Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy

Leveraging Data-Driven Methods and Time-of-Use Data to Evaluate Urban Decarbonization Policies and Streamline Building Energy Audits
2024-02-27 12:10 - 13:30 (America/New_York) | CoRE-101, 96 Frelinghuysen Rd,, Piscataway, 08854, United States
Presented by Dr. Abigail Andrews, Post-Doctoral Associate and NJ BPU Energy Fellow in Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy’s Center for Urban Policy Research.
Identifying opportunities to minimize energy use and carbon emissions of buildings is important for urban decarbonization. However, doing so often necessitates a capital-intensie building energy audit that requires time-intensive on-site inspections. As municipalities across the United States mandate various urban decarbonization policies (e.g., benchmarking, audits, and building performance standards) there is a growing need for building owners to audit buildings efficiently and at a low cost. Emerging data streams (e.g., automated meter infrastructure) allow the evaluation of real time energy use and carbon emissions data. This data not only provides a deeper understanding into building operations but also may provide audit insights and decarbonization opportunities. This seminar will discuss the potential of integrating time-of-use data in urban decarbonization policy and the development of an integrated physics-based model and data-classification method to identify potential inefficiencies in a building using electric meter data. Time-of-use energy data paired with machine learning may streamline urban decarbonization policy by improving the effectiveness and scalability of evaluation processes.
Dr. Andrews received her PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University at the Urban Informatics Lab. She also holds a MS in Sustainable Design and Construction from Stanford University and a BA in Environmental Policy from Barnard College. Dr. Andrews uses data from building energy policies (e.g., benchmarking, building performance standards, auditing) to evaluate urban decarbonization potential and to push forward equitable building decarbonization. Currently, Dr. Andrews is interested in how municipalities can encourage the design and construction of Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings.
For questions Dr. David Coit (coit@soe.rutgers.edu), Dr. Aziz Ezzat (aziz.ezzat@rutgers.edu) or Dr. Elin Wicks (elm52@soe.rutgers.edu)

Intelligent Informatics at Rutgers: Artificial Intelligence - Use, Abuse & An Exciting Future
2024-03-20 18:00 - 19:30 | Virtual
Collaborators: AI Social Impact Lab & Garfield City Council
An Interactive Presentation By Bloustein AI Course Participants
Faculty Advisor: Professor Jim Samuel, Rutgers Bloustein School

Host Program: MPI – https://informatics.rutgers.edu/

Register: https://go.rutgers.edu/AI-MPI-webinar

Public Informatics Listening Session
2024-04-01 16:00 - 17:00 | Bloustein School, Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
The Public Informatics Listening Session is an open and informal forum discussion for students to provide feedback, offer suggestions, and hear the most up to date news about the program.
Hosted by Jim Samuel, Public Informatics Program Director; Shravani Kallur, VP of Public Informatics Program for Bloustein Graduate Student Association; Courtney Culler, Associate Director for Graduate Student Services; and Greg Marrero, Student Counselor for Graduate Student Services.
RSVP HERE

Bloustein Research Day 2024
2024-04-12 09:00 - 12:00 | Gov. James J. Florio Special Events Forum, CSB, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
You are invited to our third annual Bloustein Research Day! It will be an in-person event. Anyone may register to attend. Faculty and staff may sign up to deliver lightning talks. Graduate and undergraduate students may sign up to present posters and potentially win a Best Poster Award. We strongly encourage participation by all members of the Bloustein community. Sign up today!
Registration: https://forms.office.com/r/RRag8YBJAc
Agenda:
Continental Breakfast (8:00 – 9:00 am)
Faculty/Staff Lightning Talks (9:00 – 10:15 am)

Jane Miller
Beyond Statistical Significance: A Holistic View of What Makes a Quantitative Research Finding “Important”

Andrea Hetling
State welfare policies and racial equity: Assessing the impact of COVID-19 policies on caseloads?

Muazzam Toshmatova
Using the New Jersey Statewide Data System to explore Dual Enrollment Outcomes

Julia Sass Rubin
The Impact of New Jersey’s County Line Primary Ballots

Ruth Winecoff
Longitudinal Spillovers in Public Benefits Enrollment: The Effect of the Medicaid Expansion on Future Medicare Insurance Choices

Jon Carnegie
Transit use, gender and sexual orientation: How identity influences how we travel

Hannah Younes
Are e-scooters more dangerous than e-bikes and bicycles?

Yen-Tyng Chen
Racial discrimination and mental health in the context of anti-Asian xenophobia: An intersecting approach of race, ethnicity, nativity, and socioeconomic status.

