Improving Disaster-Relief Efforts with AWS

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s largest cloud computing platform with more than 100 digital offerings for databases, infrastructure management, and security. The possible applications for AWS are so deep and broad that entire courses are offered just to scratch the surface of how it can help a business grow.

Students in Northwestern Engineering’s Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence (MSAI) program were given a behind-the-scenes tour of some of AWS' capabilities before taking part in a five-hour hackathon to apply what they learned to a real-world situation.

"One of the most valuable experiences a student can have is understanding how their work is going to play out in the marketplace,” MSAI director Kristian Hammond said. “Given the extent of utilization of AWS, having them go through a process of working up and down the entire AI stack is incredibly useful and will prepare them for the future."

The goal of the hackathon was to use machine learning and AWS to assist with disaster relief efforts. Students were expected to focus on a challenge presented by natural disasters and provide a solution aligned with at least one of the phases of the disaster life cycle — mitigation, preparedness, response, or recovery.

In addition to the AWS training, students had access to Amazon's SageMaker Studio Lab, which manages compute, storage, and security capabilities without the complexity of enterprise features. 

The event coincided with a larger hackathon organized by AWS around the same topic.

“We expected the students to naturally hit some obstacles during the very short five hours they had to pull their project off,” said Mohammed Alam, deputy director of the MSAI program. “Amazon SageMaker Studio Lab's ease of use impressed our students and enabled them to exceed our expectations. They completed all the projects and also gave very good presentations, showcasing fascinating solutions to important real-world problems." 

Emily Webber, a principal machine learning specialist with AWS who helped run the hackathon, agreed.

“They just nailed it; it was wonderful to see,” she said. "Listening to the questions they had, the ambitions they had, and the problems they wanted to solve was inspiring. It’s a pleasure to help them run after what the students see as the most important problems.”

One of the primary goals for the MSAI program is to train students to have strong technical skills that allow them to create and manage artificial intelligence systems, while at the same time making sure they understand the business environment and determine how best to deploy and run those systems. 

Events like the AWS hackathon allow students to do that. 

“Small and large companies alike often don't know how to leverage AWS and similar platforms,” Alam said. “I believe the knowledge our students gained from the hackathon will help them to stand out among their peers as data scientists. When they're part of a team that is scratching their heads about how to move forward with AWS, our students can step up and say, ‘I got this.’”