Mathematics
Nibbles, Bits and Bytes: Leveraging Data Analytics to Make Food Safer
Dr. Barbara Kowalcyk, The George Washington University
Nov. 9, 2024
Abstract:
Vast amounts of data are being collected throughout the food system – on the farm, in processing, during distribution, at retail, in the home and in the public health system. Data analytics can transform these data into actionable information that prevents illness and protects public health. A plethora of epidemiologic, statistical and mathematical methods – including synthetic populations, geospatial agent-based models, times series analysis and forecasting – have been used to analyze trends as well as assess, predict, mitigate and rank food safety risks. This talk will discuss the potential of data analytics in making food safer and provide attendees with practical examples of how these have been applied to improve food safety policies and practices.
About the Speaker:
Barbara Kowalcyk, Ph.D., M.A., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences at the Milken Institute School of Public Health and the Director of the Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition Security at The George Washington University. She graduated in 1991 from the University of Dayton with a major of mathematics.
The 24th Annual Schraut Memorial Lecture Is being held in conjunction with the Alumni Career Seminar. More about this event >
We are grateful for support from UD’s Department of Mathematics, The Leonard A. Mann, S.M., Chair in the Sciences at UD, and UD Math alums and other contributors to the endowed Kenneth C. Schraut Memorial Fund.
Why do we hold the Annual Kenneth C. Schraut Memorial Lecture?
This lecture is held each year in honor of Dr. Kenneth C. Schraut. It is funded entirely from alumni contributions.
Kenneth Charles Schraut was a professor of mathematics at the University of Dayton for over 50 years. He was born May 19, 1913, in Hillsboro, Ill., and received his bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1936 from the University of Illinois. He earned a master's degree (1938) and a Ph.D. (1940) from the University of Cincinnati.
He taught full-time at UD from 1940-78 and continued teaching part-time from 1978-93. Schraut was chair of the Department of Mathematics from 1954-70 and founded a summer institute for high school mathematics teachers on campus. He taught math classes to business and pre-medical students, along with algebra, trigonometry, calculus and advanced engineering mathematics. Schraut established the UD chapter of Pi Mu Epsilon (National Mathematics Honor Society) and was an advisor for premedical students.
Among his most notable accomplishments was his pioneering work with what became the University of Dayton Research Institute. In 1949, Schraut and 10 students received a $10,200 contract from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) to analyze or "reduce" aircraft flight load data. This project, which became known as Project Globe, was followed by a second data reduction contract for $25,000. From 1951-52, Dr. Schraut directed the expansion of research efforts at UD. In 1952, he began Project Delta, recruiting full-time professional researchers for nuclear weapons effects research. From these beginnings, sponsored research at UD grew to $1 million by 1956, and, Sept. 1 of that year, the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) was formally established.
Dr. Schraut's civic and professional activities included the American Math Society; the Math Association of America; the American Society for Engineering Education, for which he was chairman of the Math Division; the American Association of University Professors; the Metropolitan Dayton Honors Society; and the National Science Foundation Summer Institute, which he directed in 1959 and 1961-67.
The UD Libraries retains a collection of Dr. Schraut's papers. Learn more >>
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