Computer Science Project Featured in New Scientist Magazine

Wesleyan’s Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software project (HFOSS) was featured in New Scientist magazine Oct. 3.

In June, students from Wesleyan and Trinity College in teamed up with representatives from municipal and volunteer agencies including the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army and Catholic Charities USA to design a virtual emergency response center named Collabbit. The system could be used by relief agencies to coordinate their aid efforts in the aftermath of a disaster when speed is crucial.

Collabbit is the handiwork of HFOSS. It acts as central repository for information, sending out project updates to workers via RSS or text message.

Computer science majors Eli Fox-Epstein ’11, Sam DeFabbia-Kane ’11 and Qianqian Lin ’11 were involved in the development. Danny Krizanc, professor of computer science and Norman Danner, associate professor of computer science, are the project’s advisors.