Research Team Led by Samet Using Big Data Analytics to Improve Transportation

Hanan Samet (left in photo), a Distinguished University Professor of computer science with an appointment in UMIACS, along with Shangfu Peng (right), a fifth-year computer science doctoral student, are applying big data analytics to improve the way that travel distances are calculated for America’s roadways.

Their work was recently highlighted in an article on the big data news website Datanami.

According to the article, traditional approaches to calculating the true travel distance between two points faces considerable challenges, both with accuracy and scalability.

Samet and Peng, in collaboration with University of Maryland alumnus Jagan Sankaranarayanan, think they have found a solution with new software they have developed called Distance Oracle.

The researchers have devised a groundbreaking method to “pre-compute” distances between two points in an intelligent manner, storing the results in an SQL table, and then figuring out how to serve the distance values very quickly.

To read the full article, go here.