Challenging traditional ways of thinking is exactly the point of the TTIP Faculty Thematic Hiring Initiative—Mason’s new action to promote multidisciplinary education, research and collaboration in computing. The initiative is part of the university’s effort to support Virginia’s Tech Talent Investment Program (TTIP), the plan to ensure that Amazon and the state’s tech sector have a strong and sustainable talent pipeline. As Virginia’s largest and most diverse public university, and its largest producer of tech talent, Mason figures prominently in the performance-based plan, which calls for 25,000 additional graduates in computer science, computer engineering and software engineering over the next 20 years.
“The TTIP program has provided a great opportunity for Mason to increase faculty diversity and focus them on critical national issues.” said Provost Mark Ginsberg. “The initiative is a creative way to support Virginia’s TTIP program’s charge. It will help to bring down barriers as it relates to the faculty and the selected themes. It’s a bold move designed to make a big impact.”
AI, Social Justice, and Public Policy
For the AI, Social Justice, and Public Policy proposal team, the multidisciplinary focus will give Mason an entree into the national discussions around artificial intelligence (AI) and technology. Algorithms are wielding increasing power, often without safeguards or government regulations. The proposal reflects the growing concern that unconscious bias may be creeping into systems that affect areas such as mortgage approval, credit scores and hiring practices, often with destructive outcomes for affected communities.
For Das, this cluster hire will focus on interrupting systemic bias and will also identify ways to use AI to embed “fairness, accountability and transparency” into algorithmic decision making.
“We want to approach this from a broader perspective and go beyond technical definitions of fairness and really think about how algorithms can contribute to justice,” said Das.
“Many times engineers will say, ‘We're not political; we're not involved in social issues. We solve infrastructural and technical and mechanical problems,’” said Carr. “But when we’re looking at the impact of technology and who it may be harming, these infrastructural and technical and mechanical problems are political and social.”
Computational Systems Biomedcine
The Computational Systems Biomedicine team is focused on the opportunities of data integration.
“Our health care system is very fragmented,” said Sikdar. “We have specialists who care for patients, and there is a lot of data and knowledge that is available, not only about these individual patients and their underlying conditions, but also the environment where they live, their communities and their socio-economic status.”
Sikdar says the goal is to utilize this broad knowledge base to deliver “precision medicine.”
“Everyone now recognizes that you can’t just treat the symptoms,” said Sikdar. “You have to take a more holistic view so that we can personalize treatments and care coordination for the individual.”
Recruited faculty will use computational methods to leverage Mason’s strengths to engage with medical, industrial and federal collaborators in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region.
“Mason already has significant strengths in computing, systems biology, bioengineering, epidemiology and health informatics,” Sikdar said. “What we are missing is what we call ‘system integrators,’ people who have the methodological expertise to bridge these gaps.”
https://www2.gmu.edu/news/2021-04/mason-launches-ttip-thematic-initiative-grow-multidisciplinary-teams-diverse-faculty