Dipl.-Ing. Laura Christine Lotteraner

Bringing together Data Science and the Environmental Sciences.

I am working as a predoctoral research assistant at the Research Platform The Challenges of Urban Futures at the University of Vienna. My doctoral research is carried out at the intersection of data science and environmental sciences, ranging from visualization in groundwater modelling to statistical analysis of pharmaceutical pollution data. My main research interest is explaining human influence on our environment using data that is available from a variety of sources.

Data Storage and Management System

Coordinated and led development of the internal data storage and management system for training data for various deep learning applications.

Deep Learning Versatile Platform

Coordinated development and internal sales of the Deep Learning Versatile Platform (DLVP) video-based traffic monitoring system.

Urban Futures Platform

Still, outside the framework of a design study, our study was very informative and raised several interesting questions to be answered in future research.

This design study presents an analysis and abstraction of temporal and spatial data, and workflows in the domain of hydrogeology and the design and development of an interactive visualization prototype. Developed in close collaboration with a group of hydrogeological researchers, the interface supports them in data exploration, selection of data for their numerical model calibration, and communication of findings to their industry partners. We highlight both pitfalls and learnings of the iterative design and validation process and explore the role of rapid prototyping. Some of the main lessons were that the ability to see their own data changed the engagement of skeptical users dramatically and that interactive rapid prototyping tools are thus powerful to unlock the advantage of visual analysis for novice users. Further, we observed that the process itself helped the domain scientists understand the potential and challenges of their data more than the final interface prototype.

From Idea to Prototype in 3 Days.

With our idea “Verkehr findet Stadt” my team won second place in the Vienna ClimateChallenge Hackathon by the University of Vienna. We got the chance to present it at the Vienna Digital Days 2023 and discuss the project with the City of Vienna.