This post originally appeared on the Northeastern University Department of Economics.
A Northeastern University research team led by Alicia Sasser Modestino, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and Economics, has been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation in the amount of $199,651.
The project is, Understanding Future Shifts in Technology Adoption in the Seafood Industry in Response to the COVID19 Pandemic. The team is comprised of Alicia Sasser Modestino, Kemi Jona (Assistant Vice Chancellor, Digital Learning), and Taskin Padir (Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering).
As supply chains continue to face disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ability of the U.S. to provide safe, fast, and domestically sourced food—including seafood—has become of paramount importance.
Seafood processing still relies primarily on humans working in close proximity to one another in plants that are known for dirty, cold, and dangerous conditions. The ephemeral data collected by the research team during this period of unprecedented economic disruption will be provide new knowledge regarding the future of work in seafood processing plants, including the demand for, and feasibility of, adopting human-collaborative autonomous systems to process and package food more safely and efficiently at all stages of production.