Janine Barr
“And the survey says!”: A Case Study on Engaging Stakeholders to Inform Statewide Environmental Policy

Andrea Restrepo-Mieth
Environmental Conservation and the Politics of Infrastructure Scarcity in Galápagos, Ecuador

Garin Bulger
A Case Study Analysis of Food Sovereignty as a Climate Adaptation Strategy across the Americas

Jeanne Herb
Research informing action: Expanding access to nature for people with disabilities

Vanessa Tropiano
Better Buyouts: Collaborative Research to Inform NJDEP’s Blue Acres Program

Pritpal Bamhrah
Flooding Impact on Municipal Finance in NJ – NJ Adapt based analysis

Student Poster Session (10:15 – 11:30 am) with Light Refreshments
Keynote Address (11:30 am – 12 pm) Keynote Address by Dr. Joel Cantor
FAQ: What’s a lightning talk? What a poster presentation?
Organizing Committee: Clint Andrews, Liz Cooner, Laura Geronimo, Jeanne Herb, David Listokin, Will Payne

RAISE 2024: Student Data Science / Informatics Competition Finals
2024-04-19 08:30 - 12:30 | Gov. James J. Florio Special Events Forum, CSB, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
Rethinking AI for Shared Empowerment (RAISE) 2024 is a public informatics data science competition that will test skills in data analysis and problem-solving while highlighting the importance of data analysis in enabling improvements to public policy and social empowerment. Hosted by Rutgers Bloustein School’s Master of Public Informatics (MPI) program, this year’s theme is Does News Media Spread Fear of AI? Teams can include 2-5 members of all undergraduate or all graduate students.

The competition is open to currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students from accredited US institutions. Participants must be legally residing in the US for the entire duration of the competition.

Priority team registrations
Feb 15 2024
Submission deadline
March 10 2024

Finalists announced
March 14 2024
Final materials submission
April 14 2024

Final in-person round will be held at the Bloustein School, New Brunswick, NJ on April 19 2024.
Gov. James J. Florio Special Events Forum, Bloustein School

To register as a participant, please visit https://go.rutgers.edu/RAISE24event

2024 New Jersey Big Data Alliance Annual Symposium: Artificial Intelligence Impacts on Society & Higher Education
2024-05-17 08:30 - 15:30 | Douglass Student Center, 100 George Street, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
The New Jersey Big Data Alliance (NJBDA) is an alliance of leading higher education institutions, government organizations and industry members that catalyzes research and collaboration in advanced computing and data analytics, education, technology and artificial intelligence (AI). NJBDA’s annual symposium is New Jersey’s premier conference for big data, advanced computing and AI, consistently attracting hundreds of attendees from industry, government, and academia.
The 2024 NJBDA Symposium will be hosted by Rutgers Bloustein School and other collaborators at Rutgers University, on Friday, the 17th of May 2024 from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm.
The theme for the 2024 NJBDA symposium is ‘AI Impacts on Society & Higher Education’. The symposium will be a collaborative forum for information sharing, networking, research and discovery of opportunities and challenges for AI in society and higher education i.e. how will AI transform higher ed teaching and learning, how can university leaders effectively leverage and manage AI, AI misuse, the expanding digital divide, data bias and ethical implications.
Symposium agenda can be viewed here: 2024 Symposium page.

AI Through a Rutgers Lens (Microsoft) Part 3
2024-06-05 08:30 - 10:00 | Microsoft, 885 2nd Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY 10017, 885 Second Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY, 10017, United States
AI THROUGH A RUTGERS LENS
A three-part series in NYC exploring artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning tools are transforming human experience, from education and business to policy and health care. The unprecedented growth of AI presents exciting opportunities for improving lives globally, but it also intensifies profound ethical questions concerning privacy, data confidentiality, and bias.
Please join us as we explore the world of AI with help from Rutgers experts who wrestle with these questions daily.
Wednesday, June 5, 2024
8:30–10:00 a.m.
Microsoft
885 2nd Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY
Learn more about the innovations made through AI and technology in the cardiovascular care space.
Speakers:
Partho P. Sengupta, MD, Henry Rutgers Professor, Chief of Cardiology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Chief of Cardiology Service Line, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
Naveena Yanamala, PhD, Associate Professor, Director, Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, Director, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital’s Innovation Center
Graciously hosted by Microsoft.
Special thanks to Simon Liepold EJB’05.
Continental breakfast will be available.
Enjoy informative discussions and networking opportunities in each installment. Register today to join the Rutgers community in NYC for this exciting session!
Advance registration required. Kindly respond by Friday, May 31, 2024.

Rutgers Robotics Workshop 2024
2024-09-27 09:00 - 16:00 | Bloustein School, Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
The workshop is held annually as part of the NSF National Research Traineeship SOCRATES (Socially Cognizant Robotics for a Technology Enhanced Society) at Rutgers.
This annual robotics workshop is held for faculty, students, and industry representatives. The workshop will have both internal and external speakers as well as a poster session for students to present their robotics research. The workshop panels will discuss RobotGPT: current trends and future directions in robotics foundation model and unintended consequences of robotics foundation models.
AGENDA AND RSVP

Intelligent Informatics @ Bloustein: Influence of AI in Public Administration: The Finnish Experience
2024-10-21 16:00 - 17:30 | Bloustein School, Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
Presented by Jari Stenvall Professor of Administrative Sciences, Tampere University, Finland
Artificial intelligence has meant a revolution in public administration and services. On the other hand, there have been recent discussions suggesting that generative AI in particular will remain mainly a tool for individual employees. The key to the use of AI is not only the development of new innovations but also their implementation.
There are three approaches to implementation. The technological dimension means that actions will evolve with new technologies. In the data-driven dimension, actions evolve by strengthening data-driven decision-making and action; in the organizational dimension, actions change through organizational transformation. Leadership, relevance, and learning are also key to successful implementation. These are discussed theoretically and practically in the lecture.
The lecture will include several practical examples of AI implementation, relevance and learning. The examples are related, for instance, to a research which has analyzed teachers’ experiences of AI implementation in Finland.
Finland is a strongly technology-oriented country. Similarly, Finland is one of the top countries in the world for innovations. A key strength has been the successful public education system.
Facilitated by Professors Radha Jagannathan and Jim Samuel Join the Intelligent Informatics forum on LinkedIn https://go.rutgers.edu/rutgersinfx
Hosted by the Master of Public Informatics (MPI) program at Rutgers University the Public Informatics Student Group, and PASCAL Rutgers Center.

