Publication reports on research activities—and institute's growth—over past two years

Lehigh’s Institute for Data, Intelligent Systems, and Computation (I-DISC), one of the university's three Interdisciplinary Research Institutes, has published a 2019-2020 Review publication highlighting recent events, research groups, new initiatives, and transitions in leadership. 

“I-DISC brings together scholars from diverse disciplines and supports the process of addressing a range of real-world challenges,” writes the I-DISC leadership team (Director Larry Snyder, a professor of industrial and systems engineering; Associate Director Kate Arrington, a professor of psychology in Lehigh's College of Arts and Sciences; and Brian D. Davison, an associate professor of computer science and engineering). “We are proud of our accomplishments and continue to look ahead to the work that remains to be done.

According to the report's Directors' Message:

Researchers at Lehigh’s Institute for Data, Intelligent Systems, and Computation (I-DISC) are tackling a wide range of interdisciplinary challenges. These scholars are engineers and computer scientists, chemists and biologists, economists and sociologists, journalists and psychologists, mathematicians and epidemiologists. They come from 22 departments, representing all five of Lehigh’s colleges.

I-DISC faculty members are forecasting COVID-19 outbreaks and tracking tumor cells. They are making algorithms more humane and making robots more dexterous and perceptive. They are using quantum computers for complex optimization problems. They are optimizing power grids and mining medical data. They are ensuring the resilience of critical infrastructure. They are developing computational methods for identifying the building blocks of porous materials. They are rebuilding trust in visual media and combatting human trafficking. And they are building supercomputers to power it all.

Read the I-DISC 2019-2020 Review.