Project Slimme Water Waker (SWW) in cooperation with Seita B.V.

Background
Sustainable use of drinking water is essential to society. Water resources are under increasing pressure from growing demand and climate change. Dutch water utilities are looking to raise awareness and to find potential ways of saving drinking water. By rolling out decentralised sensors (smart meters), they aim to be able to track patterns in consumption data of drinking water to discover unusual events such as leaks. Unlocking this valuable information is a slow and labour-intensive process, whereas an early-warning system would require real-time automated and predictive analytics.

Task description
This project is exploring an innovative decision support system that combines automated analytics, predictive analytics and user feedback. We want to enrich an existing monitoring platform with the ability to provide labelled history reports and alerts to business with smart water meters. The aim of this project is to help consumers of drinking water to identify problems, such as leaks and inefficient consumption, to save water. The project is a collaboration with the CWI spin-off Seita B.V. in Amsterdam.

The internship investigates data-driven recognition of unusual patterns, and might be applicable as content for a Master’s thesis. The intern will closely collaborate with members of the research group and Seita.

The internship will work towards a machine learning model that detects and classifies unusual patterns in time series data. The work combines both unsupervised and supervised machine learning techniques that should be implemented in Python and tested in simulation.

The candidate’s work will provide input to a toolbox that supports real-time automated and predictive analytis in a purely data-driven fashion. In particular, the toolbox should label unusual patterns and be able to process user feedback on the validity of those labels. To this end, the intern will actively consult with Seita to gather necessary input for simulation scenarios.

The research will contribute to the research group's ambition to valorize fundamental principles that find applications in practical intelligent systems. The project is embedded in a research group with experience and ongoing complementary projects on topics such as multi-agent learning, anytime online planning and control, smart energy systems, etc., and successful applicants will join a diverse team of motivated junior and senior researchers. Group’s alumni have moved on to excellent positions in academia and industry, making it a cornerstone in their career path.

Applicants are required to be currently enrolled as Master’s students in hydroinformatics, data science, computer science, artificial intelligence, mathematics or in comparable areas. Candidates should have a clear interest in applied research in collaboration with a startup, should be creative and independent in their work, should have interest in the application area, and should be able to cooperate with experts from different disciplines. Candidates are expected to have an excellent command of English, and experience in academic writing and presentation. Candidates should hold an ID of a country that belongs to the European Economic Area.

Fixed-term contract: 6 months.

Traineeships are supported with the standard compensation to which organisations within NWO-I are bound, covering € 400 per month plus commuting expenses, subject to several conditions like on average 8 on your list of marks (on a scale 1-10). In case of extraordinary costs for the candidate (such as travel costs), additional funds may be available. The internship agreement will be for a period of up to 6 months, with parttime arrangements at CWI and Seita. The starting date can be flexibly negotiated from asap to the end of June.

Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI)

Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) is the Dutch national research institute for mathematics and computer science and is part of the Institutes Organisation of NWO. The mission of CWI is to conduct pioneering research in mathematics and computer science, generating new knowledge in these fields and conveying it to trade, industry, and society at large.

CWI is an internationally oriented institute, with 160 scientists from approximately 27 countries. The facilities are first-rate and include excellent IT support, career planning, training, and courses. CWI is located at Science Park Amsterdam that is presently developing into a major location of research in the natural sciences in The Netherlands, housing the sciences of the University of Amsterdam and of the Vrije Universiteit as well as several other national research institutes next to CWI.

Research group “Intelligent and Autonomous Systems (IAS)”

Research group “Intelligent and Autonomous Systems (IAS)”

About Seita
Seita B.V. is the 24th spin-off company of CWI, creating digital automation and intelligence for sustainability projects such as in the area of energy, water and migration. In the area of water, Seita is developing new mechanisms to boost sustainable water consumption. Seita supports assessments and applications with sound scientific analyses based on top-level mathematics and computer science.