The fourth installment in a two-year series of working seminars and meetings that will explore the broad space of “smart cities” has been scheduled for March 27 and will examine the use of community-based science programs as effective data collection tools.

Titled “Using Citizen Science for Environmental��Monitoring,” the seminar will feature three speakers from local lake and freshwater community associations and government agencies. The presenters include Aimee Clinkhammer, the watershed coordinator for the Finger Lakes Water Hub of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation; Mary Menapace, citizen science coordinator for the Skaneateles Lake Association; and Nancy Mueller, who manages the New York State Federation of Lake Associations Inc.

The trio see citizen science programs as an effective tool for data collection, as the programs ��provide an opportunity for community and volunteer engagement. These engagement efforts then result in a better understanding of local environmental issues, and the need for protecting and restoring watersheds and habitats.

This seminar will discuss the history of citizen science programs in New York State and the Finger Lakes region; what it takes to develop and sustain a successful citizen science program; the tools and methods necessary to ensure compliance with relevant scientific and data quality standards; and citizens’ view on the process.

, professor of practice in the at the , will moderate the discussion.

The seminar will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 27, in 207 Hall of Languages. For more information, contact Steve Sawyer at ssawyer@syr.edu.

The seminar series is funded by a grant, awarded in May 2018.

“The TEDx Syracuse University speaker curation team has always made it a point to select speakers from a variety of professions and locations, and this year is no different,” said��Co-Lead Organizer and Executive Producer Christopher Sekerak.

Here is the list of the speakers and a brief summary of their talks:

Jennifer Barrett ’94 is the chief education officer at Acorns, a financial wellness app with more than 5 million users, and founding editor of its money site, Grow. Before Acorns, she held various management roles in media, including personal finance editor at CNBC and senior vice president and editor-in-chief at DailyWorth, a financial media company targeting women. She also served previously as a general manager at Hearst Digital, overseeing four magazine sites, including Cosmopolitan and Seventeen. Her talk will discuss how if we want true gender parity, we need to start raising women to think like breadwinners.��

Steven Grunwald is a senior in environmental biology at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. During his time at SUNY ESF, he has traveled throughout the United States doing work for AmeriCorp and the Nature Conservancy. He plans on using his degree to become an environmental educator and a traveling biologist throughout South America. His talk will convey how life can learn to live and thrive on the minimal, and he will be sharing the story of how moss colonized land around 460 million years ago.

April Tam Smith is a devoted philanthropist, finance professional and socially-conscious entrepreneur living in New York City. She is currently a managing director in a top tier investment bank’s equity derivatives team, covering hedge funds. At age 30, April founded P.S. Kitchen, a social enterprise vegan restaurant in Times Square that donates 100 percent of its net profits to philanthropic endeavors. Her idea worth spreading is that the practice of radical generosity is key to living with purpose, and��her talk will discuss her own life experiences and invite listeners to practice radical generosity and bring a new sense of purpose into our lives.

Param Srikantia ��has delivered seminars on “Why Life Sucks” based on global wisdom traditions reaching over 25,000 attendees in nine cities. A professor at the Baldwin Wallace University’s School of Business in Ohio, he has authored 35 research papers, held leadership roles in six global conglomerates and presents seminars that focus on the transformation of consciousness in unleashing the deeply hidden potential of individuals in their professional and personal lives. His talk will offer a fundamental shift in our consciousness to awaken us to a profound appreciation of life, enabling us to live each moment with a sense of vitality.

Brandon Steiner ’81 is CEO of Steiner Sports, the country’s leading sports collectible and athlete marketing business. He’s the author of three books, “The Business Playbook, You Gotta Have Balls: How a Kid from Brooklyn Started From Scratch,” “Bought Yankee Stadium” and “Created a Sports Empire and the new Living on Purpose: Stories about Faith, Fortune, and Fitness That Will Lead You to an Extraordinary Life.” He hosts both a popular podcast, “Unplugged,” and a live Q&A show broadcast on Facebook Live called “Project X.” A much-sought-after speaker, he has delivered keynote addresses, TEDx talks, corporate training and motivational speeches to sports teams and businesses around the world. Through his talk, he will use his experiences from over three decades in the sports industry to discuss how he catapulted his company to the top of the industry and how he turned dirt into dollars.

Renée Stevens G’11 is an award-winning motion and augmented reality designer, educator and public speaker currently located in Syracuse. She is the creator of tagAR, an augmented reality mobile application that helps users never forget a name again. Her creative research looks at how augmented reality can help overcome learning disabilities, specifically dyslexia. She splits her time between owning and running an independent interactive design studio and as an assistant professor at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Her talk will introduce you to tagAR, and in showing the inspiration, concept, design and development of the application, she will explore the power and potential of AR.

Jay Veal is the CEO of INC Tutoring, the No. 1 African-American owned private tutoring company in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, serving students of all ages in STEM and beyond. He is also founder/CEO of The Jay Veal Brand, which is a Dallas-based premier consulting brand that deploys education and business consulting services as well as speaking services (host, panelist, keynote, workshop presenter) and a part of the 2018 Black Enterprise Content Contributor Network. His talk will explain what education looks like now and how an innovative tutoring approach changes the game for students of color in closing achievement gaps, belief gaps and opportunity gaps.

Ryan Williams is an entrepreneur, a personal trainer, a serviceman and a passionate creative. Through his pursuits as an entrepreneur, he realized that some of the best insights and solutions are created during the darkest and most uncomfortable moments in our lives. Through his talk, Ryan will investigate how the repression of negative traits or emotions in society is one of the most significant barriers in any individual’s journey towards developing self-value. He will also demonstrate that the pursuit of self-awareness and the defining of self-value are the most critical attributes for every entrepreneur and essential elements of business growth.

TEDx Syracuse University’s 2019 conference is slated to take place on Saturday, April 6, in the Slocum Auditorium. Tickets for the conference are $7 for Syracuse University students, faculty and staff and $14 for everyone else, and are available in the box office in the Schine Student Center.

All information about the event will be posted on the TEDx Syracuse University website and , ��and ��pages. The event will also be livestreamed through the TEDx Syracuse University website.

For more information about the event, contact Ashley Steinberg, marketing and communications director for the conference, at tedxsyracuseu@gmail.com.

Mary Spio

Mary Spio ’98 will deliver the convocation speeches at the and the on Saturday, May 11, 2019.

Spio is the founder and CEO of , a developer of premium social virtual and augmented reality experiences that simulate communal experiences, such as attending a live concert, being in a classroom or attending a sporting event. She is a graduate of the where she majored in electrical engineering.

Spio was born in Syracuse, moved to Ghana at a young age and returned��the United States when she was 16 years old. Prior to attending Syracuse, she enlisted in the Air Force as a wideband/satellite communications technician. After earning a bachelor’s degree, she pursued a master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from Georgia Tech.

Her transition from the Air Force to engineering was sparked by a colleague who noticed her technical abilities. “It was when I was in the Air Force that an engineer pulled me aside and told me I was really great at fixing electronics; and that I should look into becoming an engineer. I did, and it was the best thing I’ve ever done,” Spio told the Miami Herald in an interview.

After college, Spio began working at satellite communications firms, where she had the opportunity to design and launch satellites into deep space on a NASA project. Spio’s work with NASA led her to become the head of satellite communication systems for Boeing where her technology influenced major motion picture distributions through satellite technology.

Spio has been recognized with many accolades, such as NBC News 100 History Makers in the Making, Boeing’s Outstanding Achievement in Electrical Engineering Award, IEEE Design and Yueh-Ying Hu Memorial National Awards for Innovation, and the 2017 Arents Award from Syracuse University.

More information about all Commencement weekend ceremonies, including the Universitywide Commencement on Sunday, May 12, is available on the .

Peak2Peak

Peak2Peak is a weeklong travel program that takes place in Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, and provides students with a firsthand look at the companies, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, and their way of life (both personal and professional) in the Pacific Northwest. Participating students will connect with Syracuse University alumni living and working in Seattle and Portland. Potential visits include Starbucks, Nike, Intel, Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, Smarsh and more.

In 2019, the Peak2Peak trip will be held from Aug. 11–16. The cost for Peak2Peak is $250 per student. The 2019 cohort is generously sponsored by the Rob Harris ’77, G’79 Fund for Student Immersion. Each accepted applicant will receive a $500 scholarship to participate in the program, bringing the cost per student down to $250 from the original cost of $750.

This trip must be taken as a credit-bearing course. Undergraduate��students must register for the 3-credit IDS 460 Immersion Experience course and graduate students must register for the 3-credit IDS 660 Immersion Experience course to participate. Standard tuition fees, per credit, will apply. It is strongly recommended that all students consult their academic program handbook and meet with their home school academic advisor to understand how Peak2Peak credits will apply toward their degree program.

Innovate Ireland

Innovate Ireland (formerly Startup Dublin) is a weeklong travel program in Dublin, Ireland. It is the newest trip in the iSchool’s portfolio of immersion experiences, first launched in 2018. The trip will give students an opportunity to connect with technology companies, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists in Ireland and learn about their way of life (both personal and professional). Participating students will meet with Syracuse University alumni living and working in Dublin. Potential visits include Google, Amazon, Paypal, EA, Dropbox and more.

In 2019, the Innovate Ireland trip will be held from Nov. 22-29. Note that this is Thanksgiving week. The cost for Innovate Ireland is $1000 per student.��All interested students should apply, regardless of their ability to pay. The iSchool will work to make this program accessible to all who want to attend.

This trip must be taken as a credit-bearing course. Undergraduate��students must register for the 3-credit IDS 460 Immersion Experience course and graduate students must register for the 3-credit IDS 660 Immersion Experience course to participate. Standard tuition fees, per credit, will apply. It is strongly recommended that all students consult their academic program handbook and meet with their home school academic advisor to understand how Innovate Ireland credits will apply toward their degree program.

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Application Process for Trips

Both Peak2Peak and Innovate Ireland are competitive programs with limited space available.

Applications��are due by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 15.

To be considered for admission, students should have, at the time of application, the following:

• A cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.00 on a 4.00 scale.
• An advising transcript (unofficial is acceptable)
• An up-to-date resume
• A short essay submission (details provided in the application)
• A short video��submission (details provided in the application)

Admissions decisions are based on a full review of the application file and any disciplinary records. Once admitted to the program, students must remain in good standing (academic and judicial) to stay eligible to participate in these programs.

Students selected for participation are expected to not only represent themselves well, but also act as strong ambassadors for Syracuse University.

Questions about the trips or the application process should be directed to Julie Walas, Director of Alumni & Student Engagement at the iSchool at��jlwalas@syr.edu or by phone at 315.443.4133.

According to Co-Lead Organizer and Executive Producer Christopher Sekerak, “our team selected ‘SHIFT’ as the theme to represent a journey. That is the journey one undertakes to develop new knowledge from the ideas which our speakers will convey through their talks.”

This year, eight speakers will discuss a wide range of topics at the event. More information about the speaker lineup will be rolled out over the next few weeks. From education to augmented reality to radical generosity, TEDx speakers will address an assortment of interesting topics.

The 2019��conference is slated to take place on April 6 at the Slocum Auditorium on the Syracuse University campus. Tickets for the conference went on sale for students, staff and faculty Feb. 27, and will go on sale to the general public on Friday, March 1. They are $7 for SU students, staff and faculty and $14 for the general public and can be purchased at the box office in the Schine Student Center.

All information will be posted on the and the conference’s��, and pages in the next few weeks. The event will also be livestreamed through the TEDx Syracuse University website.

For more information about the event, contact Ashley Steinberg, marketing and communications director for the conference, at tedxsyracuseu@gmail.com.

M.S. programs at the College of Engineering and Computer Science and the School of Information Studies allow students to learn virtually anytime, anywhere, earning their graduate degrees with flexible study schedules.

Online graduate programs offered by Syracuse University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) and School of Information Studies (iSchool) have been ranked No. 11 for best information technology programs for 2019 by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Online Programs rankings.

The full rankings, released earlier today, are available on the .

The U.S. News rankings “offer the information needed to identify programs that best suit life and career goals of graduate students, and the top programs not only demonstrate strong academics but also create learning environments that are particularly well-suited to remote students,” the magazine said in a release.

ECS offers in , and .

At the iSchool, in , , and are offered online.

“We are very pleased to receive this recognition for our online graduate programs from U.S. News,” says Victoria Williams, director of online education at the iSchool. “We believe our programs are strong, and we continue to grow and adapt them to best fit the changing needs of today’s digital learners.”

“The online computing master’s programs offered by the College of Engineering and Computer Science allow students to work full time while developing skills they can immediately apply to careers in tech,” says Jae C. Oh, chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the David G. Edelstein Professor for Broadening Participation. “Our online curricula mirror the close interactions of our on-campus programs and are every bit as rigorous. It is encouraging to see the quality of our programs reflected in these respected rankings.”

Online program offerings at ECS and the iSchool have the same curriculum and faculty as their respective on-campus programs. Faculty are trained in online pedagogy and have direct contact with students enrolled in online courses. With limited immersion requirements, students are able to learn virtually anytime, anywhere, earning their graduate degrees with flexible study schedules. This allows the University to attract some of the best professionals in their related fields, and the online classroom becomes an environment that enhances engagement and expands professional networks.

In addition to this latest online program ranking, the iSchool is ranked No. 2 in information systems for library and information schools in U.S. News & World Report’s best graduate schools rankings (2017) and No. 6 for online computer information technology programs for veterans. The cybersecurity programs in ECS are ranked No. 1 on Military Times’ rankings (2017, 2018).

Associate Professor Lee McKnight

School of Information Studies (iSchool) Associate Professor has contributed his opinions on the changes coming to the artificial intelligence (AI) field in a recently published Pew Research Center report titled “Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humans.”

