CISE-MSI:RCBP-ED:CNS:Big Data and Cloud Computing Project Hatchery

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).

The overarching goal of this project is to build the national pipeline of skilled workforce in the critical domain of Big Data and Cloud Computing technology. This workforce is crucial for the future advances in Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence based priority areas of national interest. This project will provide Big Data and Cloud Computing technology skill-building opportunities for multidisciplinary students and faculty from underrepresented minority backgrounds at Cal Poly Pomona (Minority Serving Institution, MSI) as well as local alliances of Hispanic Service Institutions (HSI) and S-STEM programs.

This project will engage students in Big Data and Cloud Computing technology training and culminating projects early in their academic careers based on the Design Thinking approach, which focuses on understanding individual or community needs and creatively developing solutions to meet those needs. The project will use the Design Thinking concepts to connect students’ STEM curriculum to solving problems that benefit society using Big Data and Cloud Computing technologies- with students directly observing how their projects positively impact a specific community/end-user group.

Students will see the potential impact of their education right away, instead of at the end of their academic career. In parallel, the project will provide research training and promote affinity groups for MSI faculty from four-year colleges to work with faculty members from research intensive institutions to foster research collaboration in Big Data and Cloud Computing domain and pursue collaborative external funding for research.

The faculty exposure to the technology and resources supporting the Big Data and Cloud Computing research will build the Cal Poly Pomona and other participating HSI’s multidisciplinary capacity in this area to enable future research and education in this domain.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.