The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded $1.5 million over three years to the University of Illinois at Chicago and Worcester Polytechnic Institute to fund projects aimed at reducing workers’ exposures to hazards through the development and use of collaborative robots, or co-robots.

CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) partnered with the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund studies of co-robots in the workplace through NSF’s National Robotics Initiative 2.0. The Initiative supports research in the U.S. that will accelerate the development and use of co-robots, an emerging robotic technology that complements, not replaces, human workers. Co-robots work alongside people or other robots and can help improve worker safety.

“The future of work includes a workplace where robots work in tandem with, or are even worn by, human workers,” said NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D. “This important research will help guide the development and use of co-robots that can help minimize health and safety risks to workers.”

In healthcare, remote-controlled nursing robots have the potential to reduce workload and the risk of infection, especially in quarantine and intensive care environments. Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute will develop a more intuitive interface to make it easier for nurses to operate robots from a distance. Researchers also will investigate best practices for integrating robots into current nursing education.

In manufacturing, lifting heavy objects can lead to costly and disabling work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Wearable robots, which provide mechanical assistance to the user’s joints, have the potential to reduce injuries from heavy lifting. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago will develop and investigate the effectiveness of a personalized wearable robot worn on the lower body that senses the wearer’s physical effort and responds accordingly using soft-wearable electronics.

Through its Center for Occupational Robotics Research, NIOSH is proactively working across industrial sectors to guide the development and use of occupational robots that enhance workers’ safety, health, and well-being. The Center’s research looks at traditional industrial robots that work in robotic cells and cages away from human workers as well as at emerging robotic technologies such as co-robots; wearable robotics or powered exoskeletons; remotely controlled or autonomous vehicles and drones; and future robots that increasingly use advanced artificial intelligence.

NIOSH is the federal institute that conducts research and makes recommendations for preventing work-related injuries, illnesses and deaths.

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MORRIS COUNTY — County College of Morris (CCM) has received a $235,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support the launch of a Data Science Certificate program.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there is a high demand for data scientists, whose work involves managing, analyzing and interpreting large sets of data. The BLS 2018 projections indicated that data science analytic jobs will grow by 34 percent by 2026, much faster than the average for most other industries.

The CCM Data Analytics Certificate will consist of five courses for a total of 15 credits that could be completed over the course of two semesters. Students in the program will learn R, Tableau, Python and SQL. The first course Introduction to Data Science will be offered this fall. One of the chief goals of the new program is to increase the number of women and other underrepresented students studying data analytics.

Kelly Fitzpatrick, assistant professor of mathematics at the college, has been spearheading the initiative to provide a pathway to data science careers for Morris County residents and beyond. Prior to joining the CCM faculty, Fitzpatrick worked in hedge fund management as an execution trader with Trigon Investment Advisors. Her other experience includes derivatives and equity strategy at MLC International and credit and global risk management at Lehman Brothers.

“Businesses across all industry sectors, both small and large, are increasingly looking for ways to leverage the era of big-data to make strategic, marketing, sales and other operational decisions,” notes Fitzpatrick. “This grant is a fantastic opportunity to offer students cutting-edge courses for in-demand careers and for the college to be recognized at the national level for advancement in data science education.”

The NSF grant includes funding to support the Women in STEM club at the college, networking and supplemental learning activities for students in the program, and professional development opportunities for faculty.

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