Published last week as a joint effort by the�� and the at , the report is the result of a large-scale canvassing of technology experts, scholars, corporate and public practitioners and other leaders, where they were prompted to share their answer to the following query:

“Please think forward to the year 2030. Analysts expect that people will become even more dependent on networked AI in complex digital systems. Some say we will continue on the historic arc of augmenting our lives with mostly positive results as we widely implement these networked tools. Some say our increasing dependence on these AI and related systems is likely to lead to widespread difficulties.

“Our question: By 2030, do you think it is most likely that advancing AI and related technology systems will enhance human capacities and empower them? That is, most of the time, will most people be better off than they are today? Or is it most likely that advancing AI and related technology systems will lessen human autonomy and agency to such an extent that most people will not be better off than the way things are today? Please explain why you chose the answer you did and sketch out a vision of how the human-machine/AI collaboration will function in 2030. Please consider giving an example of how a typical human-machine interaction will look and feel in a specific area, for instance, in the workplace, in family life, in a health care setting or in a learning environment. Why? What is your hope or fear? What actions might be taken to assure the best future?”

In addressing the prompt, McKnight said, “There will be good, bad and ugly outcomes from human-machine interaction in artificially intelligent systems, services and enterprises.… Poorly designed artificially intelligent services and enterprises will have unintended societal consequences, hopefully not catastrophic, but sure to damage people and infrastructure. Even more regrettably, defending ourselves against evil—or to be polite, bad AI systems turned ugly by humans, or other machines—must become a priority for societies well before 2030, given the clear and present danger. How can I be sure? What are bots and malware doing every day, today? Is there a reason to think ‘evil-doers’ will be less motivated in the future? No. So my fear is that the hopefully sunny future of AI, which in aggregate we may assume will be a net positive for all of us, will be marred by—many—unfortunate events.”

McKnight’s concerns about the pitfalls of AI progression address some of the key themes noted in the report, which sought the participation of 979 technology leaders. “The experts predicted networked artificial intelligence will amplify human effectiveness but also threaten human autonomy, agency and capabilities,” according to the report’s introduction. About 63 percent of report respondents believed that humans would will be mostly better off as a result of the growing impact of AI, while about 37 percent said people will not be better off.

Some of the concerns noted by report respondents include data abuse, job loss and dependence lock-in, while, on the positive side, experts see opportunities for new work and life efficiencies, health care improvements and advances in education.

The of the report, as well as expert responses, is available at the website.

Postdoctoral researcher Patricia Rossini (left) and Professor Jennifer Stromer-Galley will study election related misinformation shared on WhatsApp.

A pair of researchers from the (CCDS) at the School of Information Studies (iSchool) have received a research award from the Facebook-owned WhatsApp messaging service to study the issues of misinformation transmitted over the platform.

Postdoctoral researcher and Professor were selected to examine election related misinformation, specifically focusing on information sharing, political engagemen, and discussion in the 2018 Brazilian elections. Rossini serves as principal investigator on the award.

WhatsApp can be a powerful medium for political discourse and engagement. But at the same time, it can also be misused to share political information that is inaccurate or inflammatory. The company is interested in understanding this space both from the perspective of political actors and voters as well as understanding how they might take steps to prevent the misuse of the platform in electoral processes.

The goal of the is to facilitate high quality, external research around the topics of misinformation by academics and experts who are in the countries where WhatsApp is frequently used and where there is relatively limited research on the topic.

WhatsApp received nearly 600 proposals, and selected 20 research teams to examine issues that include problematic content; digital literacy and misinformation; election-related misinformation; and network effects and virality. Award recipients span the globe, including Brazil, India, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

All of the studies funded by WhatsApp will comply with the ethics and academic review processes set forth by the institutions receiving the awards, and will not involve the use of any WhatsApp user data.

Joining the CCDS researchers on this project are two academics from Brazil’s (UFMG), and .

The research team’s mixed methods study aims to understand two interconnected issues. First being the potential impact of the use of WhatsApp by political campaigns and the ways users experience the platform and receive political information. Second, the extent to which WhatsApp users actively engage and share content related to the elections within their peer groups and how they evaluate the credibility and the reliability of political information circulating through the platform.

“We want to figure out the different and creative ways that people are using WhatsApp for political activities, both for sharing of news and information around political issues as well as discussion of these topics,” says Rossini. “We’ve conducted quite a bit of social media research, but up to this point that research has only looked at public sites like Facebook and Twitter, where a user’s audience is mostly public.”

With WhatsApp, users have a better understanding of their audience and who they are messaging and sharing information with.

“It’s a private channel, a different kind of social media where most users know exactly who their audience is,” Rossini explains. “And we think that people will behave differently in these private spaces. We can expect that people might feel more comfortable talking with an audience that they are familiar with, or who they share the same views with.”

Rossini and her team are also interested in how WhatsApp users put the information they receive via the platform into context.

“Users on WhatsApp don’t tend to share a lot of links, so there’s very little context that comes when you receive a message,” she says. “We would like to find out how users understand what they receive, how they determine whether to trust the sender of the information, and what motivates them to forward information to other individuals or groups.”

“Our end goal is to be able to better understand how people use WhatsApp for political purposes, and then to help WhatsApp better understand the affordances these users need to better use the platform, as well as to understand the extent to which users engage with misinformation,” says Rossini.

“WhatsApp is looking forward to working with the research team from the iSchool and UFMG,” says Mrinalini Rao, lead researcher on the WhatsApp Research Team. “The consequences of misinformation are real and we know this is a long term challenge that requires action from civil society, government, and technology companies. The independent research conducted by these iSchool and UFMG faculty members will make a meaningful contribution to how we build WhatsApp for the years to come.”

The faculty working group has designed the seminar to help raise awareness of the many overlapping interests involved in the notion of a “smart” community.

The first in a two-year series of working seminars and meetings exploring the broad space of “smart cities” has been planned for Wednesday, Nov. 7,��from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the Killian Room, 500 Hall of Languages.

This broad topic includes issues as varied as designing livable spaces, considerations of urban life and work, the importance of sustainability, the roles of information and digital technologies, the ways in which municipalities work together and with residents, the nature of community, and the ways in which Syracuse—as a city and a region—reflects the issues and opportunities of vibrant communities.

This series of community-building seminars is organized by a faculty working group with representatives from Syracuse University’s , the Department of Geography in the and the , the School of Design in the , the and the School of Information Studies (iSchool). A faculty member from is also on the working group.

Designed to raise awareness of the many overlapping interests involved in the notion of a “smart” community, the first seminar, titled “Perspectives and Possibilities,” will be organized in a workshop style, where participants will be formed into small groups to share interests, explore ideas and imagine future projects.

The ultimate goal of the event is to foster collaboration and cooperation among like-minded individuals on campus by providing space for people to identify topics of interest, find people to work and research with, and share out information about ongoing projects and efforts.

Students, faculty and staff are all encouraged to attend.

“You are welcome regardless of whether you have an ongoing project about smart cities or if you are just learning about and exploring the concepts, issues and possibilities of the topic,” says iSchool faculty member and working group representative . “We ask only that you come with ideas and a willingness to listen and learn.”

Additional topics for discussion will include plans for the next several seminars, which will showcase student projects and update participants on ongoing projects and possibilities for new projects in the greater Syracuse region; and the development of online resources to support this growing community.

“We welcome all comments and participation as we work to build the ties and connections among scholars, students and professionals engaged in smart city development now and in the future,” says Sawyer.

For more information, contact Sawyer at ssawyer@syr.edu.

Joshua Aviv receives his trophy from New York Lieutenant Governor and SU alumna Kathy Hochul ’80 at the 43North awards ceremony.

Joshua Aviv ’14 G’17, founder and CEO of , a company that produces a portable, fast charging battery unit for electric vehicles, has earned the top prize of $1 million at 43North, a Buffalo, New York-based startup competition.

The grew out of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion initiative. Launched in 2012, Buffalo Billion provided for a $1 billion investment in the Buffalo-area economy to create jobs and spur new investment and economic activity and grew to generate new business ventures throughout Western New York.

Aviv credits the initial idea for his company, in part, to his undergraduate experience at Syracuse University and his class in Environmental and Resource Economics (ECN 437). His idea was later refined through graduate course work at the and with entrepreneurship support and coaching at the and the .

“It’s been thrilling to watch Josh take his project from the first gleam of an idea into the prize-winning, successful company it has become,” says Professor , an economist who teaches about energy and environmental policy at the and the , where he also directs the . “I remember when he first started talking about his idea for EV charging and his vision for bringing it into reality over the course of the semester. In fact, I still have his first business card from that semester on my wall. He’s a born entrepreneur: smart, hard-working, a natural leader and completely undaunted by obstacles.”

Aviv went on to complete his undergraduate degree in economics in 2014 and stayed at Syracuse to work on his venture as he transitioned to graduate studies in at the iSchool.

As a participant in the iSchool’s program, Aviv took his project to the accelerator, where he received guidance from iSchool adjunct faculty member and Sandbox director . His original business idea centered around stationary charging units for electric vehicles, and Aviv donated a set of his early prototype chargers to SU in 2017.

After several refinements to the original idea, SparkCharge’s vehicle charging unit is now small enough to fit in the trunk of a car, and charges electric vehicle batteries at level 3 speed, giving drivers one mile for every 60 seconds.

“Josh has shown the tenacity it takes to be a successful entrepreneur,” says Liddy. “As an avid supporter of electric vehicles, his pursuits have iterated from charging stations to portable batteries that prevent range anxiety.”

As his time at the Sandbox wound down, Aviv completed an internship at the SyracuseCoE and joined the Blackstone LaunchPad, where he worked to develop and refine his business plan.

The Blackstone staff and their far-reaching entrepreneurship network helped to coach Aviv and his team, which led to Aviv’s success in securing a slot at the TechStars accelerator earlier this year. In his run up to TechStars, Aviv also won the $100,000 grand prize at the New York State Business Plan Competition in 2017 and took in both the 2017 Compete CNY regional qualifier and the joint iSchool/Blackstone LaunchPad iPrize competition. Research and development initiatives for Aviv’s company are still based at the SyracuseCoE.

“Josh’s tremendous win at 43North showcases Syracuse’s strengths across data science, social science, technology and entrepreneurship, and demonstrates how the environment here gives students the tools and the support to imagine and build something amazing,” notes , dean of the Syracuse University Libraries, home of the BlackStone LaunchPad. “He did a masterful job of explaining his product, the company potential and why Buffalo should invest in him.”

In Buffalo, Aviv competed against 17 other finalists from across the country. In addition to the cash prize of $1 million, Aviv will receive formal mentorship, 12 months of free incubator space, marketing assistance and freedom from New York State taxes for 10 years, both for his company and the personal income of his employees. He is expected to move his company to Buffalo in early 2019.

“I love seeing student success like this. I see it as part of a continuously building effort of many people that started years ago,” says iSchool adjunct professor , co-founder of the IDS program. “It continues to increase momentum, scale and scope. Josh and his team are exemplary and demonstrate pure and relentless entrepreneurial spirit. Congratulations to Josh, his team and the entire Syracuse University startup community!”

Imcon is the developer of the , a remote connectivity solution that allows users to communicate from almost any location on the planet. The device can be used to create internal wireless networks with large coverage areas utilizing various radio frequencies.

Associate Professor Lee McKnight will serve as the faculty lead on the project. His research focuses on wireless grids, the global information economy, and national and international technology policy.

A delegation from Imcon traveled to Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, last week to meet with high-ranking government officials, including Nathaniel McGill, the minister of state for presidential affairs; Professor Ansu D. Sonii, the minister of education; and Dr. Wilhemina Jallah, the minister of health.

McGill expressed his support for the 40 in 2021 Project, acknowledging “the potential significant value to the country, especially the benefits to be gained by Liberia’s ailing education and health sectors.” Jallah and Sonii also demonstrated their support for the project by executing a Memorandum of Understanding, for their respective agencies, to formally launch the partnership.

The iSchool will lead research, education, cyber-physical network design and implementation for the Liberia project. Associate Professor Lee McKnight will serve as the faculty project manager.

As part of an estimated $150 million project, Imcon International will provide 6,000 Internet Backpacks, as well as edgeware, through its partner, VMware, to the Republic of Liberia for education, healthcare, rural community and government use, connecting the Internet to all schools and hospitals throughout the country.

“We are pleased to take part in this project with Imcon and lend our technical and research expertise to this important endeavor to increase Internet connectivity across Liberia and other locations around the globe,” says Dean Liddy. “The iSchool is deeply committed to leveraging our academic and scholarly resources to improve the world around us.”

The initiative includes a project-based learning curriculum through Imcon’s education partner, . In addition, through its partnerships with and , Imcon will also implement a nationwide broadband network dedicated to Liberia’s education and healthcare systems and deploy and maintain the country’s first electronic medical record system.

“The Internet Backpack is a revolutionary technology and a groundbreaking solution with multiple applications for use across the planet,” says Loud. “This alliance will dramatically jumpstart our ability to extend our proprietary technology and effectuate positive change for underserved people as well as for those in remote areas without access to standard connectivity. The Liberia project is the first of many projects we envision rolling out on a global scale over the coming months and years.”

As part of the (IDS) program at the iSchool, open opportunities for students from all backgrounds to explore the tech scene beyond the classroom. Each week-long trip is 3 credits, including rigorous networking, analysis of company cultures and processes, and interactive cultural activities. Immersion Experiences are open to undergraduate and graduate students from all schools and colleges at Syracuse University.

The Spring 2019 Immersion Experiences are:

The information session will include details on general scheduling, application advice, and insights from alumni of Immersion Experience programs.

Applications for all Spring 2018 programs will open on Monday, Oct. 1. Questions can be directed to Julie Walas, Director of Student and Alumni Engagement at the iSchool.

Students in the Application Programming for Information Systems course present their final projects. This course is an elective in the iSchool’s new Data Analytics minor.

