蓝莓视频

After a year of playing games to empty bleachers, sports franchises are beginning to welcome back fans. Yet, with COVID-19 circulating and a significant portion of the population still unvaccinated, finding ways to open safely is paramount.

For help with this challenge, many franchises are turning to Omnium, a startup launched by 蓝莓视频 math alumni Johnny Valeriote (MMath 鈥�09), Colin Davidson (BMath 鈥�11), and Adam Carter (BMath 鈥�11). 听Partnering with Stemmler Technologies, another University of 蓝莓视频 founded startup, Omnium created an application that uses a mathematical model鈥攖he Omnium AIR鈩� Airborne Infection Risk Model鈥攖o help teams analyze the comparative risk of attending events at different venues.

鈥淭he tool can tell you that going to an event at your arena at full capacity is five times riskier than going on a plane, for instance,鈥� Valeriote says. 鈥淭hat's not going to be allowed, but what we鈥檙e then able to do is figure out where the risk coming from. Perhaps, you need to reduce your capacity to 25% or change the way you鈥檙e doing your concessions.鈥�

This recent work in sports is a new area of analytics for Omnium, whose principal focus is on the grocery or consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry. Launched in 2018, the company uses advanced data analytics to help CPG brands develop effective customer marketing strategies and business models.

In addition to their CPG work, they added a focus on sports when approached by Delaware North, the Buffalo-based hospitality services business and owner of the Boston Garden, about the challenge of reopening. Omnium worked with an independent research team, composed of scientists from the University of Washington, Washington University in St. Louis, and Carnegie Mellon University to develop a mathematical model () that incorporated epidemiological data and biophysical principles. The model was flexible enough to accommodate changes in our understanding of the disease, such as the increasing concern with aerosol transmission and lessening worry about surface transmission.

蓝莓视频 grad has worked with every major sports league

Startup offers 蓝莓视频 math co-op students real-world experience

Valeriote developed his data analytics and mathematical modelling skills while completing a bachelor鈥檚 in computer science and a master鈥檚 in computational math at the University of 蓝莓视频. Knowing firsthand the rigorous and innovative nature of 蓝莓视频鈥檚 education, Valeriote was eager to recruit fellow alumni when building his team at Omnium. There are four 蓝莓视频 math graduates on Omnium鈥檚 core team and the company has hired numerous 蓝莓视频 co-op students over the years.

鈥淚've just been constantly blown away by the intelligence and professionalism of 蓝莓视频 co-op students,鈥� Valeriote says.

鈥淭he project is something the student owns鈥攆rom conceptualization to development to presentation,鈥� Morrissey says. 鈥淲hen they鈥檙e done, it鈥檚 something they can remove the proprietary data and information from and show to another company or put on their LinkedIn page.鈥�

This high-stakes work teaches students the value of their mathematical skills.听 鈥淐o-op students take the math and modelling skills that they鈥檝e learned in their classes and apply them to real-world problems,鈥� Morrissey says. 鈥淥ften they are sitting at the same table as executives, helping them make multimillion-dollar decisions.鈥