We are thrilled to see that William Duncan, University of Kansas assistant professor of data science, will lead a $650,000 project to develop a new water monitoring technology for Kansas.
The project is one of 15 selected this month by the National Science Foundation Convergence Accelerator.
Working with partners at the technology company Viaanix and the Kansas Water Office, the team of investigators will develop a dashboard for real-time public reporting of water quality, quantity, and equity in Kansas.
Viaanix brings its ‘internet of things’ expertise to the project. Founded in Wichita, Kansas, this startup company designs technologies that interconnect all types of devices, making it possible to seamlessly convey data to one another.
Once developed, the dashboard will be made available to state and local government agencies. As Kansas faces the challenges of a prolonged drought, a tool like this is a critical step on the path to water sustainability.
This exciting research initiative emerged, at least in part, from activities funded by the ARISE project, a Kansas NSF EPSCoR initiative.
For example, both Viaanix and the Kansas Water Office partner with the Kansas Data Science Consortium, an educational pillar of ARISE co-led by Dr. Duncan. The collaboration between Dr. Duncan and co-investigator Belinda Sturm, director of Kansas NSF EPSCoR and professor of civil, environmental, and architectural engineering at KU, formed through ARISE as well.
To learn more, see KU news story.