A team of students from the Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS) program at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business won the first prize award of $2,500 at the American Public Health Association’s 2015 Codeathon in Chicago.
This year’s competition was focused on improving the average life expectancy rate in the U.S. The U.S. spends more on health care than any other country in the world, yet its overall ranking for life expectancy is only 34th. Codeathon participants were challenged to create an application, program or other electronic tool that (1) could be used by public health workers to improve patients’ life expectancy, (2) could be used by everyday individuals to improve their personal life expectancy, or (3) could be used by policymakers to make community improvements.
Sponsored by Smith's Center for Health Information and Decision Systems (CHIDS), winning team members included Udit Gupta, Sagar Maniar, Nikita Padhye, and Keyur Shah, from MSIS, along with Deok Gun Park (PhD candidate in computer science), and Junaed Siddiqui (PhD candidate in behavioral and community health). They developed a mobile application for the general public which consisted of an intuitive survey to predict the users’ predicted life expectancy. Users could view their unique lifestyle choices that were unhealthy and the corresponding number of years of life they were predicted to lose by continuing that lifestyle choice. The model behind this tool utilized the latest epidemiology and public health research. In addition to the public user application, the team developed the ability for public health professionals to create a text messaging campaign associated with the application, and a web platform which provided analytics for campaigns and collected data from public websites to help policy makers make decision based on granular data.
Learn more about Smith's Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS) program: http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/ms/infosys
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About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.