UW-Madison
This is an EXPIRED job listing. Do not apply for this position!
Description: Undergrad position* – part of a National Science Foundation REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) grant
*Students must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its possessions.
The work is for a research project in semantic technology and geospatial data.
This Semantic Web project is to convert geospatial shapefiles to RDF, store them in a repository, and develop examples of queries that relate the data to other data in the repository as well as to external RDF data. In addition, a small, basic GeoSPARQL tutorial needs to be written. All the software already exists, including the conversion method, the repository, and the query language. But, shapefiles need to be in WGS84, so conversion might be needed using GIS software.
Skill set: Be able to decipher and run software and have knowledge of a query language.
This job could be done by a Geography/GIS student who is familiar with shapefiles, knows how to use GIS software to convert coordinate systems, and knows basics of spatial-type querying. Such a person would then possibly have to learn how to use other nonspatial software and also the basics of querying in general (as for relational DBMSs, but here for RDF).
Alternatively, this job could be done by a Computer Science student who would learn about shapefiles and spatial queries and who would help negotiate with someone to convert needed files to WGS84. Having had CS 564 (Databases) would be a benefit for basic understanding of querying to help in learning SPARQL and GeoSPARQL. SPARQL is the RDF query language, and GeoSPARQL adds spatial functions.
The work can be done remotely. Various other helping-type tasks are also needed, such as updating Wiki content, etc.
The National Science Foundation encourages hiring students with economic hardship as well as minority students, women, and those with disabilities.
Freshmen and sophomores are considered for REU positions. The intent of REU projects is for undergraduates to learn basic research skills and also encourage majoring in science and technology.
Please send an email of interest that includes coursework and other experience relevant to either Computer Science or GIS/spatial data to:
Nancy Wiegand
Space Science and Engineering
1225 W. Dayton Street
wiegand@cs.wisc.edu