Networking Friday with Dava Newman (MIT)

On November 13th, 2020, 1-2 PM UTC, we had Dava Newman, Apollo Program Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She presented Physics-informed GANs for coastal flood visualization with the collaboration of her students Björn Lütjens, Brandon Leshchinskiy, Christian Requena-Mesa, Farrukh Chishtie, Natalia Díaz-Rodriguez, Océane Boulais, Aaron Piña, Alexander Lavin, Yarin Gal, Chedy Raïssi. The moderator was Marco Tedesco, Lamont Research Professor, Marine Geology & Geophysics, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO), The Earth Institute, Columbia University. As climate change increases the intensity of natural disasters, society needs better tools for adaptation. As stakeholders ranging from local to national governments cope with increased flood risks due to climate change, visual explanations can aid their decision-making process. And while today’s flood modeling capabilities include both high-level, color-coded maps, as well as intimate, street-level images, decision-makers would benefit from imagery that is both holistic and intuitive. Accordingly, the MIT-Portugal / NASA / AIIA Earth Intelligence Engine team has produced satellite images of future coastal floods: physics-informed, photorealistic images that look like real satellite imagery. The proposed visualizations will enable a variety of stakeholders in climate resilience planning and disaster preparedness to communicate flood risks to decision-makers. Relevant links:

• Demo: http://trillium.tech/eie
• Preprint: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2010.08103.pdf

Speaker

Dava Newman Dr. Newman’s research in multidisciplinary aerospace biomedical engineering investigates human performance across the spectrum of gravity, including advanced planetary space suits, life support systems, astronaut performance, and soft exoskeletons to enhance locomotion on Earth for medical pathologies (i.e., MS and CP). She has served as PI on four space missions on the Space Shuttle, Mir Space Station and International Space Station. Dava is passionate about exploration, leadership, women in STEAMD (STEM+Arts+Design), and Earth’s vital signs: climate change. Her latest efforts include EarthDNA™ – an AI open source platform of curated space satellite data and supercomputer visualizations to help citizens to businesses to government leaders accelerate positive actions to help regenerate Earth’s oceans, land and climate.

Moderator

Marco Tedesco Marco Tedesco is a Lamont Research Professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and Adjunct Scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS). He received his Laurea degree and PhD in Italy, from the University of Naples and the Italian National Research Council. He then spent five years as a postdoc and research scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. He moved to CCNY in 2008 as an Assistant Professor where he was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012. During his time at CCNY, he founded and directed the Cryosphere Processes Laboratory and was a rotating Program Manage at the National Science Foundation between 2013 and 2015. In January 2016, he joined Columbia University. Dr. Tedesco’s research focuses on the dynamics of seasonal snowpack, ice sheet surface properties, high latitude fieldwork, global climate change and its implications on the economy and real estate. We will continue with the Networking Fridays during the next months. More information about future sessions as well as presentations and videos from previous sessions can be found here. Twitter Hashtag: #netfridays. Expect some very exciting afternoons, or mornings or evenings, depending on where you are… If you need any additional information please send an email to Jose Luiz Moutinho.