PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
CONTACT: David Kratzer • dhkratzer@gmail.com • 505 412-2558
July 25, 2023
SAM (Stress Anxiety Monitor) from the Next Generation of Behavioral and Computer Scientists
Two high schools girls, Gabriella Armijo and Emlee Taylor-Bowlin, from Monte Del Sol Charter School in Santa Fe, participants in the 22-23 Supercomputing Challenge, state these thoughts and ask the following questions:
“We have all lost someone prematurely due to a tragic suicide. It often leaves us with a feeling of dread and many what-ifs. What if I saw the signs, what if I had stopped them, what if I had texted them that night? This isn't a burden you should have to bear. Imagine a simple program that could read some text snippets and alert you if you or a friend needed to reach out to a professional.”
These are snippets from their final report. With our teacher sponsor, Rhonda Crespo, STEM Department Chair, and our mentor, Mark Galassi, a research scientist, we used machine learning to create an AI named SAM that can go through social media posts and text messages looking for trigger words that may indicate that a person may be showing signs of high stress that may lead to suicide. We hope SAM will lead to early detection and prevention of suicide. Our hope is that SAM can be applied to help notice warning signs early on in things as simple as a text message and to assist friends and professionals to intervene before suicide occurs.
The Supercomputing Challenge is New Mexico's oldest Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics program and has been guiding students to tackle complex problems using computers. The young women used critical thinking, coding, communication, and collaboration to complete this project. Research, technical writing, and meeting deadlines are now in their college and career toolboxes.
Learn how they:
- Obtained and Prepared Data
- Introduced Random Forest Models
- Implemented a Random Forest Classifier
- Utilized an Intensity Score Method
- Used the Bag of Words Method
by reading their final report or watching a YouTube video explaining their project.
For more information on mentoring or participating in the Supercomputing Challenge, please contact the management team at consult@supercomputingchallenge.org.