Prof. Satish Ukkusuri has been named a recipient of a 2015-16 Fulbright-Colciencias Innovation and Technology Award, a block grant designed to support U.S. scholars to conduct research and lecture at a Colombian university. Prof. Ukkusuri will be working for 3 months in 2015 and 2016 with computer engineering and civil engineering researchers at Uninorte to develop novel data-driven solutions based on data from social media, mobile phone and other information technologies with applications to Barranquilla and the surrounding region.  Northern Colombia is expected to be a hub of economic activity in the coming years and will be recognized as one of the "digital smart cities" with tremendous opportunity for future growth.  His winning proposal is titled "Novel Computing Solutions for Transportation and Urban Sustainability using Data-Driven Platforms," centered around the following idea:

A rapid transformation is underway in the use and availability of digital information in urban systems. Cities with population over 10 million pose significant sustainability challenges. Currently cities across the globe are huge human agglomerations in limited space face very serious challenges including water supply, infrastructure resilience, epidemiological issues, vulnerability to environmental stresses and natural disasters, and many others requiring new smarter urban planning solutions with respect to increasing urban growth contributing to the development of smart cities.  Dr. Ukkusuri will develop data-driven planning and operational models for urban transportation systems by collecting data from Northern Colombia in collaboration with various researchers at Uninorte.

This collaboration is an important step in strengthening the Purdue Engineering and Colombia partnership.