Engineering Social Systems Lab

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Themes that define Engineering Social Systems:

Big Data for Social Good

Coupling terabytes mobile phone data from Kenya with census information, mathematician Amy Wesolowski in the ESS Lab is developing quantitative model of the growth of slums. By gaining insight into the underlying dynamics of these ad-hoc housing establishments, she will be providing urban planners in Nairobi a better understanding about optimal placement of scare resources such as water pumps and latrines.

Global Health

We are collaborating with international health organizations on a range of projects including the development of a cohort platform to study chronic disease, the design of pandemic containment strategies, and the deployment of automated disease outbreak detection systems. The success of these projects not only requires well-engineered systems, but also the development of well-informed policies.

Social Sensing

Never before has it been easier to collect so much daily data about ourselves thanks in large part to the proliferation of mobile phones. We have been using mobile phones as social sensors since the advent of the first programmable phone in 2003 and are deploying this sensing platform in a wide range of social settings – from smokers in New York City, to office workers in Helsinki, to villagers in rural Africa.