Associate Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering Kaibo Liu has started a research project in partnership with 3M to develop advanced data science approaches to identifying faulty code and detecting anomalies in varied data streams from manufacturing production lines.
The project initially has funding for one year, but is expected to evolve into a multi-year effort.
“While the rapid development of sensing and communication technology has enabled an unprecedented availability of data collected from various sources, we are still lacking in advanced data science methodologies that can fully leverage such available data,” says Liu. “Having these data science capabilities will lead to productivity and quality improvement with significant cost saving.”
Liu, whose Lab for System Informatics and Data Analytics has explored online monitoring of big data streams and analytics for several years, says the project will focus on fundamental data science questions. But his group, in collaboration with 3M’s Corporate Research Systems Lab, will also consider the multinational company’s practical needs and implementation requirements.
As part of the project, PhD students Minhee Kim and Honghan Ye will intern at 3M in the summer of 2020.
“With this new opportunity, my research group can better closely collaborate with big companies like 3M to thoroughly understand the practical challenges and needs that exist in daily production and ensure the impact of the developed methodologies and efficiency for technology transfer and future implementation,” he says. “My students can also gain more industry experience, grow through challenging work, get involved in research and development projects, and receive great coaching from 3M leaders.”