A recent report co-published by IBM and analytics software company Burning Glass Technologies estimates that data science and analytics job openings will grow 15 percent by 2020.

In order to prepare students for a future career that will require a high degree of data literacy and skills, the School of Information Studies (iSchool) has introduced a new undergraduate minor in Data Analytics. This 18-credit program provides students with an analytical and technical background as well as a foundational understanding of the role of data in today’s society.

Students with any non-iSchool major from any school or college within Syracuse University can pursue this minor.

“A minor in data analytics adds a new dimension to a student’s skills and can open up opportunities in their major’s professional field,” explains , professor of practice and undergraduate program manager at the iSchool. “For example, a biology major could begin a career in bioinformatics, or a political science major could become a leading pollster and political strategist—this minor allows students to expand their potential in their field of study.”

As businesses hire to fill a demand for data analytics knowledge, they will turn to their own ranks for the skills to meet their data needs. “Holding a minor in data analytics indicates an interest in this growing field,” notes Nosky, “and this offers potential for growth beyond just getting your first job out of college.”

“Every industry is in need of graduates with big data and analytics skills,” says Nosky. “The versatility of data analytics makes it a great minor option for students in any major at Syracuse University.”

There are 9 credits of required courses for the minor. They are IST��387, Introduction to Applied Data Science (3 credits); IST 414, Data Driven Inquiry (3 credits); and IST 343, Data in Society (3 credits).

The remaining 9 credits for the minor can be selected from the following elective courses, each taken for 3 credits:

• IST 256 – Application Programming for Information Systems
• IST 359 – Introduction to Database Management Systems
• IST 407 – Data Mining
• IST 421 – Information Visualization
• IST 449 – Human Computer Interaction
• IST 486 – Social Media in the Organization

To apply for the minor, students will need to download and complete the . The completed form, along with a transcript, can be turned into the iSchool’s Undergraduate Academic Counselor Shannon Marrero in 114 Hinds Hall.

Students on the 2018 EuroTech trip pose for a group photo near Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany.

Fall information sessions for the 2019 AsiaTech and EuroTech Immersion Experience trips hosted by the School of Information Studies (iSchool) have been scheduled.

These three-credit traveling seminars expose students to some of the largest global corporations so they can see first hand how these institutions use information to address global technology challenges.

Participants will get an inside view of the top global corporations across Europe or Asia while visiting historical and cultural highlights along the way. Students will also have free time to explore each city on their own, as well as visit cultural attractions as a group.

The trips are open to students from all SU schools and colleges.

The 17-day AsiaTech trip runs from mid-May through early June 2019 and will take students to Hong Kong, Malaysia,�� Singapore and Thailand. More details are available on the .

The EuroTech trip is a��17-day seminar that runs from the end of July through mid-August 2019 with visits to Amsterdam, Bruges, Brussels, Geneva, London, Lyon, Munich, Paris, Rome and Venice. The�� has additional information about the trip.

Information sessions covering both programs will be held in Room 347 of Hinds Hall on the following days:

• Oct 2, 11 a.m.
• Oct 3, 11:30 a.m.
• Oct 8, 5 p.m.

Applications for the programs are due Oct. 15. Questions can be directed to��Kathy Allen, assistant dean of student and career services��at the iSchool.

Postdoctoral researcher Patricia Rossini (top) and Professor Jennifer Stromer-Galley are part of the team exploring uncivil and intolerant discourse on Twitter.

In addition to Syracuse University, other institutions participating include Leiden University, Delft University of Technology, and Bocconi University. Over 230 proposals were reviewed in the selection process, and the team was one of two chosen to receive a Twitter research grant.

Led by , assistant professor of political science at Leiden University in the Netherlands, the team will conduct research comparing discussions around polarized and non-polarized topics in the United States and United Kingdom to develop and implement four metrics that will provide a better understanding of how communities form around discussions on Twitter and will investigate the extent of certain problems that may develop in those discussions. Tromble was a visiting scholar at the iSchool’s ��(CCDS) from January��through August 2017.

“The last few years have made it clear that if we are going to effectively identify, evaluate, and address some of the most difficult problems on social media, academic researchers and tech companies will need to work together much more closely. This initiative presents an important and promising opportunity for such collaboration,” Tromble says.

The project focuses on two challenges faced by Twitter. The first is the presence of echo chambers—that is, the extent to which discussions are enclaved in homogeneous, and often polarized, groups.

“When people are unaware of others’ points of view, they have informational blind spots. This problem is aggravated online, because people are more likely to access content that is tailored to their preferences and interactions. While we have some evidence that filter bubbles and echo chambers are a problem on Twitter, one of this project’s contributions will be to empirically understand the extent and severity of the problem,” explains assistant professor at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, whose work will focus on developing and implementing computational techniques to assess the diversity of perspectives on Twitter.

The second area of research will explore uncivil and intolerant discourse. These metrics will examine the extent to which those who participate in Twitter discussions engage in toxic behaviors.

“Political discussion online is often dismissed due to uncivil discourse, and because of that we are sometimes unable to understand its true value. Rather than lumping all problematic discourse into a single category, we distinguish between uncivil and intolerant statements. Incivility online might serve an important and valid purpose in discourse, while intolerance is, by its nature, threatening to democracy,” explains , CCDS postdoctoral researcher at the iSchool, whose work focuses on understanding such discourse online.

The team brings together scholars with different backgrounds and expertise, bridging political science, communication, and computer science to develop metrics and conduct experiments aimed at identifying potentially problematic behaviors on Twitter. , associate professor at Italy’s Bocconi University, an expert in computational sociolinguistics, notes the extraordinary opportunity afforded by this project: “I am extremely excited to be part of a such a unique collaboration between social and technical sciences on a project of this importance to society. Working across disciplines will enable unparalleled insights into healthy online conversations, and collaborating with Twitter means we can analyze authentic source data at an unprecedented scale.”

The team also counts the expertise of , assistant professor in political science at Leiden University, who will be responsible for leading experimental design, implementation, and analysis, and , professor in the iSchool, whose expertise in political communication and social media will provide support to the conceptualization, development, and implementation of Twitter health metrics.

As part of the research grant, the team will work closely with Twitter. While scholars will have the autonomy to develop and publish research under this grant, the outcomes of this project will help inform Twitter’s future policies and practices to promote a healthy conversational environment.

Over 70 people attended the first held last week at Syracuse University, and sponsored by the School of Information Studies (iSchool), the City of Syracuse and the Center for Technology in Government at the State University of New York at Albany.

iSchool alumnus and City of Syracuse Chief Data Officer Sam Edelstein shares his open data experiences at the first Upstate Data Summit.

The one-day event brought municipal government officials, nonprofits and vendors from across Upstate New York to showcase innovative uses of government data and technology.

“Our goal was to provide an opportunity for attendees to learn more about how other upstate governments are using data,” explains��Mark Headd, an innovation specialist for the U.S. government General Services Administration Technology Transformation Service who helped to organize the event.

“Everyone who attended this summit strives to improve cities,” says Sam Edelstein, an iSchool alumnus and chief data officer for the City of Syracuse. “While each attendee comes from a place that is a little different, we can all learn about what has worked elsewhere. By sharing stories and data that helped inform the decisions that were made, we can hope to improve the lives of those that live throughout Upstate New York.”

Headd and iSchool Dean Liz Liddy opened the event, and speakers from Upstate cities spent the morning sharing their experiences working on municipal data projects.

Kate May, chief performance officer for the City of Rochester, outlined a data strategy she is pursuing for the city, and addressed some of the challenges in gathering and sharing data between municipalities.

The director of Open Data Buffalo for the City of Buffalo, Kirk McLean, discussed how his organization developed the Mayor’s Civic Innovation Challenge and involved the community in developing applications that leverage open city data.

The Center for Technology in Government’s Megan Sutherland and John Coluccio from the City of Schenectady gave a presentation on how they’ve worked to develop a shared regional database to help combat property blight in New York’s Capital Region. The pair have worked with officials in the cities of Troy and Amsterdam.

Outlining numerous efforts in the City of Syracuse, Edelstein explained how the city’s Innovation Team gathered and shared data to address municipal infrastructure issues, such as potholes, water main breaks and snow removal.

City of Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh then kicked off the afternoon portion of the event with a keynote address, outlining the city’s goals and noting that embracing technology and adopting open data policies can make city operations more efficient and equitable.

Walsh praised the city’s Innovation Team, crediting them for beginning the process of moving the city toward data-driven decision making.

He��characterized the challenges that the City of Syracuse faces as “daunting, but not insurmountable.”

“With the right team, which we have,”��Walsh says, “and leveraging data and technology, our best days are ahead of us.”

“Across Upstate New York,” the Mayor notes, “we have all the ingredients we need to be a great community, and at the core of our efforts is making data-driven decisions.”

After Walsh’s address, Coluccio, Edelstein, May and McLean were joined by Ari Epstein from New York State’s Department of State and Jared Kraham, deputy mayor of the City of Binghamton for a panel discussion and Q&A session. The panel fielded questions that ranged from how to best involve the community in open data projects to how municipalities were archiving data and dealing with new record retention policies.

About Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private, international research university with distinctive academics, diversely unique offerings and an��undeniable spirit. Located in the geographic , with a global footprint, and��, Syracuse University offers a quintessential college experience. The scope of Syracuse University is a testament to its strengths: a pioneering history dating back to 1870; a choice of more than 200 majors and 100 minors offered through 13 schools and colleges; nearly 15,000 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students; more than a quarter of a million alumni in 160 countries; and a student population from all 50 U.S. states and 123 countries. For more information, please visit .

]]> /blog/2018/05/29/stripling-elected-to-board-of-freedom-to-read-foundation/ Tue, 29 May 2018 16:05:14 +0000 /?p=133946

School of Information Studies (iSchool) Associate Professor of Practice and Senior Associate Dean has been elected to the Board of Trustees of the (FTRF). She will begin her term in June after the organization’s annual meeting in New Orleans.

Barbara Stripling

FTRF is a non-profit legal and educational organization affiliated with the ��(ALA). It was created in 1969 with the purpose of promoting and protecting the freedom of speech and of the press;��protecting the public’s right of access to information and materials stored in the nation’s libraries;��safeguarding libraries’ right to disseminate all materials contained in their collections; and��supporting libraries and librarians in their defense of First Amendment rights by supplying them with legal counsel or the means to secure it.

“The foundation defends our First Amendment rights to access and express ideas and information freely,” says Stripling, “And I am honored to serve on the FTRF Board and take an active role in strengthening those rights for all.”

Stripling, who served as president of the��ALA from 2013 to 2014, has been dedicated to intellectual freedom throughout her professional career, from serving as a high school librarian, library administrator, and educator to serving on the Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee. During her tenure as��ALA president, she established two intellectual freedom initiatives with national impact: and the ALA.

The FTRF is managed by a board of 15 trustees who serve for two years. Trustees meet twice a year in conjunction with the midwinter and annual meetings of the ALA.

Stripling, who has served on the iSchool faculty since 2012, will retire from her full-time position at Syracuse University this summer. In addition to this board membership, Stripling will also serve as a part-time adjunct instructor and course coordinator for the iSchool’s .

]]> /blog/2018/05/11/summit-to-showcase-innovative-uses-of-government-data/ Fri, 11 May 2018 19:18:39 +0000 /?p=133609

The City of Syracuse’s Open Data website is one example of how Upstate New York cities are using and sharing municipal data. The portal provides a central location for open data, maps, and visualizations to help residents understand what is happening in the city.

The (iSchool), the��, and the����at the State University of New York at Albany are joining together to offer the����at Syracuse University in June.

The one-day event, planned for Wednesday, June 6, will bring together municipal government officials from across Upstate New York to showcase innovative uses of data and technology.

“The hope is that the summit will provide an opportunity for attendees to learn more about how other Upstate governments are using data,” explains��, an innovation specialist for the U.S. government General Services Administration’s��who is helping to organize the event. Headd is a 1994 graduate of the ’s MPA program.

“Attendees can learn how municipalities that are new to open data and data analytics can get started with data programs of their own,” Headd adds.

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh will deliver the summit’s keynote address.

Speakers at the event will include Kate May, chief performance officer for the City of Rochester; Kirk McLean, director of Open Data Buffalo for the City of Buffalo; John Coluccio, signal superintendent for the City of Schenectady; Megan Sutherland, senior program associate at the Center for Technology in Government; Sam Edelstein, iSchool alumnus and chief data officer for the City of Syracuse; and Jared Kraham, Maxwell School and alumnus and deputy mayor of the City of Binghamton.

The summit will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will be held in Room 275 of Falk College’s White Hall. The registration fee is $10. For a full event schedule and online registration form, visit the��.

Travis Mason

Mason’s career in emerging technology policy includes cutting-edge health devices, autonomous vehicles and advanced renewable energy. He is currently the vice president for public policy at Airbus, and previously worked at Google X and as a senior consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton.

He received his undergraduate degree from the and the , where he was recognized as a Harry S. Truman Scholar, one of the country’s most prestigious undergraduate awards. He went on to earn a master’s degree in public policy from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.

Mason served as a host for the iSchool’s Road Trip to Washington, D.C., in 2015 when he worked at Google, and members of the iSchool Senior Squad, the student leadership group that helps select the convocation speaker, recalled his passionate and insightful speech during their visit.

“We strongly admired his ability to command a room, engage with students and connect with an audience,” says Emily Kellman ’18. “Some of the values we were looking for in selecting a speaker for convocation included a passion for technology, a desire to orchestrate change on a large scale and the ability to relate to our community as a whole, and we feel that Travis’ career path, background and personality embody so many of these traits.”

“The impact that Travis has had in the technology and policy industry is unequaled, and we are thrilled to receive his words of encouragement as our class embarks on our professional careers and endeavors,” says Alexis Ho-Liu ’18.

