduates will work with faculty mentors to address the multitude of open challenges in big data theory and big data computing, and provide big data analytics based solutions to enhance the situational awareness and decision making in smart city applications. The cross-disciplinary research work will explore novel framings and solutions for research problems with the focus on big data analytics in smart cities, by fostering the collaborations among researchers with diverse expertise. The research projects will integrate big data analytics into various smart city applications, advance the state-of-the-art in each domain, and ultimately form novel data analytics frameworks for addressing scientific and societal challenges and opportunities. In order to generate a true data revolution, the REU Site will make significant efforts on the cross-disciplinary education and training for undergraduate students, with a particular focus on underrepresented students. The research and training activities will prepare these students for graduate programs in big data and smart cities, and thereby meet the national need for trained workforce in cross-disciplinary fields of big data and smart cities.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
