USPS Publication Number 16300
T h i s C om mu n it y Ne w s p a p e r i s a p u bl i c a t ion of E s c a m b i a-S a nt a Ro s a B a r A s s o c i a t ion
Se r v i ng t he Fi r st Jud icia l Ci rcu it Section A, Page 1
Vol. 21, No. 13
V isit T he S ummation W eekly O nline : SummationWeekly.com
March 31, 2021
1 Section, 8 Pages
UWF TAKING THE LEAD IN AI TECHNOLOGY
In February, graduate computer science students Tobias Jacob, Raffaele Galliera and Muddasar Ali placed third in the prestigious AI Tracks at Sea Challenge. The students won $35,000 for the department. by Gina Castro | photos courtesy of UWF As companies search for ways to power customer engagement and consumers continue to gravitate toward personalized services, Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology increasingly dominates industries. In 2015, only 10 percent of organizations reported using AI technology. By 2019, the number of businesses utilizing AI technology grew by 270 percent. Fortune Business Insights estimates the global AI market will reach $267 billion by 2027. This growth in AI, in turn, has made knowledge and research in AI and machine learning essential. The University of West Florida partnered with the Institute of Human and Machine Cognition to offer a Ph.D. program in Intelligent Systems and Robotics, which is the first and only program in Florida. The program, which is one of few in the nation, launched fall 2019 and focuses on developing technologies that combine human and machine elements. The Inaugural Program Director Dr. Brent Venable explained some topics students are working on. Some students in the robotics side are involved in developing exoskeletons to be more adaptive and flexible. Other students in the program are enhancing intelligence systems ability to filter out and recognize important information. “Our students are immediately integrated in research projects. They have a somewhat lighter course load,” Dr. Venable said. “Most of the courses are personalized and designed to fit well with their research topic and to support the development of their research.” UWF’s Department of Computer Science also studies AI. The undergraduate program offers a track in intelligence systems where students can take a course in AI and big
data analytics. The department also offers a master’s degree in computer science and cybersecurity. The master’s in computer science program allows students to customize a specialization in a topic such as AI machine learning. “AI is a hot topic nowadays. There is a lot of interest from the industry. The people who have skills in AI, machine learning or image processing definitely provide an edge,” Dr. Thomas Reichherzer, chair of the Department of Computer Science, said. “So some sectors in the industry, even big data analytics, require skills in AI or would like to have those skills.” In February, graduate computer science students Tobias Jacob, Raffaele Galliera and Muddasar Ali placed third in the prestigious AI Tracks at Sea Challenge. The students won $35,000 for the department. They participated in the com-
petition as members of UWF’s AI and Data Analytics (AIDA) Research Group. Dr. Reichherzer, sponsored the group. Dr. Sikha Bagui, a professor in computer science, served as the faculty advisor for the group. A machine learning intern at Novetta Solutions LLC and UWF computer science major, Zach Mueller, mentored the students. “We’re very grateful that they made third place. This is a really big deal because this is a national competition,” Dr. Reichherzer said. Students from the Department of Intelligent Systems and Robotics placed fifth in the competition—winning $20,000 for the department. The ArgoTracks team consisted of Bhavyansh Mishra, a doctoral student from the department, and mechanical engineering majors Brendon Ortolano and Luke Fina. The Intelligent Systems and Robotics assistant professor, Dr. Hakki Erhan Sevil served as the group’s sponsor and faculty advisor. The students were also mentored by UWF alumnus Carson Wilber, who is research associate at Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. The AI Tracks at Sea Challenge was hosted by Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific and the Naval Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Coordina-
tion Office. Thirty-two teams of students from Ivy League colleges, private and public universities competed for the $200,000-prize challenge. The challenge was to create a software solution that would automatically generate tracks of maritime vessel traffic from cameras. The $200,000 was divided among the five teams who were able to find full working solutions. Dr. Reichherzer explained that opportunities with competitions and student organizations benefit the students. “We have cybersecurity competitions, AI competitions and programming competitions that [students] participate in. Competitions really help the students gain additional skills,” Dr. Reichherzer said. “The socializing aspect helps them, too. They get to network with others and people that go through the same program.” Since AI is gradually being integrated into a variety of industries from healthcare to marketing to financial markets, students with skills in AI have numerous career opportunities. Dr. Venable explained that her students are very appealing to companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon because of their cutting edge research. Dr. Reichherzer explained that there are local career opportunities for students, too. “We do have some jobs here
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in the area. Navy Federal Credit Union offers internships and co ops for our students. They hire quite a few students from us. So that’s one huge employer,” Dr. Reichherzer. “There is, of course, the military bases. The government in our area hires students in computer science and cybersecurity. We have quite a few smaller businesses, too.” Dr. Venable expanded on the number of opportunities in Pensacola, especially in the healthcare industry. “In the Pensacola area, there are so many industries cyber defense related like Lockheed Martin and Boeing that would be excellent avenues for our students,” Dr. Venable continued. “But let’s not forget healthcare. Healthcare is a huge opportunity now. Students that have expertise in designing recommender systems or personalization tools that can extract and elicit preferences and special features automatically, or the students that work on exoskeletons for rehabilitation. Pensacola is growing more and more into a high tech health care hub.” For more information on UWF’s Department of Computer Science, visit uwf.edu/ computerscience. For more information on UWF’s Department of Intelligent Systems and Robotics, visit uwf.edu/isr.
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