Big Data Helps Pennsylvania Prisons Assign Prisoners

A project was conducted with Industrial and Systems Engineers at Lehigh University and the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. They were tasked with assigning inmates to various prison facilities.

Professor Tamás Terlaky and two of his former students, Dr. Mohammad Shahabsafa and Anshul Sharma, talk with Michael Hughes about how considering all inmate needs upfront reduces violence in the system, speeds up inmate treatment and counseling, trims transportation costs and pares down the manpower needed to make assignments – which could save the corrections department nearly $20 million in five years.

Listen to the interview at https://podcast.iise.org/episodes/big-data-for-the-big-house-with-tamas-terlaky-dr-mohammad-shahabsafa-and-anshul-sharma