Updates for the S&T community
Dr. Sajal Das reviews work by Missouri S&T computer science graduate students on the Cyberinfrastructure for Accelerating Innovation in Network Dynamics (CANDY) project. Photo by Michael Pierce/ Missouri S&T
Dr. Sajal Das, the Daniel St. Clair Endowed Chair of Computer Science at Missouri S&T, is collaborating with researchers from the University of Oregon and the University of North Texas on a project titled “Cyberinfrastructure for Accelerating Innovation in Network Dynamics,” or CANDY. The project is funded through a four-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
S&T researchers are developing a new approach for updating dynamic networks – like those used to track viruses, connect people on social media and coordinate transportation systems – that they say is the first scalable, expandable and user-friendly solution to analyze who is using the network, where they are, and what information and channels they access. Software programs that analyze static networks are available, but researchers say a lack of cyberinfrastructure hampers innovative research in large-scale, complex, dynamic networks.
Das describes dynamic networks modeled as nodes and links. Your cell phone is a node, but unless you make a network connection, there is no link. If you switch off your phone or the battery dies, there is no longer a node. He says nodes and links come and go, making network management complex and challenging.
“The networks change all the time,” Das says. “Say there’s a disaster or a St. Louis Cardinals game or an accident, and people connect to get information. We don’t know how many people will be on a network at any given time. Similarly, for coronavirus tracing, it’s hard to know how many virus-infected people will come in contact at any given time within a proximity.”
On August 3, 2021. Posted in Accomplishments
© 2025 - Curators of the University of Missouri | UM System | Privacy Policy | WordPress
Missouri S&T is an equal opportunity/access/affirmative action/pro-disabled and veteran employer and does not discriminate on the basis of sex in our education
programs or activities, pursuant to Title IX and 34 CFR Part 106. For more information, see S&T's Nondiscrimination Policy or Equity and Title IX.