Fostering Health Equity by Creating Equitable Housing: An Anchor Institution’s Journey
2024-10-24 16:00 - 17:30 | Bloustein School, Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
Presented by Kenneth Morris, Jr., MHA, MA
Vice President, External Affairs, St. Joseph’s Health
View Video Here
Supportive housing is a groundbreaking concept that combines affordable housing with essential services to provide stability, autonomy, and dignity to people grappling with complex challenges. The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA) Hospital Partnership Subsidy Pilot Program revolutionized the affordable housing landscape by leveraging hospital equity with the 4% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program to establish affordable housing developments near hospital campuses, catering specifically to frequent users of hospital services.
Recognizing the pivotal role of stable, affordable housing in healthcare, St. Joseph’s Health, in collaboration with HMFA and local agencies, opened Barclay Place, the first supportive affordable housing development in New Jersey. Launched in 2023, Barclay Place, located near St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson, offers vulnerable families and individuals the opportunity to rent affordable apartments and access vital supportive services St. Joseph’s Health provides. This innovative initiative embodies a new era of compassionate and comprehensive care, empowering individuals, and families to thrive in a nurturing and supportive environment.
As Vice President of External Affairs at St. Joseph’s Health, Kenneth M. Morris, Jr., MHA, MA, oversees operations at the Paterson, Wayne, and Totowa, NJ campuses. In this role, he manages Government Affairs, Community Outreach and Engagement, the System’s Regional Health Coalition, the Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program, and WIC, as well as a portfolio of the System’s real estate holdings. Over his 43-year career at St. Joseph’s, Ken has developed programs to enhance healthcare access for underprivileged residents in Passaic County. Notably, he spearheaded the creation of the first supportive affordable housing development in New Jersey, addressing social determinants of health.
The Ruth Ellen Steinman Bloustein and Edward J. Bloustein Memorial Lecture was established to honor the memory of these two extraordinary individuals. It celebrates the values and interests Ruth Ellen and Ed cherished and cultivated throughout their lives: the study and preservation of animal species and the natural environment, the celebration of love, happiness, and laughter as tools of clinical medicine, and the exploration and promotion of humane values, which they believed were woven in the fabric of Judaic tradition and passed down from generation to generation.

Intelligent Informatics @ Bloustein: Emerging AI Ascendancy and Shifts in Health Informatics Careers
2024-12-12 18:30 - 20:00 | Virtual
Rutgers Informatics Forum on Healthcare & Artificial Intelligence
This panel, with eminent experts from industry and academia, will address the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on healthcare and health informatics careers. These experts will present their views on topics of growing importance of AI in healthcare. They will also provide insights into the advanced data science, analytics and AI education and preparation needed for health informatics jobs and careers.

David Artz, MD, MBA Keynote Presenter
Health Administration Fellow, Bloustein School, Rutgers University; Weill Cornell Medicine, and Atlantic Health System
Cory Yemen, PhD ‘23
Director, Data Science & Infrastructure, Growth Market Insights, Labcorp
Soumitra Bhuyan, PhD, MPH
Executive Director, Health Administration Program and Associate Professor, Bloustein School, Rutgers University
Jim Samuel, PhD
Executive Director, Master of Public Informatics and Associate Professor of Practice, Bloustein School, Rutgers University

Hosted by the Public Informatics Student Group and the Master of Public Informatics (MPI) program at Rutgers University
REGISTER AT go.rutgers.edu/informaticsF24
Questions? Email informatics@ejb.rutgers.edu. Join the Intelligent Informatics forum on LinkedIn https://go.rutgers.edu/rutgersinfx

Basic Quantitative Methods Placement Exam
2025-01-16 11:00 - 13:00 | Bloustein School, Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
The placement exam is only for those who wish to waive the BQM requirement because they have a strong statistics background. If you plan to take the BQM course, you do not need to take the placement exam.
To register: Email Shiyu Ma at sm2758 [at] scarletmail.rutgers.edu by 5pm on January 15, 2025.
This closed-book exam is similar to the final exam for the Basic Quantitative Methods course. The exam will cover all chapters of the book listed below. You will need a non-graphing calculator and pen or pencil.
To prepare: Joseph F. Healey. Statistics: A Tool for Social Research. Wadsworth Cengage Learning 10th edition (or subsequent editions) . Please be advised that you need an active Rutgers Box Account to view the above link.
Exam format:

multiple choice and short answer questions that test your understanding of concepts, and
computational problems and interpretation of statistical output from STATA. Familiarity with any statistical software package should be sufficient to interpret the output.

At exam time, you will receive statistical tables (appendices A, B, C, and D from the 10th edition of the textbook) as well as a formula sheet with the formulas from the inside front cover of the textbook.

