Winning Team Selected for Inaugural Radiance Technologies Innovation Bowl

SHREVEPORT, La. (May 10, 2023) – The inaugural Radiance Technologies Innovation Bowl is in the books, as groups presented their final projects to Radiance Technologies representatives in Huntsville, Ala. in April.  

Competing against two other finalists – one team from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and one from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), Team BHAM_CS from UAB with student lead Saugat Adhikari and faculty lead Da Yan took home the $25,000 grand prize for their first-place finish. Their submission, “Automating Flood Extent Mapping on Earth Imagery Using Elevation-Guided AI Technology,” was the winning project.

Team BHAM_CS examined the problem of automating the mapping of the extent of flooding on earth imagery using Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. Their approach rapidly and efficiently used satellite imagery of disaster areas and 3-D elevation mapping to determine the extent of flooding. They would segment the map and apply their AI approach to the separate segments to determine the susceptibility to flooding for the different segments of the image. This alleviates the problem of relying on elevation alone as the key to predicting flooding. They then refined the image using a graphical model with a hidden Markov tree. The result is an accurate prediction of the extent of flooding, which disaster management organizations can use to help guide their response. 

Original 2022-23 Innovation Bowl Challenge

The 2022-23 Innovation Bowl topic was “How can GEOSPATIAL Intelligence data be used to monitor, assess, and predict the impact of climate change?” Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) is the information obtained for a particular geographical location by exploiting imagery and geospatial data. GEOINT uses overhead imagery from various Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) sensors (images) combined with imagery analysis (determining what is in the image) and other geospatial data (characteristic reference information for the location, e.g., elevation, road and utility networks, vegetation, population, geodetic data, etc.). This combination provides situational awareness of what is occurring or changing at a particular location. In this regard, GEOINT can monitor the effects of climate change. For instance, it would be possible to monitor the amount of precipitation within a region and correlate that with water usage to predict potential shortages, which may lead to major population disruptions and potential conflicts. This effort seeks innovative ways to employ GEOINT capabilities to monitor climate change.

It seeks not only to identify the effects of climate change but to correlate these events with activities and patterns to predict areas and regions of concern. Innovative ideas are expected to be supported with examples, simulations or other means to validate the approach and identify the types of data sources used and accessed.

Innovation Bowl Defined

The Radiance Technologies Innovation Bowl is an academic competition between schools and conferences affiliated with the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl – the American Athletic Conference, Army West Point, Brigham Young University, Conference USA and the Pac-12 Conference. Schools will compete for a $25,000 grand prize by developing innovative approaches to a current research and development topic selected by Radiance Technologies. 

Evaluation of submissions is a two-step process where teams submit their ideas and approaches to Radiance Technologies before the end of the fall term. Scientists and researchers within Radiance Technologies picked three finalists, announced at the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. These teams then further developed their ideas in the spring semester through prototypes, models and simulation or experimentation and presented their findings in person to a panel of experts. Team BHAM_CS was selected and awarded the $25,000 grand prize from these live presentations.

ABOUT THE RADIANCE TECHNOLOGIES INDEPENDENCE BOWL™

Established in 1976, the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl™ is college football’s 11th most-historic bowl game – celebrating its 47th edition in 2023. The Houston Cougars defeated the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns 23-16 in the 46th playing of the bowl in 2022. The Independence Bowl Foundation announced a one-year extension with Radiance Technologies – ensuring they will be the title sponsor through 2025. The bowl’s conference, team, and television agreements also run through the 2025 season. Army West Point and BYU are slated to match up against a rotation of the Pac-12 Conference, American Athletic Conference and Conference USA, which will be televised on an ESPN network.

The Independence Bowl Foundation is prevalent in the Shreveport-Bossier City area throughout the year, hosting events to help enhance the economic impact and growth of our community. The Mission of the Independence Bowl is to attract and provide quality, nationally recognized football competition oriented to the Ark-La-Tex region. For more information, visit RadianceTechnologiesIndependenceBowl.com or follow the bowl on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @IndyBowl.