Empowering Those Who Seek to End Hunger through Collaboration and Innovation
RECORDED ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2021
Presented by Ganhua Lu, teacher, Milwaukee Marshall High School and Marquette University graduate student; Jeff Joslyn, director of Food Resources, Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin; Moderated by Dr. Walter Bialkowski, Grad ’18, assistant professor of computer science in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences
A dramatic spike in unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic has exaggerated underlying disparities in the community, forcing many additional families to rely on the public service provided by Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin (FAEW). These unprecedented challenges also magnified the need for FAEW to segment food distribution networks based on local needs and to optimize its distribution practices.
Using data-driven innovation, Dr. Walter Bialkowski, Grad ’18, assistant professor of computer science in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences and his team, are developing and implementing data science solutions that support food distribution across counties in FAEW’s service regions. Join us to learn how their findings will support efforts for those in need to receive healthy and nutritious food during these challenging times.
This project was a winner of the 2020 President's Challenge, which provided funding for innovative, interdisciplinary, collaborative work addressing needs in Milwaukee’s community that have been created or magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic and representing critical areas in the community’s recovery efforts.
More about this session
Ganhua Lu is currently a part-time graduate student in the Data Science Certificate Program at Marquette University and a full-time mathematics teacher at Milwaukee Marshall High School. He received a Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2007. He worked as an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alaska Anchorage from 2013 to 2016. He was the dhief science officer at NanoAffix Science from 2016 to 2020 and helped the company obtain over $1.5M research funding from federal and state agencies as the principal investigator.
Jeff Joslyn is the Director of Food Resources at Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin. He earned a professional certificate in Professional Cookery from Kendall College and a Bachelor's Degree in English from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. In his current role, Jeff oversees food procurement teams that serve 35 counties in Eastern Wisconsin. He collaborates on external grants and innovative solutions to fresh product procurement. He is also the state-wide project manager for procurement and logistics, infrastructure upgrades, and movement logistics. Jeff brings deep expertise to the challenge of optimizing food resources.
Walt Bialkowski, Grad '18, received his undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh, his master's in comparative pathobiology from Purdue University, and his doctorate in translational research at Marquette University. He is a clinical epidemiologist with expertise linking and analyzing non-interoperable medical record systems, and designing clinical trials and observational studies to improve human health. He seeks ways to creatively transform fundamental knowledge by leading interdisciplinary teams that coalesce around a shared goal. He is one of the Principal Investigators of this year's President's Challenge for COVID-19 Response through a partnership with Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin.