Launching the Warren Center for Network & Data Sciences at Penn |
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October 22, 2013, Volume 60, No. 10 |
The University of Pennsylvania has launched a new, interdisciplinary research effort to study and solve problems using the tools of the digital age. The Warren Center for Network & Data Sciences officially opened at an event last week.
It is led by founding director Michael Kearns, professor in computer and information science in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, and co-director Rakesh Vohra, a Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor with appointments in electrical and systems engineering at SEAS and economics in SAS.
Serving as a complement to the Engineering undergraduate program in Network and Social Systems Engineering, it provides funding in the form of graduate and postdoctoral fellowships, connects faculty and students from different disciplines and brings in outside experts to advance research in this cutting-edge field.
The integration of computers in all facets of modern life has led to an explosion in networks and the amount of data flowing through them. This information has enabled the more efficient management of electrical grids and new research techniques in fields ranging from sociology to astronomy to genetics. But this proliferation of information can be a double-edged sword; social media networks, for example, have opened the doors to new ways of studying populations but also raise questions about privacy and the commodification of user data.
“We’re not just going to study networks and the data they generate,” Dr. Kearns said, “but also the thorny social implications that go along with them. We don’t want to just be engineers that look only at the technical problems, but we want to look at the policy and social problems and find solutions for them.”
While The Warren Center is formally located within Penn Engineering, the broad scope of its mission has attracted 30 inaugural members spanning Wharton, the School of Arts & Science, the Perelman School of Medicine, Penn Law and the Annenberg School for Communication. This interdisciplinary approach is intrinsic to the solution-oriented nature of the Center’s research agenda.
“If you see the same answer coming up when you look at the problem in a number of different ways, it’s probably a good indicator that’s the right answer to the question,” Dr. Vohra said.
“We’re planning on funding research projects that, in addition to being scientifically stellar, have some chance of doing social good,” Dr. Kearns said. “Network science can show which kidney is compatible with each recipient, and it needs to draw on algorithms, networks and big data sets, but, at the end of the day, this was a research project that saved people’s lives.”
A homegrown example of the kind of work The Warren Center hopes to encourage comes from member Dr. Shawndra Hill, an assistant professor at Wharton who has led a multi-year project that uses crowdsourcing to map the location of defibrillators in public spaces.
The Warren Center was made possible by a donation from Fred and Robin Warren. Mr. Warren is an alumnus of both Penn Engineering, ME’60, and Wharton, WG’61 and is a member of the Engineering Board of Overseers.
The Warrens have been early adopters of many successful inventions and ventures, helping shape the communities that foster innovation. Through the funding of The Warren Center, they wish to help shape a community which fosters, inspires and leads innovation and new ventures.
“Penn Engineering’s steadfast commitment to innovation is what keeps me engaged with Penn,” Mr. Warren said. “We hope that The Warren Center will become the premier academic and technology incubator of its kind.”
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