Geography Speaker Series: The Map in the Machine: Charting the Spatial Architecture of Digital Capitalism
2025-01-31 15:00 - 16:30 | Tillett Hall, 50 Joyce Kilmer Ave, Piscataway, 08854, United States
Digital technologies have changed how we shop, work, play, and communicate, reshaping our societies and economies. To understand digital capitalism, we need to grasp how advances in geospatial technologies underpin the construction, operation, and refinement of markets for digital goods and services. In this talk, based on his recent book, The Map in the Machine, Luis F. Alvarez León examines these advances, from MapQuest and Google Maps to the rise of IP geolocation, ridesharing, and a new Earth Observation satellite ecosystem. He develops a geographical theory of digital capitalism centered on the processes of location, valuation, and marketization to provide a new vantage point from which to better understand and intervene in the dominant techno-economic paradigm of our time. By centering the spatiality of digital capitalism, Alvarez León shows how this system is the product not of seemingly intangible information clouds but rather of a vast array of technologies, practices, and infrastructures deeply rooted in place, mediated by geography, and open to contestation and change.
References: Alvarez León, L. F. (2024). The map in the machine: Charting the spatial architecture of digital capitalism. University of California Press. https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520389328/the-map-in-the-machine
Luis Felipe Alvarez León is Associate Professor of Geography at Dartmouth College. In 2016, he completed his PhD in Geography at the University of California, Los Angeles, and was presented with the Best Dissertation Award by the AAG Economic Geography Specialty Group (EGSG). From 2016 to 2018, he was a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Sol Price Center for Social Innovation and in 2018 he was Visiting Assistant Professor of Urban and Economic Geography at Clark University. His work focuses on the political economy of geospatial data, media, and technologies. He is currently working on the geographies of autonomous vehicles, and the changing political economy of remote sensing. He is the author of The Map in the Machine: Charting the Spatial Architecture of Digital Capitalism (University of California Press, 2024).
Co-sponsored by Bloustein School’s Urban Planning and Masters of Public Informatics program and the School of Management and Labor Relations
Contact: Andrea Marston

Innovation vs. Imitation: Can AI Truly Create?
2025-02-05 08:30 - 10:00 | Microsoft, 885 2nd Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY 10017, 885 Second Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY, 10017, United States
Rutgers experts will lead a discussion on the challenges and potential of AI in the creatives industry. Please join us for alumni networking and a continental breakfast beginning at 8:30 a.m.
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
8:30–10:00 a.m.
Microsoft
885 Second Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10017
RSVP today. Space is limited.
Register
Speakers:
Atif Akin
Associate Professor, Art & Design
Interim Undergraduate Director
Mason Gross School of the Arts
Jim Samuel, PhD
Associate Professor of Practice
Executive Director, Master of Public Informatics
Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public PolicyGraciously hosted by Microsoft.
Special thanks to Simon Liepold EJB’05.

Spring 2025 Virtual Career Fair/Meet & Greet
2025-03-07 10:00 - 15:00 | Virtual
For Urban Planning, Public Informatics, and Public Policy graduate and undergraduate students.
Engage with Bloustein alumni and employer partners who are seeking interns or full time employees now or in the future. Learn more about their careers and organizations in which they represent. This is a terrific VIRTUAL networking opportunity.
RSVP NOW

People, Policy, Planning, Place and Product: Lessons from a City Planner
2025-03-11 16:00 - 17:00 | Bloustein School, Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
ANNUAL DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION AND BELONGING LECTURE
Presented by Christopher A. Watson, M.Sc., Ph.D.[c] Director of Planning and Development Services, Murphy Schiller & Wilkes LLP
Planning as a tool is ideally to organize the physical environment to effectuate the life course of residents, so that they can be triangled with the resources needed to live successful life courses. Often, whoever gets to make the decision as to how space is organize determines the outcome for those residents, enveloped in those planned areas. To better provide the support residents need to advance themselves, personal agency aside, planners must be able to be the best translators of residents’ voices within planning principles that forward an agenda that is inclusive of community voice. Without this key understanding in practice, space is disorganized, and the evolution of society is stymied by confusion.
This conversation will explore these themes and will allow us as planners to have an honest conversation as to what our mandates are, how we practice these mandates, and how we come together to organize space around who we are planning for. Planning for people should include their voices, and this lecture is to provoke a conversation as to how we get to this realization in our practices.

RESCHEDULED: Rutgers Climate and Energy Institute: Climate, Energy and AI Convergence Café
2025-04-03 10:00 - 14:00 | The Rutgers Club, 85 Avenue E, Piscataway, 08854, United States
This Convergence Café looks to bring together RCEI affiliate scholars and other full-time Rutgers faculty and staff to mobilize interdisciplinary teams focused on the intersection of AI/ML and the RCEI Focus Areas.
This event is for you if you are:
• Interested in learning how other Rutgers scholars incorporate AI/ML into their work.
• Searching for a collaborator to team with for research funding.
• Looking to increase your chances of success within highly competitive programs.
• In need of planning funds to get your project off the ground.

This Convergence Café will consist of plenary talks, lightning talks associated with common methodologythemes (data processing, pattern recognition, process optimization/automation, object detection/classification, projection/prediction models), and networking sessions centered on broad themes within the nexus of Climate, Energy and AI.

