Seminar_20240528

Safe Blues: Emulation of epidemics via Bluetooth-based virtual safe virus spread

28/05/24 | 1:00pm | Business School (MHL 452）

Dr. Azam Asanjarani, Associate Professor

University of Auckland

Abstract: We describe the Safe Blues Android app experiment at the University of Auckland City Campus. This experiment is designed to evaluate how physical interactions over time and between individuals affect the spread of epidemics. Our experiment involves the voluntary use of the Safe Blues Android app by participants. The app spreads multiple virtual safe virus strands via Bluetooth depending on the social and physical proximity of the subjects. The evolution of the virtual epidemics is recorded as they spread through the population. The data is presented as a real-time (and historical) dashboard. A simulation model is applied to calibrate strand parameters. Participants’ locations are not recorded, but participants are rewarded based on the duration of participation within a geofenced area, and aggregate participation numbers serve as part of the data.

Bio: Azam Asanjarani is a senior lecturer in the Department of Statistics at the University of Auckland. She hold a PhD. In Mathematics ( Differential Geometry) from Amirkabir University of Technology  under the supervision of Prof Behroz Bidabad and Prof Zhongmin Shen. Being enthusiastic about the applications of Mathematics, she decided to pursue a second PhD at The University of Queensland, Australia, a completed my second PhD in Applied Mathematics and Statistics under the supervision of A/Prof Yoni Nazarathy and Prof Benoit Liquet in 2018.

Event Time and Venue: May 28th, 2024, 1:00pm, Business School (MHL 452)

Zoom Access: Click here