Projects
Real Projects, Real Impact
The Institute of Data Engineering, Analytics and Science collaborates on various research and community-based projects that leverage data science to solve real-world problems.
Want to collaborate on a project?
If you’re interested in learning more about our projects or proposing a collaboration, we’d love to hear from you.
Current Projects
Our faculty and students work on diverse projects spanning education analytics, environmental data science, and community development.
Neaton Mathematics
MyNumberDNA
Neaton Mathematics is home to MyNumberDNA, software used in K-12 schools in the Flint area to help students meet state standards for mathematical proficiency. UM-Flint students have been helping analyze growth data to identify particularly helpful assessment tools.
Tonietto Lab
UM-Flint Herbarium Digitization
The UM-Flint Herbarium houses over 4,000 specimens, some of which are over 100 years old! Over the past two years, the Tonietto Lab has developed a process to digitize the collection, starting with updates to decades-old taxonomy using Specify 7, an online SQL database system developed in part by the University of Michigan. IDEAS research assistant Autumn Harris is improving the digitization workflow, enabling the automatic importing of metadata pulled from herbarium labels.
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Matlacha Pass Water Quality Analysis
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection monitors several water quality metrics at many of its Aquatic Preserves and other sites of interest. During the Winter 2023 semester, IDEAS students Aaron Moore and Abby Hause analyzed several such metrics (levels of ammonia, nitrogen, chlorophyll, etc.) to visualize the health of Matlacha Pass and surrounding areas.
Flint River Watershed Coalition
Flint River Watershed Monitoring
The Flint River Watershed Coalition oversees various Flint River water-quality monitoring activities, including one that tracks benthic macroinvertebrate populations at sites throughout the watershed. Starting in Summer 2023, IDEAS students will begin visualization and tracking analytics to help diagnose areas needing further study.
Making an Impact
4+
Active projects
Across multiple domains
Local
Community focus
Serving Flint and beyond
Real
Student Experience
Hands-on learning opportunities