RSVP by March 30.

Please register again even if you previously signed up for the February event.

For more information, visit https://rcei.rutgers.edu/about/convergence-cafes/

REACH Poverty, Equity, and their Influencing Factors Symposium
2025-04-09 09:00 - 16:00 | Cook Campus Center, 59 Biel Road, New Brunswick, 08901
This symposium, hosted by REACH in partnership with our Employment Table, will bring together the Rutgers community, academic institutions, community partners, policymakers, and funders to discuss poverty and its interconnected social determinants — including education, employment, food access, housing, population health, and racial justice.
We are especially thrilled to feature Dr. Matthew Desmond as our keynote speaker. Dr. Desmond, author of Poverty, By America and founder of Princeton’s Eviction Lab, is a leading voice on housing insecurity and poverty. His groundbreaking research and extensive work have shaped national conversations on these critical issues, making his insights invaluable for those dedicated to social impact.
Locations:
New Brunswick: Cook Student Center (host site)
Camden: Camden Campus Center (livestream + in-person events*)
Newark: Paul Robeson Campus Center (livestream + in-person events*)
*In-person events in Camden and Newark will include livestreams from New Brunswick of all plenary sessions and select breakouts, as well as facilitated discussions, networking, breakfast and lunch, and an autographed copy of Dr. Desmond’s book, Poverty, By America.
Registration has ended for this event. For more information visit https://reach.rutgers.edu/events

RAISE-25 - Our Future With AI: Utopian or Dystopian?
2025-04-11 08:30 - 12:30 | Gov. James J. Florio Special Events Forum, CSB, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
Informatics – Data Science – AI Competition
Step into the future of innovation! RAISE-25 will challenge you to unravel the scope of AI’s impact on our lives and human society. RAISE-25, a novel Informatics – Advanced Data Science – Artificial Intelligence (AI) Competition, provides an opportunity to unleash your problem-solving prowess to tackle one of the most defining questions of our time: What will our AI-powered future look like? RAISE-25 invites all young geniuses to explore this time-sensitive and critical theme: Will AI shape our future into a utopian or dystopian reality?
Graduate and undergraduate students – Dive into real-world data and explore how AI is transforming education, reshaping careers, and redefining society as we know it. Whether you’re eager to showcase your skills or spark bold insights, this is your chance to lead the conversation on humanity’s AI-powered future. With total prizes of up to $17,000 to be WON, this is your chance to showcase your informatics, advanced data science, analytics, and AI-driven problem-solving brilliance!
RAISE-25 Student Informatics, Data Science, and AI Competition Overview

RAISE (Rethinking AI for Shared Empowerment), a virtual AI Lab, presents another challenge on human-AI interaction: RAISE-25!
The RAISE-25 competition is titled “Our Future with AI: Utopian or Dystopian?” and seeks to uncover key themes emerging from news headlines on the promises and challenges of AI in shaping our future in 3 key areas: education, jobs and careers, and societal change.
RAISE-25 is a great opportunity for talented students to showcase their informatics, advanced data science, analytics, and AI.
Hosted by Rutgers Bloustein School’s Master of Public Informatics (MPI) program
Join us on LinkedIn for more updates and insights

Registration
RAISE-25 registrations are now closed.
Please join our LinkedIn forum for all updates on RAISE-25, RAISE-26, research, job openings, other future events, etc. https://go.rutgers.edu/rutgersinfx
Important Dates

Team registration deadline: Closed
ONLINE submission deadline: February 16, 2025
Finalists announced: March 10, 2025
Finalists only – In-person finals at the Bloustein School, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ: April 11, 2025

Eligibility

Teams of 2-5 members can register for either the undergraduate or graduate track by signing up through the registration form. Teams must then reply to the RAISE-25 team’s subsequent confirmation email to formally join the competition
The competition is open to currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students from accredited US institutions
Participants must legally reside in the US for the entire duration of the competition

Prizes and Awards

First Prize (one per track): Up to $5,000 per team
Second Prize (up to two per track): Up to $1,750 per team

Review the RAISE-25 Terms and Conditions
Judging Criteria

Submissions will be evaluated based on overall excellence, creativity, breadth of analysis, depth of exploratory analytics, application of NLP and text informatics methods, LLM-based approaches, originality of the analytical approach, clarity, ethical considerations, and recommendations
Judges’ decisions are final and binding, with no provision for appeals or review

Competition Guidelines and Details*
The RAISE-25 competition invites participants to explore the theme “Our Future with AI: Utopian or Dystopian?” by analyzing and uncovering dominant themes in AI’s role in shaping our future. Participants will examine how AI influences education, jobs and careers, and society, from its utopian potential to empower and innovate to dystopian challenges and ethical dilemmas.