While a student at Syracuse, Mason’s accomplishments on campus and in the community were significant. He was president of the Student Association; served as a student representative on the University Senate; co-founded OrangeSeeds, the first-year leadership empowerment program; and was recognized with the Syracuse City YWCA Diversity Achiever Award.

Mason last spoke on campus in August 2012 when he was the opening convocation speaker for the Class of 2016.

The iSchool’s convocation ceremonies are scheduled for Saturday, May 12, 2018. More information about all Commencement Weekend ceremonies, including the Universitywide Commencement on Sunday, May 13, is available on the .

Startup Dublin is a sister program to the iSchool’s well-known��,��, and����immersion programs.

Startup Dublin will give students access to connect with technology companies, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists in Ireland, where 8,000 IT jobs are forecast to open each year.

Startup Dublin will give students access to connect with technology companies, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in Ireland. They will get to meet a unique network of people and hear about their way of life, both personal and professional. Participating students will also connect with Syracuse University alumni living and working in Dublin.

According to��, there are currently 80,000 people working in tech nationwide, and a further 8,000 IT jobs in Ireland are forecast to open each year. Potential site visits include Google, Amazon, Paypal, EA and Dropbox

This program is open to Syracuse University students from all majors, all schools and colleges, and all degree programs.

“This is a week-long travel program where students study technology and interact with innovative firms and alumni to understand how their best practices may be applied elsewhere,” explains, director of student and alumni engagement at the iSchool. “Our Startup Dublin cohort will travel to an innovative ecosystem and spend seven days meeting with information-based organizations, and their daily visits will provide them with a well-rounded vision of the innovative ecosystem and its cultural context.”

Students will be required to study Dublin’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and its companies prior to the trip, record their observations during the trip and provide a reflection piece upon their return. The program is a 3-credit experience, and students will enroll in IDS 460: Immersion Experience.

“This course involves travel and significant dedication, as students will be required to travel to to Dublin and will be actively participating in activities from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. for the entirety of the trip,” says Walas. “In addition to the 100 contact hours during the trip itself, there will be three pre-meetings, several writing assignments and a final presentation required.”

. The application process is combined with the iSchool’s Peak 2 Peak trip to Seattle and Portland, and students may apply for one or both trips using the online application. The week-long Dublin program takes place over the November Thanksgiving Break each year. For Startup Dublin 2018, students will be traveling Friday, Nov. 16- Sunday, Nov. 25.

Startup Dublin is a competitive program with limited space. To be considered for admission, students should have, at the time of application, a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.00 on a 4.00 scale. In addition to GPA, there is a strong emphasis on the Experiential Learning statement, to be submitted as part of this application. Students are also asked to submit a short video describing what they envision as the ideal company or organization to visit on this trip. These details are all contained in the application.

Admissions decisions are based on a full review of the application file, including the transcript, resume, the Experiential Learning statement, short video and any disciplinary records. Once admitted to the program, students must remain in good standing (academic and judicial) to stay eligible to participate in this program.

About Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private, international research university with distinctive academics, diversely unique offerings and an��undeniable spirit. Located in the geographic , with a global footprint, and��, Syracuse University offers a quintessential college experience. The scope of Syracuse University is a testament to its strengths: a pioneering history dating back to 1870; a choice of more than 200 majors and 100 minors offered through 13 schools and colleges; nearly 15,000 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students; more than a quarter of a million alumni in 160 countries; and a student population from all 50 U.S. states and 123 countries. For more information, please visit .

Yun Huang, left, and Qunfang Wu

Huang and Wu were named winners of the��, considered the highest honor at the annual conference, for their paper “Understanding Interactions Between Municipal Police Departments and the Public on Twitter.”

The award comes with��a cash prize of $5,000 provided by Microsoft, and honors the����of Microsoft Research. Susan Dumais from Microsoft presented the award at the conference’s��opening plenary session.��Dirks was a long-time friend and supporter of the iConference and the information field.

The����examines nearly 10,000 Tweets collected from 16 municipal police department official Twitter accounts in 2015 and annotates them into different strategies and topics. Huang and Wu then further examined the association between Tweet features—such as hashtags, mentions, and content—and user interactions by using regression models. The models revealed some surprising findings, such as the number of mentions having a negative correlation with Tweets being marked as favorites.

“We hope that our findings will provide insights into how to improve interactions between law enforcement and the community,” says Huang. “As law enforcement agencies use social media for building community policing, both researchers and practitioners need to understand how the two parties interact on social media on a daily basis, so that effective strategies or tools can be developed for the agencies to better leverage the platform to fulfill their missions.”

At the iSchool, Huang’s research examines new, context-driven ways of designing mobile social crowdsourcing systems. Specific areas of her interest include human-computer interaction, mobile applications and systems, social media and social networking, inclusive web and cloud computing.

Wu is a second-year Ph.D. student at the iSchool with research interests in human-computer interaction, social media, crowdsourcing and data mining. Her studies aim to identify different stakeholders and impact factors to verify the accessibility of systems in different crowdsourcing contexts.

The iConference is hosted by the��, a collective of over����around the globe dedicated to advancing the information field. The iSchool at Syracuse University is a founding member of the organization, which has been hosting the annual event since 2005. This is the second Lee Dirks Award for a Syracuse researcher. In 2013, the first year of the awards,��, then a Ph.D. student at the iSchool, was recognized.��Prestopnik is now an assistant professor in the computer science department at Ithaca College.

About Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private, international research university with distinctive academics, diversely unique offerings and an��undeniable spirit. Located in the geographic , with a global footprint, and��, Syracuse University offers a quintessential college experience. The scope of Syracuse University is a testament to its strengths: a pioneering history dating back to 1870; a choice of more than 200 majors and 100 minors offered through 13 schools and colleges; nearly 15,000 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students; more than a quarter of a million alumni in 160 countries; and a student population from all 50 U.S. states and 123 countries. For more information, please visit .

The TEDx conference will be held on April 21 in Slocum Auditorium.

The overarching theme for this year’s conference is “TEDx Syracuse University Presents: NOW.”

According to co-lead organizer and Executive Producer Christopher Sekerak, “We chose ‘NOW’ as our theme due to its ambiguous meaning in both a literal and metaphorical sense. To elaborate on my point, ‘literal’ in regards to the exact moment the viewer watches the talk and ‘metaphorical’ since our talks pertain to a variety of current topics and/or ideas.”

The speakers will discuss a wide range of topics.��Below is the list of the speakers and a brief summary of their talks:

• John Torrens��is an entrepreneurship professor at the ��who is also the founder and president of multiple companies in health care and education. He will be examining how ADHD is an entrepreneur’s superpower, not a disability.

• Komal Sharma��is a senior in the ��and the winner of several pageants, such as Miss Teen India International 2012. She will be discussing her “elixir of life” and will be explaining her Theory of Imperfection.

• Neha Kulkarni��is a researcher, technologist and world backpacker. Her talk will discuss how ancient philosophy, when combined with empirical data, may be the best source of practical solutions/insights for today’s toughest issues.

• Anthony DeMario��is a senior business development representative at Terakeet,��and an on-air talent on HOT 107.9 Syracuse. He will be discussing��his personal battles with anxiety and depression, being impacted by suicide and the importance of sharing your unique voice to help others find their voice.

• Elisee Joseph��is a statistician, Google programming scholar and an economics professor at Queens College and Marymount Manhattan College. He will be explaining how we can determine the outcome of a sporting event without the explicit use of a scoreboard.

• David Zuleta, a native of Colombia, is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences and the founder of ModoScript, a healthcare company that has received interest from some major players in the healthcare industry. He will be discussing the drug abuse epidemic in the United States and explain how to cut the cycle that leads to drug usage.

• Duane Hughes��is��an executive in financial services in��New York��City. Titled “Check Your Preference,” Hughes’ talk will explore the origins of our��preferences for certain types of people over others, how those preferences may affect our effectiveness at work and tangible strategies we can adopt to check our preferences and improve our results.

• Jonathan Jackson is the head of Corporate Brand and co-founder of Blavity, a media and technology company focused on empowering Black millennials, and a 2018 Knight Visiting Neiman Fellow at Harvard. He will be talking about how we perceive Black people from places we haven’t heard of, and what it means to make it “out of nowhere.”

• Jill Catherine, born and raised in Syracuse but currently living in Hawaii, is a wellness coach, mentor and body image educator who was previously the director of communications for the Department of Student Affairs at Syracuse University. She will be discussing how our culture’s obsession with image-based body ideals can be reformed so we as people can reach our full potential.

TEDx Syracuse University’s 2018 conference is slated to take place on April 21 in Slocum Auditorium. Tickets for the conference��will go on sale in late March.��They are $8 for Syracuse University students, and $15 for��the general��public. All information will be posted on the����and��,����and����pages in the��coming��weeks. The event will also be livestreamed through the TEDx Syracuse University website:��.

About Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private, international research university with distinctive academics, diversely unique offerings and an��undeniable spirit. Located in the geographic , with a global footprint, and��, Syracuse University offers a quintessential college experience. The scope of Syracuse University is a testament to its strengths: a pioneering history dating back to 1870; a choice of more than 200 majors and 100 minors offered through 13 schools and colleges; nearly 15,000 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students; more than a quarter of a million alumni in 160 countries; and a student population from all 50 U.S. states and 123 countries. For more information, please visit .

Daniel Acuna

That may soon change, thanks to work done by (iSchool) Assistant Professor Daniel Acuna.

In a paper posted on the bioRxiv preprint server and reported in Nature, Acuna and his research team, Paul Brookes at the University of Rochester and Konrad Kording at the University of Pennsylvania, outline how they used an algorithm to successfully search through nearly 800,000 biomedical papers and 2 million images, scanning for and detecting duplicate imagery.

“This research shows that it is feasible to use machine learning to conduct advanced analysis of science with big data,” Acuna explains. “If editors and research integrity officers were to adopt this method, it would make it easier for them to screen and evaluate images in scientific papers before publication—something that currently requires considerable effort, isn’t widely undertaken and is prone to errors.”

Acuna and his colleagues have found that editors and research officers identified image reuse as a problem, but one for which they lacked an easy solution. “They have cases sitting on their desks, but it’s hard to check for this manually, as they’d need to take each of the figures and then analyze them by hand,” Acuna says. “With the algorithm, it goes through all the data and finds the duplicated figures, even if they’re rotated or skewed in some way.”

With the way that the new tool can rapidly detect image reuse at scale, Acuna believes that it soon will be able to ensure scientific integrity across a broad range of disciplines.

“I think that a great deal of scientific fraud will be, sooner or later, detectable by automatic methods,” Acuna says.

About Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private, international research university with distinctive academics, diversely unique offerings and an��undeniable spirit. Located in the geographic , with a global footprint, and��, Syracuse University offers a quintessential college experience. The scope of Syracuse University is a testament to its strengths: a pioneering history dating back to 1870; a choice of more than 200 majors and 100 minors offered through 13 schools and colleges; nearly 15,000 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students; more than a quarter of a million alumni in 160 countries; and a student population from all 50 U.S. states and 123 countries. For more information, please visit .

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh thanks hackathon participants for their work as iSchool Dean Liz Liddy and City Chief Data Officer Sam Edelstein look on.

The hackathon, organized by the iSchool, the City of Syracuse and AT&T, brought together over 90 participants across 36 teams who worked with datasets from the city’s fleet of snowplows. Participants included community members as well as Syracuse University students.

Snow plowing and snow removal issues have been a significant priority for newly elected Mayor Walsh, and the city’s Innovation Team has led efforts to use new technologies to improve how the city addresses these issues.

��“We are excited about the level of engagement that AT&T and the iSchool have stirred in the community,” says Corey Driscoll Dunham, director of operations for the City of Syracuse. “I’ve reviewed creative and promising submissions that we can implement in our communication of routes and priority areas.”

The winners of the hackathon are:

First Place: Dean Olin and Alex Sinfarosa.��Their project allows the city to see where roads have been plowed and the amount of time elapsed since they were last plowed.

Second Place: Michael Phillips.��Phillips’ project provided a way for community members to easily search which streets have been plowed and at what time. Phillips is a graduate student at Syracuse working on his M.S. in computational linguistics in the .

Third Place: Suchitra Deekshitula, Anish Nair, Ashmin Swain, Rahul Sarkhel and Shikhar Agrawal.��This group of iSchool graduate students crafted a project that looked into the analytics related to plowing, focusing on how much work the trucks were doing at different periods of time, and attempted to build a route optimization algorithm for the trucks.

The first-place team received $3,500; the second place team winner $2,000; and the third place team received $1,500.

“The quality of the innovative solutions developed for this challenge is extremely impressive and serves as an example of the strength and creativity of Central New York’s technology community,” says Marissa Shorenstein, president, Northeast Region, AT&T. “AT&T is proud to have collaborated with��Mayor Walsh and Syracuse University to host this challenge. We applaud them for embracing how technology and data can be used for social good��as tools to assist municipalities to address issues��impacting��their��residents, similar to what AT&T provides every day through our Smart Cities solutions.”

“We’re pleased that we could again work with AT&T and the City of Syracuse to make a civic data hackathon happen, and that we had the opportunity to apply the concepts we teach our students here at the iSchool for the benefit of the community,” says iSchool Dean Elizabeth D. Liddy. “I am thrilled that many Syracuse University students took part in the hackathon, and that members of our faculty took the time to serve as mentors to participating teams.”

iSchool alumnus and City of Syracuse Chief Data Officer Sam Edelstein was involved in the hackathon planning as a member of the city’s Innovation Team.

“Smart cities collaborate with the community and their anchor institutions and strive to use data to make decisions,” Edelstein says. “Applying this thinking to snow removal, and seeing the results from this Plowing Through the Data hackathon will help us get better and ultimately deliver better service. All of these projects were impressive and prove that when we release data to the public, people will take it and find creative ways to interpret it to benefit everyone.”

About Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private, international research university with distinctive academics, diversely unique offerings and an��undeniable spirit. Located in the geographic , with a global footprint, and��, Syracuse University offers a quintessential college experience. The scope of Syracuse University is a testament to its strengths: a pioneering history dating back to 1870; a choice of more than 200 majors and 100 minors offered through 13 schools and colleges; nearly 15,000 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students; more than a quarter of a million alumni in 160 countries; and a student population from all 50 U.S. states and 123 countries. For more information, please visit .

Yun Huang, top, with Michael D’Eredita, Qunfang Wu and Yaxing Yao, from left

The I-Corps program prepares academic researchers to extend their focus beyond the university laboratory and is designed to accelerate the economic and societal benefits of NSF-funded research projects that are ready to move toward commercialization.

Through the program, Huang and her team of doctoral students will identify valuable product opportunities that can emerge from their research and will learn skills in entrepreneurship through focused training in customer discovery. The team also benefits from mentorship from established entrepreneurs.

Huang serves as the principal investigator on the grant. Doctoral students����and����work as entrepreneur leads. The team is also joined by iSchool Assistant Professor of Practice��, who serves as the team’s industrial mentor.

The project is rooted in work that Huang began in 2015, when she was working on a research project with Syracuse University’s Department of Public Safety. When Huang learned that floor plans of University buildings were being uploaded to Google Maps, she began to explore ways to use technology to aid in building navigation.

Syracuse University’s Information Technology Services division provided Huang an initial $3,600 in seed money for mapping out indoor spaces of campus buildings, and Huang also pursued a��, which provided another $38,000.

“I became interested in exploring the Low Energy Bluetooth technology in 2016 after Google’s grant came in,” says Huang. “The Bluetooth Beacons allow us to gather hyperlocal information about how people move through or co-locate at an indoor space,�� like a classroom.”

“We started using the Beacon technology in Hinds Hall, with sensors across the ground floor areas,” Huang explains. “We were exploring different designs to promote social interactions among students when they were co-located��in the same indoor area. The idea of using the technology to facilitate class attendance taking emerged shortly after.”

Huang’s team then developed a mobile app called SU Connect that leverages the Beacons mounted inside particular classrooms to verify students’ attendance. To enable automatically checking in to a class, students need to download the app on their mobile phones.

“The purpose of this NSF I-Corps grant is to move us beyond the University and explore the market for this Beacon technology in other sectors, like airports, museums, libraries and convention centers,” says Huang, “so we can see how this IoT (Internet of Things) technology might address real needs in creative ways.”

Commercial uses could include counting people and traffic within a public space, establishing traffic patterns and paths through buildings, and enabling people to better navigate within indoor spaces.

The I-Corps funding allows Huang’s�� team to travel, talk to potential customers, research their proposed markets, meet with technology vendors and talk to end users. “I want the business to take off and be successful.” Huang explains. “Establishing this platform with a large number of active users will show societal impacts of the research and further allow me to develop new research agendas with diverse user populations.”

For Huang’s doctoral students, Qunfang Wu and Yaxing Yao, the I-Corps’ entrepreneurial focus provides a different kind of practice for the pair to learn and master. “I improved my interview skills significantly by practicing scientific methods and entrepreneurial approaches along the process, which can in turn benefit my research in the long run,” says Yao. “I learned a lot of new things, like how to use business language to communicate with others and how to use different tools to present and evaluate our ideas.”

“This project allows them to start thinking about research in very practical terms. There is a learning curve to this. I’m excited to see how they rise to this new challenge,” D’Eredita remarks. “A big focus of this grant is on educating the��academic scholars, and preparing them to get their research to market if it is commercially viable.”

About Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private, international research university with distinctive academics, diversely unique offerings and an��undeniable spirit. Located in the geographic , with a global footprint, and��, Syracuse University offers a quintessential college experience. The scope of Syracuse University is a testament to its strengths: a pioneering history dating back to 1870; a choice of more than 200 majors and 100 minors offered through 13 schools and colleges; nearly 15,000 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students; more than a quarter of a million alumni in 160 countries; and a student population from all 50 U.S. states and 123 countries. For more information, please visit .

iSchool Professor Jeff Saltz speaks with City of Syracuse Director of Operations Corey Driscoll Dunham and City Chief Data Officer and iSchool alumnus Sam Edelstein at the hackathon launch event..

The partnership between the iSchool, the city and AT&T is the second community-based hackathon in Syracuse that encourages community involvement in support of solutions to city infrastructure issues. In 2016, the city and the iSchool worked with AT&T to run the Syracuse Roads Challenge that brought nearly 30 participants across 13 teams who worked on road quality datasets provided by the city.

The Plowing Through the Data hackathon makes data available from the city’s fleet of 37 snowplows. The plows, responsible for clearing some 400-plus miles of snowy city roads, have been outfitted with GPS tracking devices since early 2015.

Hackathon participants can use the data to create new applications and predictive analyses��that could be used to help the city address snow removal issues and better plan for snow-related weather events.

Syracuse City Mayor Ben Walsh announced a snow safety plan just days after his inauguration last month, and has made issues surrounding snow removal an early focus of his administration.

“It starts with us. We’re excited to involve our community in not just the enforcement, but in the long-term solutions needed to improve the way we handle snow. A better snow plan can improve commuting, safety, and pride in our city,” said Mayor Walsh.

“When the city makes data available to the public, people can see how the city works. For this challenge, when people see where snow plows go, they can help us work better, continue our conversations across platforms, and enable us to come together to tackle this challenge,” said Sam Edelstein ’07 G’15, chief data officer for the City of Syracuse and an iSchool alumnus.

“I’m��excited that the iSchool will again be partnering with the City of Syracuse and AT&T by lending our expertise to the hackathon,” says Elizabeth D. Liddy, dean of the iSchool. “Our faculty and students are deeply engaged in using data to address a wide range of issues, including the use of data for civic good. I am looking forward to seeing the solutions that all of the teams propose.”

“AT&T is proud to collaborate with the City of Syracuse, Syracuse University and Mayor Walsh to provide this unique challenge to students and career technologists across Central New York to come up with innovative solutions to one of the region’s most disruptive winter challenges, snow,” says Marissa Shorenstein, president, Northeast Region, AT&T.�� “This competition is a unique approach to showcase how technology and data can be used for social good and assist municipalities to address issues impacting their residents. As a judge, I am excited to see what the talented local tech community creates to help the City of Syracuse utilize its robust open data platform to address logistical and safety issue associated with winter.”

Challenge Timeline

The challenge is designed to engage technologists, designers, developers and anyone else who is interested to use their skills for social good. No prior experience is needed to participate, and the challenge is open to anyone—students and community members.

Cash prizes of $3,500, $2,000 and $1,500 will be given to first-, second-, and third-place winners.

Feb. 8: Plowing Through the Data, powered by AT&T launch and dataset made available.

Feb. 15:��Snow Safety Summit. The city’s Innovation Team will facilitate��four different stations exploring issues around snow removal. Participants in the challenge are encouraged to attend to better understand the challenges that city residents want solutions to address;��6-8 p.m. at Dr. Weeks Elementary School (Cafeteria),�� 710 Hawley Ave., Syracuse.

Week of Feb. 20:��Virtual Open Office Hours with iSchool faculty members. iSchool faculty members will be available online for virtual meetings and consultation with participants and teams about data and projects. Dates will be communicated to participants who register their teams.

March��1:��Projects due by 11:59 p.m.

March 7:��Winners will be announced at a public ceremony at the iSchool with officials from the City of Syracuse and AT&T present.

More Information:��Challenge details, instructions, a signup form, and downloadable dataset files are available online at the iSchool’s website:��.

About Syracuse University

Founded��in 1870, Syracuse University is a private international research university��dedicated to advancing knowledge and fostering student success through teaching��excellence,��rigorous scholarship and interdisciplinary research. Comprising 11��academic schools and colleges, the University has a long legacy of excellence��in the liberal arts, sciences and��professional disciplines that prepares��students for the complex challenges and emerging opportunities of a rapidly��changing world. Students enjoy the resources of a 270-acre main��campus and��extended campus venues in major national metropolitan hubs and across three��continents. Syracuse’s student body is among the most diverse for an��institution of its��kind across multiple dimensions, and students typically represent��all 50 states and more than 100 countries. Syracuse also has a long legacy of��supporting veterans and is home to��the nationally recognized Institute for��Veterans and Military Families, the first university-based institute in the��U.S. focused on addressing the unique needs of veterans and their��families.

At the iSchool, master’s degree programs in applied data science, information management and library and information science can be completed either on-campus or online.

The����are available on the U.S. News & World Report website.

U.S. News “developed the Best Online Programs rankings to provide students with the tools to identify programs that offer top faculty, positive student engagement and generous support services, all of which are key to productive online learning,” the magazine said in a release.

At the iSchool, master’s degree programs in��,����and����can be completed either on-campus or online.

“We are pleased to receive this recognition for our online graduate programs from U.S. News,” says Susan Corieri, assistant dean for enrollment management at the iSchool. “We believe our programs are strong, and we have been a leader in the field of online learning for 25 years. We continue to grow and adapt our programs and curricula to best fit the changing needs of today’s digital learners.”

“We are pleased to be ranked highly again for the fifth year in this survey, as it continues to be increasingly competitive,” says Victoria Williams, director of online education at the iSchool.

“The iSchool’s online programs attract working professionals who are looking for the flexibility and access to faculty expertise we provide,” notes Williams. “Our online programs also allow us to draw from a pool of high-quality distance faculty members and instructors.”

Online program offerings at the iSchool have the same curriculum and faculty as their��corresponding on-campus programs. Faculty are trained in online pedagogy and have direct contact with students enrolled in online courses. With limited immersion requirements, students are able to learn virtually anytime, anywhere, earning their graduate degrees with flexible study schedules. This allows the iSchool to attract some of the best professionals in their related fields and the online classroom becomes an environment that enhances engagement and expands professional networks.

In addition to this latest online program ranking, the iSchool is ranked No. 2 in information systems for library and information schools in U.S. News��& World Report’s best graduate schools rankings (), and No. 6 for online computer information technology programs for veterans. The iSchool also ranked fourth for school library media, fourth in digital librarianship and fourth overall in the library and information science category.

About Syracuse University

Founded��in 1870, Syracuse University is a private international research university��dedicated to advancing knowledge and fostering student success through teaching��excellence,��rigorous scholarship and interdisciplinary research. Comprising 11��academic schools and colleges, the University has a long legacy of excellence��in the liberal arts, sciences and��professional disciplines that prepares��students for the complex challenges and emerging opportunities of a rapidly��changing world. Students enjoy the resources of a 270-acre main��campus and��extended campus venues in major national metropolitan hubs and across three��continents. Syracuse’s student body is among the most diverse for an��institution of its��kind across multiple dimensions, and students typically represent��all 50 states and more than 100 countries. Syracuse also has a long legacy of��supporting veterans and is home to��the nationally recognized Institute for��Veterans and Military Families, the first university-based institute in the��U.S. focused on addressing the unique needs of veterans and their��families.

Officials of Syracuse University and Le Moyne College after announcing the new academic partnership. From left to right are iSchool Dean Elizabeth Liddy, Syracuse Provost Michele Wheatly, Syracuse Chancellor Kent Syverud, Le Moyne President Linda LeMura, Le Moyne Provost Joseph Marina S.J., and Madden School of Business Dean Jim Joseph.

The new partnership will enable students enrolled in master’s degree programs at both Le Moyne and Syracuse to take courses at their sister institution. Madden School students can study����and����at Syracuse University, while iSchool students can benefit from Le Moyne’s expertise in����and��. The new academic opportunities are open to iSchool students in the����and����masters’ programs and students in the Madden School’s����master’s program. Students will receive certificates in one of four concentrations.

“We are pleased to strengthen Le Moyne College’s relationship with Syracuse University, which has grown substantially over the past few years,” said Le Moyne President Linda LeMura. “This is a win-win situation for our students enrolled in this curriculum, enabling them to complete a masters in IS from Le Moyne while also taking courses at one of the most well-respected information studies schools in the country. And we look forward to welcoming iSchool masters students to our campus.”

“Syracuse University and Le Moyne College have a long history of building on our shared values and unique strengths for the benefit of our students,” said Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud. “This collaboration continues that legacy in ways that will enhance the academic experience for students pursuing studies in one of the fastest growing fields in academia and industry today.”

In addition to Chancellor Syverud and President LeMura, others speaking at the event included Syracuse Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele Wheatly; Le Moyne Provost Joe Marina, S.J.; iSchool Dean Elizabeth Liddy; and Madden School of Business Dean Jim Joseph.

The agreement is the latest in a long line of academic partnerships between Syracuse University and Le Moyne. Past agreements include:

• early admission for Le Moyne students to the��; this 3+3 agreement allows Le Moyne undergraduates to complete both their undergraduate and juris doctor degrees in six years.
• a����between the iSchool and Le Moyne that allows Le Moyne students to earn an accelerated master’s degree—in information management or library and information science—by beginning their graduate coursework their senior year.
• a��4+1 forensic sciences program between Syracuse’s����and Le Moyne College, allowing Le Moyne students to begin their graduate coursework in forensic sciences while still completing their undergraduate degree.
• integrated study abroad programs that support travel abroad opportunities for both Syracuse and Le Moyne students.
• a��partnership between Syracuse’s����and Le Moyne College that enables Le Moyne to offer pre-engineering programs to their math and science domestic undergraduates.

About Le Moyne College

Located in Syracuse, N.Y., Le Moyne College is a private, four-year institution enrolling approximately 2,500 full-time undergraduate students in programs of liberal arts, science, business and pre-professional studies, and 800 full- and part-time��students in graduate programs in nursing, education, business administration, information systems, physician assistant studies, occupational therapy and arts administration. Since its founding in 1946, the college has modeled and��strengthened the nearly 500-year-old Jesuit educational tradition. It is one of 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States.

