fireworks at night

Research

  • Assistant Professor Andrea Silverman published a systematic review and meta-analysis of coronavirus disinfection rates in water and wastewater. Based on coronavirus decay rates identified in the systematic review, the research team found that, in the absence of disinfectants, coronavirus inactivation rates were similar to those of non-enveloped viruses (e.g., enteroviruses, adenoviruses, noroviruses), which are more often studied in water environment and are used to benchmark exposure risks.
  • Congratulations to Assistant Professor Andrea Silverman, who has received an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant for work in partnership with the NYC Department of Environmental Protection to develop NYC’s wastewater surveillance program for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19). The project will address dual challenges: implementation of best practices for sample collection, analysis, and interpretation, and speedy and appropriate translation and communication of results to public health decision-makers.
  • Congratulations to Research Assistant Professor Graham Dove, Professor Oded Nov, and Assistant Professor Camillia Matuk (NYU Steinhardt) who have been awarded a new NSF grant for their research on “Learning Data Science Through Civic Engagement With Open Data.” The project will study the data science learning that takes place as members of the public explore and analyze open civic data related to their everyday lives.
  • Congratulations to Assistant Professor Yury Dvorkin, who- in partnership with Columbia University (lead) and University of Arizon- received a $2.1 million grant from ARPA-e to develop a next-generation, risk-aware tools for electricity markets.
  • On Thursday, July 9 at 4pm, three startups from the NYU Summer Launchpad accelerator will pitch against three startups from Yale’s Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking Summer Fellowship in front of a panel of judges in a Shark Tank-style pitch competition. Veccnet, co-founded by Smart Cities Postdoctoral Associate Kim Mahler, is pitching! Veccnet offers ubiquitous, ultra-reliable, and low-latency connectivity, allowing drone service providers to reliably control their long-range delivery drones and benefit from fewer mission abortions and reduced costs compared to satellite links.
  • Last month, NYU CUSP and The GovLab at co-hosted a webinar on “Solving Urban Challenges Using Data: Toward a Data Skills Toolkit for Public Employees to Shape the Future.” The online event, facilitated by Victoria Alsina, academic director at CUSP, and Stefaan Verhulst, co-founder and chief research development officer at The GovLab, asked participants to discuss their vision for a data skills toolkit for public employees. Read our takeawaysfrom the event or watch the full webinar online.
  • On June 24, The GovLab announced the launch of the Data Assembly, an initiative with support from the Henry Luce Foundation to solicit diverse, actionable public input on data re-use for crisis response in the United States. You can read more in this press release.
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor Alexander Shermansong was the keynote speaker at an international Smart Cities trade mission to NYC. Organized by Future City, the mission included business and government leaders from six continents. The keynote presented a framework for inclusive innovation to achieve more equitable and sustainable cities.

Publications

  • Sripathi Sridhar, Vincent Lostanlen, Brian McFee, Andrew Farnsworth, and Juan Pablo Bello published a paper at the (virtual) IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing conducted in May 2020 on “Learning the helix topology of musical pitch.”

Press

  • Tracking behavior to predict virus transmission – a new National Science Foundation (NSF) podcast examines Professor Debra Laefer’s research on using geospatial data to pioneer a more accurate and effective tool for the COVID-19 pandemic: 3D virus mapping. Learn more about Professor Laefer’s research with NYU School of Global Public Health Assistant Professor Thomas Kirchner here.

Education

  • Save the date for CUSP’s 2020 Capstone Program! On Thursday, July 23rd, 2020, join us online for the final capstone presentations of our talented graduate students. NYU CUSP’s Capstone Program brings together student research teams with government agencies, industry, or other research partners to address real-world urban challenges through data. The capstone presentations are the culmination of their six-month projects and mark the final presentation of the students’ work during their studies at CUSP. Learn more about the 2020 projects here.