Analyze news headlines, generate insights, assess ethics, and make recommendations for shared empowerment.
Any/all of these could be addressed or used: Embedded topics and themes, Sentiment Analysis, emotion recognition, Abstractive and extractive summaries, Machine learning methods, rules-based and synthetic approaches, Use of Large Language Models and derivate tools, applications, and code modules, Use of exploratory methods for textual informatics, data visualization, Other AI methods.
Participants will be expected to use informatics, data science, analytics, and AI-based approaches to discover dominant and hidden themes from the dataset.
Participants may use exploratory analyses, data visualizations, statistics, computational linguistics, quantitative modeling, machine learning, or other analytical methods.
Each team is free to define its strategy – teams can also use LLMs and tools like Claude, Bard, or ChatGPT. However, the use of any AI tool/s MUST be explicitly declared along with a list of prompts submitted as an appendix. Any use of AI without explicit declaration of specific prompts is disallowed. References for all sources must be cited using APA 6 or higher.
Tools and languages allowed: Python – Colab or Jupyter Notebooks only, R – .R or .RMD only, Tableau, Excel, For any other tool – please confirm with the organizers
Shortlisted finalists will be provided with additional instructions and invited to attend (required) the final round of the competition to be held on April 11, 2025, at Rutgers University.

* Review the RAISE-25 Terms and Conditions
Information Sessions
Virtual information sessions will be hosted to provide information and guidance on the competition structure, materials, schedule, and expectations. All sessions will cover the same topics and will be followed by an open Q&A. All instructions will be provided in the documentation which will be shared with registered participants. However, due to the large number of participating student teams from all over the US, it is advisable to attend one of these sessions as it may be difficult to respond to all emails promptly with the required clarity. Please register and attend at least one of the sessions below.

Session 1: Jan 8, Wednesday – 12 PM EST
Session 2: Jan 24, Friday – 12 PM EST
Session 3: Feb 7, Friday – 12 PM EST

RSVP through this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/LMABOC9FS1K1g5AHfYilLQ
Note: Once registered, you can attend any of the sessions. Ignore the dates suggested by Zoom – add only the 3 dates mentioned in this email to your calendars.
About the Hosts
The Bloustein School’s Master of Public Informatics is a distinguished program for educating highly talented professional student cohorts in the competencies needed in public informatics, advanced data science, and analytics, which includes topics such as machine learning, global data analytics, artificial intelligence, textual analytics and natural language processing, statistics, programming, data management, GIS, visualization, spatial analysis, domain applications, and the application of these skills for domain-specific value creation. The MPI program at Rutgers provides excellent state-of-the-art research-driven project opportunities. Graduates of the MPI program will provide a deep understanding of advanced data science and analytics methods, context, and public benefit perspectives in this fast-growing and high-demand domain.
Interested in sponsorships? Contact our team: informatics@ejb.rutgers.edu
Contact Us
RAISE-25 Coordinator: Julia Esguerra
Graduate Teams Coordinator: Esha More
Undergraduate Teams Coordinator: Mansi Asher
Please use this email for all correspondence: informatics@ejb.rutgers.edu
RAISE-25 CHAIR: Prof. Jim Samuel
Code of Conduct
Participants must adhere to a strict code of ethical conduct, and agree to abide by all the rules and requirements of Bloustein, Rutgers, and the State of New Jersey.
Please review the RAISE-25 Terms and Conditions that apply to all participants.
Updates and Changes
Rutgers University and the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy reserve the right to modify the competition rules, schedule, or any other aspect of the competition. Registered participants will be notified of such changes via email.

Registration Form

RAISE-25 AI's Impact on Data Science & Informatics Careers
2025-04-11 13:30 - 14:30 | Gov. James J. Florio Special Events Forum, CSB, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
Join us for an exciting panel discussion exploring the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on data science and informatics careers and job search. Industry leaders and experts will share insights on how AI is reshaping job roles, what skills are in demand, and how professionals can stay ahead in this evolving landscape.
Panelists:
Cory Yemen, Poonam Soans, Balaji Dhamodharan, Udayan Bose, Karun Thankachan, Madhumitha Karthikeyan, Jim Samuel
Register: go.rutgers.edu/RAISE-25-panel

Bloustein Research Day 2025
2025-04-15 08:00 - 12:30 | Gov. James J. Florio Special Events Forum, CSB, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
It’s time to catch up on the wonderful research our faculty, staff, and student colleagues have performed over the past year. Bloustein School faculty and staff will present lightning talks followed by a poster session by graduate and undergraduate students.
This will be an in-person event. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
Register to attend by visiting: go.rutgers.edu/researchday25
Agenda:
8:00 – 9:00 am Continental Breakfast
9:00 – 10:15 am Lightning Talks
Faculty and staff will give 5-minute lightning talks about their research.
10:15 – 11:30 am Poster Session with Light Refreshments
Graduate and undergraduate students will present posters. A best poster award will be given.
LIGHTNING TALK PRESENTATIONS AND POSTER PRESENTERS/TOPICS
11:30 – 12:30 pm Keynote Address by Gregory Shill, JD, Professor of Law at the University of Iowa
Professor Shill will offer remarks on how applied and policy relevant research can influence transportation policymaking processes and the law. Dr. Shill’s keynote is sponsored by the New Jersey State Policy Lab.
Organizing Committee: Clint Andrews, Liz Cooner, Anita Franzione, David Listokin, Will Payne

Listening Session with Dean Stuart Shapiro
2025-05-01 16:30 - 17:30 | Bloustein School, Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
Bloustein School students are invited to an open forum with Bloustein School Dean Stuart Shapiro to hear your thoughts on challenges facing higher education in today’s national climate.

