Collaboration Cultivates Connectivity

by Jen Ruppert

Hurricane Maria turned the paradise of Puerto Rico into Armageddon. Widely considered the worst natural disaster to ever hit the island, Maria took a terrible toll on Puerto Ricans. Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives. Estimated property losses totaled around $90 billion. Aside from the damage caused by high winds and flooding, landslides were a huge problem. Landslides happen when the ground becomes unstable in steep rocky areas. When they occur in populated areas, they destroy lives, homes and roads. According to the US Geological Survey, Hurricane Maria triggered more than 40,000 landslides in at least three-fourths of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities. Never before had so much soil and rock come crashing down.

Throughout the island people suffered for months after the storm. Flooding, lack of electricity, limited resources and a relief effort that was glacially slow, made life miserable for all. Everyone – rich and poor – had to wait in line for basic supplies like water, food and gas. In this way, the hurricane leveled the playing field for Puerto Ricans and brought the community together through efforts to rebuild what the storm destroyed.

Dr. Partricia Ordóñez Franco, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Puerto Rico Río Piedras, sees a silver lining in the aftermath. “Dealing with the disaster really brought people together in a powerful way. Helping each other made us much stronger as a community.”

It’s impossible to resist comparing how the storm put everyone in equally dire straits to Patti’s goal of increasing diversity in the field of computer science. She is on a mission to get more women students enrolled in her classes. It’s working. Last year, Patti was thrilled to see female students outnumber the men in her Introduction to Computer Science course for the first time. She helped make this a reality by actively recruiting women from the biology department and other programs on campus. Her efforts matter. A vast body of research and just plain common sense indicate that diverse viewpoints lead to more innovative ideas.

“Data science is a way of solving complex problems using math, statistics and programming in an interdisciplinary team,” says Patti. “It simply cannot happen in a vacuum. Just like we needed to work together to rebuild after the hurricane, we have to collaborate across scientific fields to achieve the greatest breakthroughs.”

Patti’s research is focused on using advanced computational methods like machine learning, data mining, and visual analytics for medical professionals to better diagnose and treat patients, especially in extreme situations. One such example is Trauma Pod, a medical treatment robot that can provide critical medical care to soldiers on the battlefield or those injured in natural disasters like Hurricane Maria.

“If Trauma Pod had been available after Hurricane Maria, I believe we could have saved a lot more lives,” Patti speculates.

These days, Patti is doing her part to help Puerto Rico rebuild through Computer Science for All, a program funded by the National Science Foundation. She is helping high school teachers integrate computer science into their curricula and giving students opportunities to learn how to code. Ideally, these efforts will eventually culminate in a thriving tech sector for Puerto Rico that could boost the economy and keep top talent on the island.

“Puerto Rico is poised for a really bright future,” says Patti. “People here are smart, resilient and tenacious. We get things done. I am excited about the many ways we can use computer science to create a lot more economic opportunity here.”