On Wednesday, May 1, 2024, the Massive Data Institute of the McCourt School of Public Policy will host the MDI Scholars Research Showcase Spring 2024. MDI Scholars will present their research in the Healey Family Student Center Social Room at Georgetown University from 1:00-2:30pm, followed by a reception.
The event begins with formal remarks by McCourt School of Public Policy Dean Maria Cancian and Massive Data Institute Director Lisa Singh followed by student project teams presenting “flash talks” — a 60-second summary of their research. After the flash talks, MDI Scholars project teams will present their research posters.
To learn more about the research projects that the MDI Scholars contributed to this semester, please check out: https://mdi.georgetown.edu/announcements/announcing-the-spring-2024-mdi-scholars/ (new window)
Accommodations: This event is wheelchair accessible. Accommodation requests related to a disability should be made by April 24, 2024 to mdiresearch@georgetown.edu. A good faith effort will be made to fulfill requests made after April 24th.
Transportation: Georgetown University is accessible for faculty, staff, students and visitors through many convenient transportation options, including our free university shuttle, public transportation, bicycling, carsharing and other means. Learn more about transportation options here. (new window)
See here (new window) (Interactive map) or here (new window) (PDF) for a Georgetown University campus map.
Taxi / Ridesharing: The recommended drop-off location is at the front gates of campus. Please inform your driver that your destination is Georgetown University or use the address 3700 O St. NW, Washington, DC 20057. Additional information on taxi / ride sharing is available here. (new window)
Visitor Parking: If you decide to drive to campus, please note there is construction happening on campus on the north side of campus. Visitor parking is available at Southwest Garage (Use 3611 Canal Road as the address for directions using GPS). Additional information on visitor parking is available here (new window).
About the MDI Scholars Program: The MDI Scholars program is an experiential learning opportunity for undergraduate and Master’s students to work on interdisciplinary research projects with professors and practitioners. These projects connect new forms of data and/or large-scale computing infrastructure to different public policy questions.
About the Massive Data Institute (MDI): At Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy, the Massive Data Institute (MDI) is an interdisciplinary research institute that connects experts across computer science, data science, public health, public policy, and social science to tackle societal scale issues and impact public policy in ways that improves people’s lives through responsible evidence-based research. For more information on MDI, please visit https://mdi.georgetown.edu/
MDI Scholar Research Showcase Poster Titles
(poster titles subject to change; draft titles as of April 17, 2024)
Actionable Insights with LLMs in Incident Reporting
Brian Holland (He/Him), McCourt School of Public Policy, Data Science for Public Policy ’24
Gabriel Soto (He/Him), McCourt School of Public Policy, Data Science for Public Policy ’25
Collaborator(s): Robin Dillon-Merrill
DistrictView: Building a First-of-Its-Kind Database of Public Comments of U.S. School Board Meeting Transcripts
Corrina Calanoc (She/Her), Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Data Science and Analytics ’24
Maggie Sullivan (She/Her), McCourt School of Public Policy, Data Science for Public Policy ’24
Collaborator(s): Rebecca Johnson
Reducing Administrative Burdens in Food Assistance Programs through Digital Innovation
Holt Cochran (He/Him), McCourt School of Public Policy, Data Science for Public Policy ’25
Sunaina Bakshi Kathpalia (She/Her), McCourt School of Public Policy, Data Science for Public Policy ’25
Collaborator(s): Sebastian Jilke, Donald Moynihan
Partner Organization(s): Code for America
Compiling Contextual Information to Inform Head Start Programs
Amanda Hao (She/Her), Walsh School of Foreign Service, Science, Technology, International Affairs ’26
Collaborator(s): Amy O’Hara, Gabriel Taylor, Rosemary Rhodes
Partner Organization(s): National Head Start Association
Measuring French Racism and Misrepresentation on Social Media to Better Understand Online Perception
Xinyu Li (She/Her), Georgetown School of Arts & Sciences, Data Science and Analytics ’24
Collaborator(s): Lisa Singh
Optimizing Data Usage in Federal Government
Aastha Jha (She/Her), McCourt School of Public Policy, Data Science for Public Policy ’25
Katharyn Loweth (She/Her), McCourt School of Public Policy, Data Science for Public Policy ’25
Collaborator(s): Michael Bailey
Partner Organization(s): U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Community Services (OCS)
Evading Censorship: A Data Collection Protocol for Collecting Distributed and Sensitive Statistics of Tor
Jason Yi (He/Him), Georgetown College, Computer Science ’26
Sophia (Alivia) Castor (She/Her), Georgetown College, Computer Science & Government ’25
Collaborator(s): Micah Sherr, Lisa Singh
Automated Collection of IRS Database
Yunhan Zhang (He/Him), Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Data Science and Analytics ’24
Collaborator(s): Sandeep Dahiya
The Association between Actions and Immigration Status with Logistic Regression
Kefan Yu (He/Him), Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Data Science and Analytics ’24
Collaborator(s): Qiwei Britt He
Federal Spending
Madhvi Malhotra (She/Her), McCourt School of Public Policy, Data Science for Public Policy ’24
Collaborator(s): Michael Bailey
Predicting Forced Migration: Comparative Analysis of Organic and Traditional Indicators
Kate Liggio (She/Her), Georgetown College, Computer Science ’24
Bernardo Medeiros (He/Him), Georgetown College, Computer Science & Government ’24
Jenny Park (She/Her), Georgetown College, Computer Science and Justice and Peace Studies ’24
Rich Pihlstrom (He/Him), Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Data Science and Analytics ’25 and Computer Science ’24
Collaborator(s): Lisa Singh, Helge Marahrens
Metadata Database Construction: Handbook collection
JaeHo Bahng (He/Him), Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Data Science and Analytics ’25
Collaborator(s): NaLette Brodnax
Federal Workforce Analysis: Platform for OPM Payroll Data Analysis
Haiyang Chen (He/Him), McCourt School of Public Policy, Data Science for Public Policy ’24
Linlin Wang (She/Her), Georgetown School of Arts & Sciences, Data Science and Analytics ’24
Collaborator(s): Mark Richardson, Benjamin Reese
Harnessing AI to Map Political Ideologies: Challenges and Cost-Effective Deployment
Zhiqiang Ji (He/Him), McCourt School of Public Policy, Data Science for Public Policy ’24
Himangshu Kumar (He/Him), McCourt School of Public Policy, Data Science for Public Policy ’24
Collaborator(s): Michael Bailey
Fine-tuning Large Language Models to Read Policy documents: Open-source or Commercial AI?
Himangshu Kumar (He/Him), McCourt School of Public Policy, Data Science for Public Policy ’24
Collaborator(s): Michael Bailey
Partner Organization(s): Atlas Public Policy, EPIC, Statt
Examining the Intersection Between Wildfires and Political Representation in Australia
Raunak Advani (He/Him), Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Data Science and Analytics ’24
Collaborator(s): Le Bao
Auditing Probabilistic Genotyping Software Used in Forensic DNA Analysis
Roy Hwang (He/Him), Georgetown College, Computer Science ’25
Julia Nonnenkamp (She/Her), Georgetown College, Computer Science & Mathematics ’24
Collaborator(s): Elissa Redmiles, Lisa Singh, Lucy Qin
Partner Organization(s): Georgetown Law Center, CSET