About Syracuse University

Founded��in 1870, Syracuse University is a private international research university��dedicated to advancing knowledge and fostering student success through teaching��excellence,��rigorous scholarship and interdisciplinary research. Comprising 11��academic schools and colleges, the University has a long legacy of excellence��in the liberal arts, sciences and��professional disciplines that prepares��students for the complex challenges and emerging opportunities of a rapidly��changing world. Students enjoy the resources of a 270-acre main��campus and��extended campus venues in major national metropolitan hubs and across three��continents. Syracuse’s student body is among the most diverse for an��institution of its��kind across multiple dimensions, and students typically represent��all 50 states and more than 100 countries. Syracuse also has a long legacy of��supporting veterans and is home to��the nationally recognized Institute for��Veterans and Military Families, the first university-based institute in the��U.S. focused on addressing the unique needs of veterans and their��families.

A speaker at a previous TEDx conference

The student organizers at��TEDxSyracuseUniversity��want to hear about it!

TEDxSyracuseUniversity, an independently organized TED event, is looking for speakers for its 2018 conference next April. According to the team planning the talk this year, proposals are measured by the relevance of the story as well as the ability the idea has to take off and change the lives of the audience in a positive, refreshing way.

Candidates are considered more for their passion for their stories than the amount of public speaking experience they have. The ideal speaker has significant experience in the field he/she is discussing, but is also willing to put in the time and effort necessary to create a current, convincing talk.

Organizers��want��speakers to reveal their hopes, dreams and fears on stage, and to give the audience a memorable performance.

The team is looking for speakers from all parts of the community and beyond. The overarching theme for this year’s conference will be announced in upcoming months. TEDxSyracuseUniversity’s 2018 conference is slated to take place on April 21, 2018, at Slocum Auditorium.

To apply or nominate a speaker, simply fill out this����by Jan. 26, 2018.

For more information about the conference, contact:

Ashley Steinberg
Communications, Editorial, and Marketing Director for��TEDxSyracuseUniversity
tedxsyracuseu@gmail.com
845.499.9913

Ariana Rassooly
Co-Lead Organizer and Head of Curating��for TEDxSyracuseUniversity
tedxsyracuseu@gmail.com
915.503.0060

Sponsorship for the TEDxSyracuseUniversity event is provided by the Ruth Ivor Foundation, the����and the����at Syracuse University.

The Family Resource Center provides health information materials, computer-based resources and support for hospital patients, families, staff and the community. Professional library staff, volunteers and nurse educators are on hand to assist with finding services and resources so patients and their families can locate the information they need to make informed health decisions. Services are free of charge and include lending of books and media, research assistance and providing information from medical literature and Internet sources.

“The center also lends books, movies and games to children’s hospital patients,” explains��Briana Galea, an alumna of the iSchool’s��, and��clinical outreach librarian at the Family Resource Center. “It allows them to take a bit of fun back to their rooms.”

LISSA will accept new and used DVDs and PS3 games for the center through Jan. 19, 2018.

“Newer movies and racing games are in high demand,” says Galea, “and it benefits the patients and families at the hospital by helping to create a sense of normalcy for children staying there—it can make their experience more manageable.”

“We wanted to volunteer as a group during the holiday season, to give back,” says Kayla Del Biondo, an LIS student at the iSchool who serves as LISSA president. “I work part time at the��Family Resource Center, so it has a special place in my heart. I see how many movies and video games circulate each day, so I asked��Briana how we could help, and soon after, the drive went from an idea to an actual plan!”

To make a donation, e-mail LISSA students at��lissasyracuse@gmail.com��to arrange a drop off time and location.

Questions can be directed to Kayla Del Biondo at��kmdelbio@syr.edu.

Rachel Ivy Clarke

The award recognizes dissertations that deal with substantive issues related to library and information science.

Clarke’s dissertation is titled “It’s Not—Rocket—Library Science: Design Epistemology and American Librarianship.” She completed her Ph.D. studies at the University of Washington’s Information School in Seattle.

“Librarianship is typically framed as a social science,” explains Clarke, “but in my dissertation, I argue that librarianship is really more of a design discipline, as librarians make things—things like classification schemes, cataloging projects, events and reader advisory services, to name just a few.”

Reconceptualizing librarianship as a design discipline offers opportunities for empowering and supporting the continued relevance of libraries in the 21st century. A change in how librarianship is perceived could have implications for how librarians are taught, how their job roles are defined and how research in the field of librarianship is conducted, Clarke believes.

“I carry this world view into my classes with me,” says Clarke, “so this was one of the things that attracted me to the iSchool at Syracuse, where I have an opportunity to do a lot of hands-on making in my classes.”

In Clarke’s IST 616 course, Information Resources: Organization and Access, one of the projects her students are charged with is making a faceted classification scheme. Clarke makes the process very collaborative, exploring prototypes and soliciting and evaluating peer feedback.

“I am very proud of Rachel, and glad to see her work recognized by ALISE,” says iSchool Dean Elizabeth Liddy. “Her important ongoing research will help to shape how librarianship—and all it encompasses—from teaching librarians to how library services are defined, is perceived and represented in the future.

Clarke will receive $500 and conference registration for the����in Denver in February, where she will present a summary of her work.

Clarke was also����with the iSchools Doctoral Dissertation Award, presented by the��.

Caroline Haythornthwaite

“Haythornthwaite’s outstanding contributions to social network and e-learning research, especially her groundbreaking work on��latent ties��and learning networks, has had a great impact not only in information science, but also in computer science, communication, sociology, psychology, education and management,” the association said.

In her work on latent ties, which are defined as potential and unfilled relationships between two or more people, and in developing her latent tie theory, Haythornthwaite focuses on the beginning of the formation of social networks. Her research indicates that a new networking technology or medium creates new latent ties, recasts weak ties in an already established network, but has minimal impact among individuals with already strong ties. This theory has far-reaching implications for conceptualizing, planning and implementing Internet-based information flows within organizations, and between governments and their citizens.

“I am very pleased with this award both for myself and the many people I worked with over the years, in particular the doctoral students who were with me in the early work and are now faculty themselves,” Haythornthwaite says. “It is also a recognition that venturing into new areas can have a lasting impact. My recent work, with current doctoral students, continues to examine the structures of online networks, crowds and communities as new ways of organizing work, socializing and learning.”

“It was an honor for Caroline to be recognized by ASIS&T for her extensive contributions to our field,” says iSchool Dean Elizabeth Liddy. “Her research focus on information and human interaction is at the core of our mission here at the iSchool, and I am proud that Caroline is on our faculty.”

Haythornthwaite came to the iSchool in 2016 after serving as director of the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia. Prior to her time in British Columbia, she served in various faculty positions at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She was named director of the iSchool’s����last fall.

Online students engage in a personalized and intimate learning environment that features live, face-to-face online classes, project-based coursework, and networking opportunities with leaders in the data science field.

The School of Information Studies (iSchool) and the Martin J. Whitman School of Management together welcomed the first cohort of students to the . The new online offering teaches an interdisciplinary curriculum developed by both schools, helping students apply analytical concepts and real-world insights within their professional careers.

More than 60 students are currently enrolled in the program, representing 23 states across the U.S., including California, Texas and Colorado, among others. The online program provides a unique level of flexibility which allows students across the country to advance their careers without the need to relocate. The average age of students is 35 and they bring, on average, 11 years of work experience in a wide range of industries including aerospace, broadcasting, education, finance, healthcare and pharmaceuticals.

“I have worked in advertising for more than six years, and there’s already been a tremendous change in the industry. Digital ads and social media campaigns are becoming increasingly more data-driven, and modern marketing managers are now expected to analyze and prove true ROI for their campaigns,” says Corey Lucero, a director of advertising strategy and Oklahoma City-based student. “Since the first day of classes, I’ve been able to apply new skills and theoretical knowledge to my professional role. I look forward to continuing my path in this program while gaining the tools needed to help brands become more competitive in the modern marketing era.”

Students meet weekly through live online sessions and complete immersive course content between classes, accessible both online and offline, on computers and mobile devices from any location. The program is taught by esteemed Syracuse faculty, utilizing an interdisciplinary curriculum focused on data capture, management, mining and analysis skills.

For more information about the program, visit .

MLB.com and the iSchool are co-sponsoring the��, a contest that invites students to develop new ideas that could end up being used on MLB.com, Major League Baseball’s official website, or incorporated into another one of the enterprise’s digital properties.

Participants in the 2016 challenge work with MLB staffers to fine-tune their pitch ideas.

The competition will put teams of students to the test by challenging them to work on real-world problems in the realm of technology and sports. Teams will submit competing solutions to demonstrate creativity, insight and talent in a fun, interactive environment, and then pitch their ideas to current MLB.com employees who are also Syracuse alumni.

“This year, we’ll again have an exciting new topic, and some great prizes for students to win,” says Julie Walas Huynh, director of alumni & student engagement at the iSchool. “The 2017 College Challenge is poised to be the best one yet!”

Along with Walas Huynh, the contest is being coordinated by iSchool faculty member and CEO of SIDEARM Sports����and iSchool alumni and current MLB.com employees Josh Frost ’08, Marc Squire ’11, Ben Romy ’12, Andrew Pregler ’15, James McRoberts ’15 and Sammy Pardes ’16, along with fellow Syracuse University graduate Mike Hoffman ’93.

This year’s event will be held beginning in the evening on Thursday, Nov. 9, with dinner at the Carrier Dome’s Club 44 followed by an all-night hackathon in Hinds Hall where student teams work on their ideas.

The next evening, teams will have the opportunity to pitch their creative ideas to a panel of MLB and Syracuse judges.

The winning team will travel to New York City for a dinner with MLB.com employees and an overnight stay. The following day, they will tour the MLB.com office located in NYC’s historic Chelsea Market, followed by lunch and the opportunity to share the winning presentation with other MLB employees. All challenge entrants will enjoy participation prizes from MLB.com.

Team-based registration for the contest will be open until 11:59��p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 5.

All students are encouraged to register and form teams consisting of two to four members. The contest is open to all Syracuse University students, and all teams must have at least one iSchool student on them.��.

Questions about the competition can be directed to Walas Huynh at jlwalas@syr.edu, or by phone at 315.443.4133.

It Girls Overnight Retreat participants

The event, organized by the (iSchool), is designed to build confidence, inspire and create a pathway for girls to study information technology as an academic discipline. An essential piece of the program involves creating meaningful connections between professional women, iSchool alumni who work in the IT industry and the girls.

The program targets the significant gender imbalance in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. While women hold nearly half of all jobs in the U.S. economy, they hold less than 30 percent of STEM jobs, according to the��Science and Engineering Indicators report published in 2016 by the National Science Foundation. Females make up 41 percent of the undergraduate population at the iSchool.

Workshops Offer Glimpse Into IT Discipline
Ernst & Young (EY), GE, IBM, JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Synchrony Financial sponsored the retreat. Representatives of the companies, some of them iSchool graduates and past It Girls retreat participants themselves, volunteered to lead workshops and participate in panel discussions.

Held on Sunday afternoon, these workshops introduced the girls to different facets of the information technology field through lectures, short hands-on participatory challenges and coding assignments.��The workshops were specifically designed to be reflective of��the��curriculum at the iSchool, to show the girls what to expect from an iSchool education.

JP Morgan Chase & Co.’s “CyberGirlz: Are You Safe and Secure Online” session presenters provided information on some of the dangers that teens face in the cyber world and how they can protect themselves online.

Representatives from Synchrony Financial ran a hands-on workshop focusing on introducing the girls to the user experience discipline by providing an opportunity for participants to develop wireframe mobile app mockups.

In the GE-sponsored “Escape the Lab”��workshop, five students in the iSchool’s library and information science program designed and delivered a session that covered information literacy topics, search skills, and how to detect��false information online.

iSchool faculty members and Ph.D. students teamed up with EY to host the “Bot to the Future”��workshop, which allowed girls to create their own chatbots and explore the relationships between people and technology.

Members of the iSchool’s Information Security Club, some of them past It Girls participants themselves, held a session titled HacKnowledge, focusing on cybersecurity, hacking and the demand for experts with cybersecurity skills in the job market.

“Our program sponsors are a huge part of what makes this experience possible for the girls,” says Kim Pietro, assistant dean for advancement at the iSchool. “We’re grateful for their support of the program, and for their hands-on involvement in helping us deliver relevant, impactful and informative presentations.”

After the workshops and a dinner, the girls participated in��the��Late Night Challenge, organized by iSchool��adjunct professor Laurie Ferger. The challenge allowed the girls to explore a project at the intersection of mathematics and design, using mathematical formulas to create different visual designs and representations. Prizes were awarded at the end of the challenge.

Experienced Coders, High-Achievers

Students from the iSchool’s Information Security Club ran the HacKnowledge workshop during the retreat.

Of the 100 girls registered for this year’s event, over 40 percent had some technical or coding experience under their belts. Attendees this year also boasted the highest grade point average in all seven years, at 3.7, with more than a third having a perfect 4.0 GPA.

“The academic aptitude we saw this year was the highest it’s ever been,” notes Stephanie Worden, undergraduate recruiter for the iSchool, and lead organizer of the event. “This group was so engaged with the program, with the content and with each other, it was great to watch. Many of them formed some life-long friendships, I can tell.”

Fun, Games, and a Chance to Share

The two-day retreat wasn’t just spent in the classroom, it also included entertainment and fun—time on the ropes course, snacks and a movie before a sleepover in the Flanagan Gymnasium. The event’s closing ceremony on Monday afternoon featured a “speak out” at Hendricks Chapel, where many of the participants shared thoughts about what they learned, and what they thought an education and career in the IT field would bring.

Students on a previous EntreTech NYC company visit

A signature immersion program at the iSchool, Entretech NYC is designed to give students a firsthand look at the companies, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and way of life (both personal and professional) in Manhattan. The program��is open to students from all majors, schools and colleges at Syracuse University, and all degree programs. Students must enroll in a course for three undergraduate or graduate credits.