Bloustein School Convocation 2025
2025-05-19 10:00 - 12:00 | Jersey Mike’s Arena, 83 Rockefeller Road, Piscataway, NJ, United States
The formal Bloustein School Convocation ceremony will recognize each graduate individually with pomp and circumstance. Students will cross the stage and have their names read as they are recognized.
Important note: GRADUATE students with August 2024, October 2024, January 2025, May 2025 and August 2025 degree dates, and UNDERGRADUATE students with January 2025, May 2025, and August 2025 are invited to participate in the school convocation.
THIS IS A TICKETED EVENT. Visit our website for more information about the Bloustein School Convocation
This event will also be livestreamed. Join us on Facebook Live (no account needed) at https://go.rutgers.edu/ruejb2025. The stream will start at approximately 9:50 a.m. and the procession of graduates will begin at 10:00 a.m. Please be aware that some music, including Pomp & Circumstance, may be blocked due to copyright

Basic Quantitative Methods Placement Exam
2025-08-28 09:00 - 12:00 | Bloustein School, Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
To register: Email Shiyu Ma at sm2758 [at] scarletmail.rutgers.edu by 5pm on August 21, 2025.
This closed-book exam is similar to the final exam for the Basic Quantitative Methods course. The exam will cover all chapters of the book listed below. You will need a non-graphing calculator and pen or pencil.
To prepare: Joseph F. Healey. Statistics: A Tool for Social Research. Wadsworth Cengage Learning 10th edition (or subsequent editions) . Please be advised that you need an active Rutgers Box Account to view the above link.
Exam format:

multiple choice and short answer questions that test your understanding of concepts, and
computational problems and interpretation of statistical output from STATA. Familiarity with any statistical software package should be sufficient to interpret the output.

At exam time, you will receive statistical tables (appendices A, B, C, and D from the 10th edition of the textbook) as well as a formula sheet with the formulas from the inside front cover of the textbook.

Intelligent Informatics @ Bloustein: AI AGENTS to the Rescue!? An Overview of the Opportunities, Risks and Economics of Agentic AI
2025-09-15 18:00 - 19:15 | Virtual
Rutgers Informatics Forum on Agentic Artificial Intelligence
This webinar will host an eminent expert on agentic AI, and will also provide insights into the advanced data science, informatics and AI education, and preparation needed for informatics, DS and AI jobs and careers.
Justin Trugman is Cofounder and Head of Technology at BetterFutureLabs, a venture studio focused on Multi-Agent Systems and the future of work. He was VP of Software Development and an early engineer at Caregility, worked at Google X’s Project Loon, and co-founded BlinkCDN and the non-profit SecureMeeting.
Facilitator: Professor Jim Samuel, Ph.D., Bloustein School, Rutgers University
PROGRAM

6:00 PM – Welcome and opening comments.
6:05 PM – Agentic AI Overview, Justin Trugman, Cofounder, Head of Technology, BetterFutureLabs

6:55 PM – MPI Studio on AI Agents and Generative AI, Prof. Samuel, Bloustein, Rutgers

7:00 PM – Career Discussion and Q&A on Agentic AI

Hosted by the Master of Public Informatics (MPI) program at Rutgers University
Special Thanks to our Collaborators:
Public Informatics Student Group, Journal of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, New Jersey Big Data Alliance, and The Rutgers Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (RAD) Collaboratory
REGISTER AT go.rutgers.edu/informaticsF25
Questions? Email informatics@ejb.rutgers.edu. Join the Intelligent Informatics forum on LinkedIn https://go.rutgers.edu/rutgersinfx

2025 Rutgers Robotics Workshop
2025-10-10 08:30 - 17:30 | Bloustein School, Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
Please join us for the 5th annual Rutgers Robotics Workshop.
The workshop is held annually as part of the NSF National Research Traineeship SOCRATES (Socially Cognizant Robotics for a Technology-Enhanced Society) at Rutgers. It brings together faculty, students, and industry representatives and will feature both internal and external speakers, with a full day of invited talks, poster sessions, lightning talks, and demonstrations. Students will also present their robotics research during a dedicated poster session. A special alumni session will showcase lightning talks from graduates working across industries ranging from healthcare to venture capital. Several AI startups founded by Rutgers alumni will also be highlighted
The workshop is free. Registration is required at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rutgers-robotics-workshop-2025-tickets-1367545087169?aff=oddtdtcreator
Robotics Workshop Agenda:
8:30 – 9:00 Check – in 9:00 – 9:30 Introduction
9:30 – 10:30 Plenary Speaker, Dhruv Shah, Princeton University
10:30 – 10:45 Poster Spotlight Talks
10:45 – 11:45 Coffee break & Poster Session
11:45 – 12:30 SOCRATES Faculty Lightning Talks: Socially Cognizant Robotics in Action
Clinton Andrews, Kristin Dana, Kostas Bekris, Pernille Hemmer, Matthew Stone, Jacob Feldman
12:30 – 1:30 Networking Lunch
1:30 – 2:30 Industry/Alumni Lightning Talks: AI in industry
2:30 – 3:30 Student Talks (NRT fellows/trainees)
3:30 – 4:00 Keynote Speaker, Gabriela Oana Cula, Janssen Pharmaceutical
4:00 – 4:15 Walkover to Spring Street
4:15 – 5:00 Robot Demonstrations
5:00 – 5:30 Industry Consortium Discussion
For more information, visit https://robotics.rutgers.edu/#workshop

Careers: Planning, Policy, & Informatics Career Fair--In Person
2025-10-24 10:00 - 13:00 | Bloustein School, Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
For Urban Planning, Public Informatics, and Public Policy students. Engage with Bloustein alumni and employer partners who are seeking interns or full-time employees now or in the future. Learn more about their careers and the organizations in which they represent.
Registration coming soon!

