U Michigan, Google Partner on Flint Water Tools
Students at the University of Michigan's
Flint and Ann Arbor campuses are collaborating with Google to develop
an Android app and web-based tools to help Flint residents determine
whether their home water supply is at risk of lead contamination and
locate resources to cope with the problem.
According to information from the university, students in UM-Flint Computer Science's community-based learning program have already developed a prototype of
the Android app. The team is now collaborating with Google and students
from U-M Ann Arbor's Michigan Data Science Team to integrate mapping features using predictive analytics developed by
the U-M Ann Arbor students, and they are working with Google to improve
the user interface of the app. The completed app is slated for release
this summer.
The app uses predictive algorithms and machine
learning techniques to analyze data from Google, the State of Michigan
and the City of Flint to help determine which homes and neighborhoods
are at greatest risk of contamination. "There's a lot of data on the
water crisis, but it's scattered over many different agencies and
places," said Jacob Abernethy, an assistant professor of computer
science and engineering at U-M Ann Arbor and faculty advisor to the
Michigan Data Science Team, in a news release. "By organizing it in one
place and analyzing it, we can predict which areas are likely to be at
risk."
Google and the University of Michigan are also planning a
separate project to develop web-based tools for researchers and
government representatives with the goal of helping them plan repairs and
deploy resources. Those tools will include "extensive mapping and
predictive analytics, with details on waterline type and location and
other infrastructure data," according to the news release.
"We
can help planners determine which infrastructure repairs will benefit
the most residents, and how to allocate resources like bottled water
most efficiently" said Abernethy.
The project is funded by a
$150,000 grant from Google. The tech company has also contributed
remote and on-site development assistance, as well as data resources
such as mapping, satellite imagery and geo-location data.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].