The Midwest Big Data Innovation Hub (MBDH) has won the Synergy Award from the Chicago Council on Science and Technology (C2ST). The MBDH is a partnership of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Indiana University, Iowa State University, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, and the University of North Dakota. It is part of the National Science Foundation’s regional Big Data Innovation Hubs program that comprises offices in the Midwest, West, South, and the Northeast.
MBDH received the award last month at the Science in the City Gala, where C2ST presented five awards for outstanding work in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM), including outreach efforts. The Synergy Award is presented to "organizations/institutions/companies that bring together various entities to create innovative and impactful advancements." The purpose of this award is to highlight and showcase successful collaboration and partnership between different entities in STEMM fields.
"It was an honor to accept this award on behalf of the Midwest Big Data Innovation Hub," said Catherine Blake, iSchool professor and principal investigator of the MBDH at Illinois. "The MBDH has fostered the type of partnerships between industry, government, community members, and universities that are necessary to bring data-driven solutions to challenges faced by people living in the Midwest."
The MBDH addresses priority areas and their intersections in advanced materials and manufacturing; digital agriculture; smart and resilient communities; water quality; Big Data in health; data science education and workforce development; and cyberinfrastructure and data sharing.
The Chicago Council on Science and Technology's mission is to inspire and engage all segments of our society about science and technology and their impact.