The 2018 trip will take place from��Jan. 8-12. Student participants will immerse themselves��in New York City’s��digital landscape for a week. They will��visit and��interact with companies, alumni and investors across��Manhattan, shadowing IT personnel and entrepreneurs in information-based companies like Google, FourSquare, Gilt Groupe, Kickstarter, Quirky, Night Agency, Brand Yourself, HuffPost Live, Arkadium and others.

Entretech NYC is a competitive program with limited space. To be considered for admission, students should have, at the time of application, a cumulative GPA of at least 3.00 on a 4.00 scale.

Admissions decisions are based on a full review of the application file, including a transcript, resume, personal statement, short video and any disciplinary records.

Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 3.

More information, including program costs and a link to the application, is available on the��.

Questions about the program can be directed to Julie Walas Huynh, director of alumni��and��student engagement at the iSchool at��jlwalas@syr.edu.

Daniel Acuna

After a year of research and development work, Acuna and his team have recently made a beta version of the recommendation tool available, and are interested in gathering feedback from scholars as they begin to use it.

Called (Exploratory Innovator of LitEraturE Networks), Acuna believes that the recommendation engine will be useful in scoping and planning of funded research projects.

“It’s a system that will help both scientists and pre-award grant developers, essentially anyone at a college or university doing any kind of active research,” Acuna explains. “The tool helps them find similar publications and grants to what they’re proposing.”

“Currently, we’re working with datasets that include about 28 million publications and three million grants,” says Acuna.

The beta version of EILEEN allows researchers to establish their own profile, set their preferences and create a library of saved searches. The system then learns from this library and recommends similar publications and grant opportunities.

“We’re hoping that the tool will allow researchers to find appropriate funding opportunities, relevant grants and similar published research faster than they would normally be able to do,” says Acuna. “And we’d like to know what features might be missing, or if there is anything they think we can add that will help them find the funding information they’re searching for.”

Acuna will be providing a demonstration of EILEEN in an open talk, and will also discuss current and future research around the project. His talk will be held on Thursday, Oct. 12, at 2:15 p.m. in Hinds Hall 347 (Katzer Room). The event is open to the campus community.

Researchers interested in trying the tool can access it at , and feedback can be directed to Acuna at deacuna@syr.edu.

London is one of the cities that EuroTech students will visit.

This three-credit traveling seminar exposes students to some of the largest global corporations so they can see first-hand how these institutions use information to address global technology challenges. Participants will get an inside view of the top global corporations across Europe while visiting historical and cultural highlights along the way. Students will also have free time to explore each city on their own,��as well as visit cultural attractions as a group.

The EuroTech trip is a��17-day seminar in May and June��of 2018 that visits��London, Bruges, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Geneva, Munich, Venice and Rome. The����has additional information��about��the trip.

The trip is open to all Syracuse University students, and there are no prerequisites. Program applications are��due on Oct. 15, 2017.

Information sessions will be held in 347 Hinds Hall (Katzer Room) on the following days:

• Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2 p.m.
• Wednesday, Sept. 27, noon
• Thursday, Sept. 28, 5 p.m.

Questions can be directed to��Kathy Allen, assistant dean of student and dareer services��at the iSchool.

Kevin Crowston and Ingrid Erickson

This first round of NSF����highlights awardees who will leverage the integration of multiple disciplines to advance scientific discovery and innovation. Toward this end, the RCN that Crowston and Erickson will establish will bring together investigators from the fields of computer science, engineering and the social and behavioral sciences to communicate, coordinate and integrate their research and educational activities across both disciplinary and organizational boundaries.

Crowston and Erickson’s award falls under one of the NSF’s 10����“big idea” initiatives: “Work at the Human-Technology Frontier: Shaping the Future.” This initiative addresses pressing research challenges at the human-technology frontier, such as the changing ways goods and services are produced or the ways that distributed colleagues collaborate.

Focusing specifically on work settings that involve the use of intelligent machines, Crowston and Erickson will coordinate convergent research that aims to better understand how both sides of this human-technology frontier can be designed equitably. This goal aligns with NSF’s belief that there is a unique opportunity to actively shape the development and use of technologies to improve the quality of work while also increasing productivity and economic growth in both manufacturing and service sectors, such as healthcare and education.

“Our network will help create venues for interdisciplinary groups of scholars to meet, interact and generate the research that is necessary to develop actionable design principles in the realm of work and automation for work and intelligent machines,” explains Crowston.

The new research network will undertake three primary activities during its term.

“First it will organize an annual Convergence Conference that highlights the contribution of convergent research regarding the sociotechnological landscape of work in the age of increased automation,” says Crowston. “Second, it will support a series of workshops at different disciplinary conferences that expand the reach of the network and consolidate, test, verify and evolve research ideas as they develop. And finally, the network will establish and maintain a set of shared online resources that support the research community and its efforts.”

The five-year award will provide nearly $500,000 in funding for the RCN.

Joining Crowston and Erickson as co-principal investigators on the project is��, professor and associate dean of research at Stevens Institute of Technology.

Jeff Hemsley

While social media can be a democratizing force, allowing voices to be heard that would otherwise be ignored or suppressed, it also enables the spread of rumors, conspiracy theories and fake news. When content is shared across sites such as Facebook and Twitter, it can go viral and spread quickly to hundreds, thousands, even millions of people.

The consequences of the viral spread of fake information on the Internet extend offline, too. Tweets spreading rumors that a zoo’s tiger was loose and roaming the streets of London led to a brief panic in 2012, and an entirely fabricated conspiracy theory linking a politician to a human trafficking ring spread virally and ended in a man firing shots into a pizza restaurant in Washington, D.C., in 2016.

In his talk, Hemsley will explain how viral events work, and what makes some content go viral while other content stays obscure. He will explore how viral fake news differs from viral factual news, and will provide insight into the inner works of what goes viral and how. He will also discuss why fake political news is likely more prone to spread than other kinds of fake news.

Hemsley is co-author of the book ��“,” which explains what virality is, how it works technologically and socially, and draws out the implications of this process for social change. At the iSchool, he is a founding member of the��, and teaches courses on information visualization at the graduate level.

He earned his Ph.D. from the��University of Washington’s��Information School, where he was a founding member of the��Social Media Lab at the University of Washington.

The lecture, made possible in part by a state grant secured by Senator John A. DeFrancisco, will be held at 6:30 p.m.��on Thursday, Aug. 24. The library is located at 49 E. Genesee St. in Skaneateles.��.

Sam Edelstein

The first����released by the city address infrastructure and housing, and include information about individual property parcels, properties with lead risks, vacant properties, road ratings, potholes, water main breaks and requests made to CityLine, the city’s customer service portal. The city plans to release more data on these topics and additional topics monthly.

“Open data is the way forward in innovating city government, using data-driven decision making to craft better public policy to deliver more efficient results for Syracuse residents and businesses,” says Mayor Miner. “Using this portal, residents, academics and agencies will be able to access and assess data about city operations, learning more or developing their own solutions to urban challenges.”

Data can be downloaded in various file formats, including API and CSV. Users can also examine data visualizations created by city staff or create their own.

Much of the work behind making the data accessible to the public was done by (iSchool) alumnus����’07, G’15, the city’s chief data officer. Edelstein earned a bachelor’s degree in policy studies and economics from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

“An open data portal is exciting because people in the community have access to the data that the city collects and creates, and they can better understand what their government does every day and can ask questions of the data,” Edelstein explains. “Anyone who uses DataCuse should check out the visualizations that have already been built and then try to create some projects on their own.”

In order to make DataCuse work, Edelstein and his team needed to do several things. “First, we had to identify the data that we put onto the portal, including getting advice from the mayor, department heads, as well as community members. Then we needed to clean the data and document it to make sure people understand what everything means,” Edelstein says. “Next we needed to make sure there was nothing sensitive in the data that wouldn’t be appropriate to share publicly, and then we built data pipelines to push data to the portal automatically every day, week or month, depending on need. Finally, we visualized the data at a high level and told people about it so they will use it for their own purposes.”

With the launch of the public data portal, Edelstein is hoping that members of the academic community at Syracuse University will be able to use the information for projects and research.

“We have talented students and faculty at Syracuse. When I was a student, I oftentimes used data from other cities for my projects,” Edelstein recalls. “Now as the chief data officer for the City of Syracuse, I want people to use our data, not data from other cities. We have plenty of challenges in Syracuse where data analysis can be an important part of the solution.”

Edelstein hopes that providing easy access to data for students and faculty will generate research questions and projects between the University and the city.

“We’re open to input from the community on this project, too,” says Edelstein. “We want to know what other data people would like to see.”

Steven Sawyer

The growing number and variety of gig-work outlets online is making it easier for users to connect with people who want to pay them to do any number of tasks. ��A recent����of U.S. adults found that nearly 1 in 10 have earned money within the past year from a digital platform. Another nearly one in five Americans earned money by selling something in an online marketplace, while 1��percent have rented out their properties on a home-sharing site like AirBnB. When you add together all of the workers taking part in the various online marketplace and gig-work platforms, 24��percent of American adults earned money this way last year.

(iSchool) faculty member����was recently awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study how people pursue work in the gig economy, and what challenges need to be overcome to make this kind of work successful for the workers that are doing it. Sawyer’s research will focus particularly on understanding how workers from disadvantaged backgrounds are prepared to participate in this quickly-growing arena.

“While we know that gig-based jobs are growing in popularity for workers across the spectrum, we don’t have a great understanding of what it takes to be a worker in this kind of environment, especially among disadvantaged populations,” explains Sawyer. “Our goal is to understand, in greater depth, what will be needed to make this kind of work successful, and to identify the particular challenges and needs of workers who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, such as single parents or rural workers, for example.”

How these workers obtain and organize their resources, how they use digital tools and services, and where they work, are all areas that Sawyer and his research team plan to study.

“These workers often work outside of typical office settings. Their workspaces include coffee shops, libraries, co-working centers and other on-the-go places,” says Sawyer. “Some have routine circuits of travel and can rely on co-working spaces, while some are more nomadic. Either way, they must organize and reconfigure their work resources, creating ‘mobile offices’ that provide cognitive space, physical space, communications and direct work resources.”

A second goal of Sawyer’s work is to develop better methods for collecting data on gig workers, and how to understand the alternative uses of the digital platforms, applications and devices these workers use.

“We see our work contributing to policies and programs focused on educating, training and preparing a more digitally-enabled workforce of the future,” notes Sawyer, “as it is clear that these new digital platforms and gig-work opportunities are only going to get more popular as their adoption steadily increases.”

The NSF grant, for just over $52,000, was awarded under the Foundation’s EAGER program. EAGER, “Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research,” funding is provided to researchers to support exploratory work in early stages on untested but potentially transformative, research ideas or approaches.

John Liddy

Sandbox participants, their mentors, and (iSchool) faculty members will be in attendance. The event is open to the public, and . The luncheon begins at noon.

Student teams will pitch their products and ventures, and a trade-show demonstration area will be set up for visitors to explore the various��offerings.

The Sandbox incubator helps aspiring entrepreneurs push their ventures from idea to company, by providing a place for students to meet, work, learn and grow.

At the Sandbox young startups and entrepreneurs tap into the minds��of experienced mentors, gain the necessary tools to get a venture off the ground and develop a relationship with valuable resources to help gain seed funding.

“The Sandbox is a unique and important part of the Central New York business community,” says iSchool adjunct professor and Sandbox director��. “This lunch event will allow our hard-working students to show off what they’ve learned and network with other like-minded entrepreneurs and business people in the region.”

Since 2009, the Sandbox has been��a part of educating more than 300 entrepreneurs and has attracted students from around the world. Teams have ,” won the CenterState CEO and��New York State Business Plan Compeitions, raised more than $10 Million in investment capital, been acquired and helped to generate more than 100 jobs.

As one part of the iSchool’s , the Sandbox helps to provide practical experience and a network of support as students build out their companies.

Event Details

Sandbox Luncheon
Thursday, June 29, 2017
noon-2 p.m.

Syracuse Technology Garden
235 Harrison St., Syracse

Antje Lemke in 2004

Born in Breslau, Germany, in 1918, Lemke was the daughter of Helene and Rudolf Bultmann. Her father was one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century.

Lemke originally had dreams of becoming a doctor, but abandoned them as admission to medical school in Germany in the 1930s required membership in the Nazi party. She went to school and trained to become a librarian, as the profession was one of the few at the time not to require party membership. She graduated with a degree in Library Science from the University of Leipzig.

In her early twenties, Lemke used the library to help hide those fleeing Nazi persecution. She also served as a courier in the German Resistance and delivered papers and documents that enabled the freedom and safety of many people, jeopardizing her own safety and life in the process.

Lemke was officially named a Righteous Gentile in 1998 by the Temple Society of Concord, and honored as one who risked her life to save Jewish lives during the Hitler years.

At the end of World War II, Lemke found herself in East Germany, under Russian control, and was forced into work at the Zeiss Optical Factory. She escaped by being crated into a wooden box, marked for delivery as a telescope to West Berlin.

In post-war West Germany, in coordination with the American League of Women Voters, Lemke founded the journal “Informationen fur die Frau.” It is impossible to know how many thousands of women benefited from this journal’s missions of achieving equal status of women in society; safeguarding democracy; international understanding; and international solidarity.

Lemke moved to the United States in the late 1940s. While visiting Syracuse in 1952, she was hired as Syracuse University’s art and music librarian.�� She earned a master of library science degree from the iSchool (then the School of Library Science) at Syracuse University in 1954. When she volunteered to cover classes for a fellow librarian, her teaching career was born and thrived until her retirement from Syracuse in 1986.

