Qiusheng Wu, assistant professor of geography and sustainability at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, was appointed an Amazon Visiting Academic working for Amazon Web Services’ Deep Learning organization. The program allows academics to conduct research while teaching and leading at universities.
Wu’s work with Amazon focuses on solving large-scale high-impact technical challenges related to geospatial data science, machine learning and mapping.
“I look forward to the opportunity to be actively engaged in building connections more broadly with different organizations within Amazon that can bring value and insight back to the university and the state,” Wu said. “The opportunity will ignite collaborations and open up doors for our students to engage with Amazon as well through internships and employment opportunities.”
Wu has developed and published many online open-source information packages and educational materials that are frequently used by geospatial researchers. His GitHub, which has several thousand followers, contains all his open-source research projects. Wu has produced and uploaded hundreds of videos on his YouTube channel, which has more than 17,000 subscribers and half a million total views.
“We are proud that Qiusheng’s scholarship is among the most richly rewarded at the university,” said Nicholas Nagle, professor and head of the Department of Geography and Sustainability in UT’s College of Arts and Sciences.
Amazon’s Visiting Academics program allows academics to research extensive topics and issues at world-class research institutions. To qualify, applicants must have a doctoral degree and at least five years of postdoctoral research experience. They must also be serving as a university professor, consistently apply knowledge from other disciplines, and have notable research and technical leadership skills.
Wu began his service as an Amazon Visiting Academic Oct. 17.
–Story by Jessica Foshee