Careers: Planning, Policy, & Informatics Career Fair--Virtual
2025-10-30 16:00 - 18:00 | Virtual

New Jersey Big Data Alliance Research Collaboration Forum
2025-11-07 08:30 - 14:30 | Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine Proteomics Building, 174 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, 08854
This event includes participation from leading Universities and educational institutions in NJ, and government and industry.
We’re thrilled to announce our keynote speakers:

Welcome: Professor Stephen K. Burley, President, NJBDA
Morning Keynote: Professor Dimitris Metaxas, Rutgers University
Final Keynote: Aaron Price, CEO, TechUnited

The theme for this Forum is Advancing AI Research, and this is a great opportunity to:

Present your latest or upcoming research through Lightning Talks – Signup Now!*
Lead a Research Round Table during the AI & Data Science Lunch – Signup Now!*
Connect and collaborate with peers across academia and industry
Learn about new grants and funding opportunities
Publish your research with JBDAI Journal: https://jbdai.org/

LEARN MORE: go.rutgers.edu/njbda
Please note that priority registration closes on October 14, 2025 – and seats are limited!
* Selected lightning talks (5 minutes each) and lunch table hosts will be informed via email by around 10/21/25. Presentation slides will be due by 10/31/2025.

HOSTS:

Professor Stephen K. Burley, President @ NJBDA; Interim Director, Rutgers Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (RAD) Collaboratory
Professor Jim Samuel, Vice-President – Research @ NJBDA; Director, Master of Public Informatics, Bloustein School, Rutgers University

In Collaboration with:
Rutgers Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (RAD) Collaboratory & Public Informatics @ Bloustein School, Rutgers University
https://radcollaboratory.rutgers.edu/
https://informatics.rutgers.edu/

Civic Engagement in an Era of Artificial Intelligence
2025-12-02 16:00 - 17:30 | Virtual
Renée Sieber is an associate professor at McGill University. Since she graduated from the Bloustein School, she has investigated the intersection of civic empowerment and computational technologies. She is best known for her research and practice on public participation geographic information systems and also has conducted research on participatory climate modeling. She currently researches civic engagement related to artificial intelligence. She co-hosts the monthly Al in Canadian Municipalities Community of Practice, now in its sixth year, where cities exchange best practices on Al use. She has collaborated
with numerous federal agencies and organizations in Canada on Al policy. She has advised on the design of two Al risk assessment tools and served on the IEEE working group on Al procurement. She sits on the executive boards of GIScience and Computational Urban Planning and Urban Management.
Artificial intelligence is sold as a miraculous cure to many of the ills of cities, one of which is a lack of civic (local) engagement. Al can summarize and translate civic participation and even synthesize participants if desired. Add to that, cities may be reluctant to engage citizens on Al-its deployment, impacts, and overall policy-because engagement supposedly slows Al adoption and because the tech contains all these contradictions. It’s opaque and can only be understood by data scientists. But it seems effortless to use, with chatbots and software libraries. Humans can and should be in the loop but autonomous agents will save cities time and money. On top of all of that, Al, especially generative Al, exerts an enormous impact on people’s lives so citizens should be involved. But governments exist in a FOMO (fear of missing out) world, where they feel the need to optimize with Al, less they miss their competitive advantage. This lecture will discuss these challenges and explore numerous ways that citizens can engage with cities on Al. It will also cover the dark side of Al with regard to civic engagement.
This talk draws on Dr. Sieber’s research at the intersection of tech and civic engagement. This interest developed in her dissertation with PhD supervisor Lyna Wiggins, who emphasized local adoption by planners of GIS, which at the time was hard! Throughout her career, she has been driven to investigate the potential for civic engagement using hard tech, especially as the discourse moves towards tech as the engine of innovation, for example in smart cities. In this she will draw on her six years co-hosting Al in Canadian Municipalities Community of Practice as well as 20+ years researching public participation GIS.
RSVP AT go.rutgers.edu/meck2025
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The Stuart Meck Distinguished Speaker Series on Land Use Law and Affordable Housing was established in 2018 by the family of the late Stuart Meck, Associate Research Professor and director of the Center for Planning Practice at the Bloustein School, and a professional planner for more than 45 years. The series highlights experts and practitioners of planning and policy development, offering diverse insight into topics under public and academic debate. This year’s lecture is dedicated to the memory of Lyna L. Wiggins, a longtime professor and program director in Rutgers’ urban planning program who retired in 2019 and passed away in November 2024. A pioneer in Geographic Information Sciences (GIS), Lyna taught its intricacies to generations of students at the Bloustein School. Most currently practicing planners in New Jersey took one of her courses. All are invited to join us in honoring her memory.