In the years from 1952 to 1986, over 15,000 students had the opportunity to learn from Lemke. Whether she was teaching courses like the History of the Book, Bibliography of the Humanities or Reference; whether she was overseeing a lecture class of 80 students, or a graduate seminar of six; whether she was tutoring or teaching at Syracuse University programs in Germany or Puerto Rico, or on campus, Lemke held to the notion that teaching is sharing information, not imposing it. And generations of students gratefully shared with her, continuing on to rewarding and important careers.

In addition to her long career as a librarian and teacher, Lemke worked for many years to ensure the preservation and documentation of the works of theologian, philosopher and physician Albert Schweitzer.

Lemke’s father was a friend and admirer of Schweitzer, and Lemke translated into English two of Schweitzer’s books: “Out of My Life and Thought: An Autobiography” and “The Albert Schweitzer-Helene Bresslau Letters, 1902-1912.”

In 1973 Lemke met Erica Anderson, creator of the 1959 Oscar-winning documentary “The Life and Times of Albert Schweitzer.” The two became friends, and Lemke became involved in Anderson’s work with the Albert Schweitzer Friendship House (ASFH), eventually serving as president of its Board of Directors for ten years.

When the ASFH sold its house and property in the 1990s, Lemke was instrumental in the transfer of Anderson’s photographic archive to Syracuse University. She also donated her father’s correspondence with Schweitzer to Syracuse University, and persuaded her longtime friend Rhena Schweitzer Miller, Schweitzer’s daughter, to deposit Schweitzer’s own papers here as well. Syracuse University’s Library boasts America’s largest collection of Schweitzer papers, and the materials are available for scholars conducting research on Schweitzer and his teachings.

The Antje Bultmann Lemke Seminar Room, located in Syracuse University’s Special Collections Research Center, was named for her in 2008. A conference room in Hinds Hall also bears her name.

Lemke learned at a young age to play the violin and to appreciate the importance of music in public life. In the 1950’s, Lemke worked to help establish the Syracuse Friends of Chamber Music. She was also a violinist in the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, which she helped to establish in 1961.

When Lemke retired from teaching, a scholarship was established in her name at the iSchool. The Antje Lemke Book Award is awarded every year at the iSchool’s Convocation ceremony in May, to a graduate student in the Library and Information Science program who exhibits a passion for learning and a dedication to service.

Lemke announced her retirement from teaching in 1985, and taught her last class at the iSchool in the spring semester of 1986. In her resignation letter, she wrote: “I am especially grateful for having had the opportunity to convey to the next generation what I consider essential in our lives: the seriousness and joy of intellectual pursuit, and the responsibility to act with reason and compassion.”

Calling hours for Lemke will take place on Monday, May 22, at the in Fayetteville, New York, from 4 – 7 p.m. with a moment of sharing, reflection and music starting��at 6:30 p.m.�� The chapel is located at 7191 East Genesee Street in Fayetteville.

A celebration of Lemke’s life is being planned for late summer/early fall.

Alumni and friends who wish to share their recollections of Antje and her teachings can do so on��a page established by the iSchool: .

In lieu of flowers, gifts can be made to the at the iSchool.

Barbara Stripling

This annual award is sponsored by Joseph W. Lippincott, III and presented by the American Library Association (ALA) for distinguished service to the profession of librarianship as demonstrated by outstanding participation in professional library associations, notable published professional writing, or other significant activities on behalf of the profession.

Jury chairman Julius C. Jefferson, Jr. ��stated that, “the jury for the 2017 Joseph W. Lippincott Award is pleased to honor Dr.��Stripling for her commitment to ALA, her scholarly brilliance, irrepressible energy applied in advancing the field of librarianship, and her fervent leadership and advocacy regarding key issues that impact librarianship and society at large.”

Among Stripling’s achievements noted by the jury, and the many colleagues who wrote in support of the award, was her role as a prodigious scholar, advocate and educator. Over her long and distinguished career she has served as ALA president and president of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), and currently serves as president of the New York Library Association (NYLA).

Stripling’s extraordinary impact as a preeminent scholar in the library profession is validated by her extensive list of published articles and books. Most notably, she is the author of the which provides a blueprint for active learning and critical thinking that has helped focus schools nationwide on building a curriculum foundation based on intellectual inquiry.

The jury also noted Stripling’s lifetime of work in librarianship dedicated to helping children succeed and inspiring and mentoring others in the profession.��Jefferson noted that, “given Dr. Stripling’s many accomplishments and contributions to the profession and the nation, none is more impressive than her continued commitment to providing the intellectual foundation and growth for generations of clear critical thinkers.”

Particularly noted by Jefferson and other members of the jury was Stripling’s leadership of��,��which served as a critical part of her . This pivotal manifesto, which has been translated into eleven languages, is intended to mobilize support among patrons, elected officials, and other stakeholders for the vibrant cultural and intellectual roles libraries play in communities. With more than 100,000 signatures, the Declaration catalyzed a movement and renewed commitment to sustained support for America’s libraries.

Stripling will receive the Lippincott Award at the ALA Awards Ceremony on June 26, during the ALA’s Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois.

NEXIS student researcher Kalia Barrow explains her project to iSchool faculty member Carlos Caicedo at the Spring 2016 Future Friday showcase.

NEXIS (New Explorations in Information and Science) is a student-based, membership-driven research lab at the iSchool. Student innovators initiate IT projects, learning and supporting their peer innovators and building upon today’s emerging technologies. NEXIS members freely work on independent projects to create novel innovations which advance the fields of information science, engineering, and technology.

“In the past, we’ve done these ‘NEXIS-X’ talks at various times throughout the semester, but this year we wanted to try something different,” explains senior Kyle Rand, student director at the NEXIS lab.

“By pairing the series of talks around the time of our usual end-of-semester Future Friday showcase, we can show what our members are doing beyond their projects,” Rand says. “Work that happens in NEXIS doesn’t always occur during class hours, it’s often at night, or in some cases takes place outside of the building, so we wanted to show the campus what we do here, and what our student researchers have worked on, as we build up to the Future Friday event.”

The roughly 20 NEXIS student researchers have been working independently on projects throughout the semester, and use the end-of-semester showcases to display their work to the campus community.

The four talks, one held each day from May 1-4, will explore areas that go beyond the student members’ research projects.

“We wanted to show what we’re doing beyond the projects, as lot of the student research diverges from the final projects, it is ancillary in some cases to what they’re working on,” Rand says.

Schedule of NEXIS-X Talks:

(all talks take place in the ICE Box on the 2nd floor of Hinds Hall)

Monday, May 1 – 2 p.m.
Media Validity and Perception
Esmeralda Murray

Tuesday, May 2 – noon
Build Your Own Computer
Kevin Spector

Wednesday, May 3 – 1 p.m.
Virtual Reality Game Development
Adrian Hatch

Thursday, May 4 – 3:30 p.m.
Arduino Programming
Kalia Barrow

Future Friday Showcase

The week of NEXIS events culminates on Friday, May 5, with the Future Friday showcase. Projects will be on display in the ICE Box on the 2nd��floor of Hinds Hall from Noon to 3 p.m., and NEXIS students will be available for demonstrations and to answer questions about their research. Refreshments will be provided.

Membership Application Open

NEXIS is currently accepting applications for new student participants for the 2017-2018 academic year. The lab is open to any student at Syracuse University with an interest in exploring topics in the information technology field.

“We don’t require that students have a specific research topic or project in mind, but we do ask that they have ideas of projects that they might be interested in,” says Rand. “And we don’t look for lot of technical background necessarily, as we encourage learning here.

“Someone who is here at the University, willing to learn, willing to put in the hours to create something innovative – not for the sake of doing but for the sake of learning beyond the classroom–would do well here,” Rand continued. “We offer students hands-on experiences they can’t always get in the classroom–we encourage actually doing something, not just discussing it.”

The NEXIS application is , and questions can be directed to Kyle Rand at kbrand@syr.edu.

Undergraduate student Alexis Ho-Liu and iSchool Dean Liz Liddy at the iConference in Wuhan, China

How immigrants use social media, digital communications technologies and mobile applications to interact with their communities and families is the subject of an undergraduate research project that brought School of Information Studies (iSchool) junior Alexis Ho-Liu to China last week, where he presented his work at the .

Coordinated by the , the iConference is an annual academic conference that brings together researchers affiliated with information and library science institutions from around the globe.

Ho-Liu, a student in the iSchool’s program, was one of a handful of undergraduate students at the conference, invited to present the research he conducted as part of his experience with the (i3), a summer undergraduate research program hosted by the .

“Early in the spring of my sophomore year, I decided to apply to i3, because I thought it would be a good way to introduce myself to the world of academic research,” Ho-Liu says.

The program is held on��the University of Pittsburgh’s campus, and emphasizes teamwork among interdisciplinary project members. The research and leadership development program that prepares undergraduate students from underrepresented populations for graduate study and careers in the information sciences. The highly selective program takes only 25 students in each cohort.

“The program was structured in a way that provided us with a number of workshops across different areas,” says Ho-Liu, “with faculty members from Pitt, Carnegie Mellon and other universities helping us to select and start on our research projects.”

After the initial four-week summer session, Ho-Liu and his team went back to their respective institutions and began collaborating on their research project remotely. The team completed their literature review and submitted a poster proposal detailing their research project��to the iConference organizing committee, which approved their project for presentation at the 2017 conference in Wuhan, China.

“I was initially intimidated by the idea of presenting academic research at the iConference as an undergraduate,” Ho-Liu says. “But I found that people in academia are open to learning from from all levels, and the masters- and doctoral-level colleagues we met at the conference encouraged us to keep researching and gave us helpful advice—it showed me what the environment of academia is like.”

As a child of immigrants from China,��Ho-Liu’s research topic is close to home, as he sees how his own parents use digital media for communication. “Many of my team members also come from immigrant backgrounds, so we’re looking at the digital divide, and why some populations prefer one application over another,” he explains. “My parents, for example, use WeChat exclusively, so we want to figure out what makes that application a preferred one over Facebook, or another messaging app.”

Ho-Liu hopes that the findings from his project will eventually be used by developers to make decisions about the design, usability, accessibility and inclusivity of their apps.

“We’re only in the initial stage of research now,” says Ho-Liu, “but we’re soon going to move into interviews and then the assessment phase next, evaluating immigrant populations via a survey.”

Although the i3 research opportunity provided a good introduction to an academic research career path, Ho-Liu still is unsure where his future lies.

“The week before I went to Wuhan, I was on the iSchool’s trip,” he says, “so I was able to get both an industry perspective and an academic perspective back-to-back. But it’s too early to say where I think I’ll end up—I’m open to exploring both options. Based on my skills and experience, I think I’m leaning more towards a tech job, but I’m not sure yet,” he says.

Ho-Liu will spend this summer at GE Digital in Chicago, as an intern in their Digital Technology Leadership Program. He hopes the experience will give him more insight into what an information technology industry career would be like.

Undergraduate researchers with their poster at the iConference. From left to right, Alexis Ho-Liu, Virginia Randall, Carlo Sugatan, Diane Lopez and Ahmed Abdirahman

“I’m thankful that the iSchool gave me the opportunity to experience an academic conference, I’m grateful to Dean Liddy for the support,” Ho-Liu says. “And [associate dean for research] Kevin Crowston has helped me explore research here at the iSchool and provided advice on our poster, he’s been a good source of support as well.”

“The experiences I’ve had at the iSchool are helping me to make decisions about what I want to do with my life,” says Ho-Liu. “I think it’s important for students to assess their options early on and see what they want to do, and to take any opportunity that they can to expose themselves to different experiences.”

Ho-Liu’s research team from i3 includes Ahmed Abdirahman from Carelton College, Diane Lopez from Texas A&M University, Virginia Randall from Vanderbilt University and Carlo Sugatan from the University of Guam. More information on their research project can be found on the .

That same year, some coffee aficionados in Seattle started brewing their own, and called it “Starbucks.” Also in 1971, two running coaches in Oregon started making their own shoes, and named their company for the Greek Goddess of Victory, Nike.

Four years later, Paul Allen and Bill Gates founded Microsoft. While the dot com bubble was bursting, Jeff Bezos launched his everything store, Amazon.com.

Together, these five companies have accounted for trillions of dollars in revenue, and millions of jobs.��What is it about innovation in the Pacific Northwest that has produced such large, sustained impacts across many industries? , the newest immersion experience from the School of Information Studies (iSchool) aims to help students find the answer to this question.

Peak to Peak is a sister program to the iSchool’s well-known and immersion programs.

Peak to Peak will give students a firsthand look at the companies, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and their way of life (both personal and professional) in Seattle and Portland. This program is open to Syracuse University students from all majors, all schools and colleges, and all degree programs.

The 3-credit experience includes a weeklong travel program in August where students study technology and interact with innovative firms and the Syracuse University alumni working at them to understand how their best practices may be applied elsewhere.

Tentative visits include Starbucks, Nike, Intel, Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing and Smarsh, with additional company visits still being planned.

The Peak to Peak cohort will travel to an innovative ecosystem and spend 5 days meeting with information-based organizations. Daily site visits will provide the cohort with a well-rounded vision of the innovative ecosystem and its cultural context.

Students will be required to study the ecosystem and its companies prior to the trip, record their observations during the trip, and provide a reflection piece upon their return. Students will also be required to synthesize their observations by reporting back best practices to a local Syracuse firm.

In 2017, the Peak to Peak trip takes place August 13-19, with pre-trip classes meeting online for four days in early August.

The trip is a competitive program with limited space, and applicants are encouraged to attend an information session to learn more about the program and application requirements.

Information sessions will be held on Monday, March 27, at 4 p.m., and Wednesday, March 29, at 4:30 p.m., in the ICE Box (2nd��floor, Hinds Hall).

More program information is available on the , and questions can be directed to Julie Walas Huynh, Director of Alumni��& Student Engagement at the iSchool at jlwalas@syr.edu.