Artificial Intelligence Archives - Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS)

Industry Experts Discussed AI and Biotech Trends with 91��ɫU MBM Students

vinish — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 19:57:30 +0000

As ' Master of Biotechnology Management students approach the completion of their courses in April and prepare for their internships this summer, they had the incredible opportunity last Friday to hear directly from six fantastic industry experts at in Markham.

The panel discussion, "Emerging Trends in Biotechnology Commercialization and How It Impacts Those Entering the Field," explored key topics such as the role of AI, the current biotech landscape in Canada—including the need for better funding and infrastructure—and strategies for navigating regulatory challenges. Panelists also shared insights on successfully leading operations in larger biotech companies.

^{A group photo of attendees at the AI and Biotech Trends panel discussion}

_{Photo of industry experts conversing with MBM students at the panel discussion}

With their diverse professional and academic backgrounds, our guest speakers brought unique perspectives, sparking meaningful discussions. We are incredibly grateful for their time, valuable insights, and words of encouragement, which will undoubtedly inspire our students as they step into their careers this summer.

A huge thank you to our speakers: , , , , , and our moderator ! Your support means so much to our students!

For all biotechnology employers: We have compiled a Resume Book showcasing the skills and expertise of our MBM students to help you recruit your future talent.

If you're looking to hire talented students in the biotechnology space this summer and need guidance on wage subsidy programs to support their hiring—

LinkedIn post by Sara Del Piano.

^{Photo of MBM students with industry experts at the panel discussion}

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Faculty of Science graduate students making waves with AI wig-fitting technology

vinish — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 20:51:28 +0000

Graduate students from the Faculty of Science’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics have developed an Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform with a surprising real-world application: online wig shopping.

Andre Huang and Anna Du created the technology for use by , founded by Schulich alumna and LaunchYU Accelerator entrepreneur, Akosua Asare.

Using the power of AI, customers can virtually try on wigs in the comfort of their own home. The company and its unique technology were recently featured on .

Conducted under the supervision of Department of Mathematics and Statistics Professors Michael Chen and Hongmei Zhu, the project uses AI to analyze users’ facial features, skin tone and facial structure, offering virtual recommendations of styles and colours that are most suitable to customers. The project has created a dramatic increase in Essence Luxe Couture’s customer satisfaction – and an invaluable learning opportunity for students.

Faculty of Science researchers used Zoom to conduct meetings with Company CEO and Schulich Alumna Akosua Asare throughout the project. Pictured: Akosua Asare, Michael Chen, Hongmei Zhu, Anna Du and Andre Huang.

“AI is not the future anymore; it is already here,” says Chen. “Our economy is increasingly driven by AI, so projects like this, which offer our students essential experience developing an AI application in a real-world setting, are crucial.”

The work is supported by a Smart Computing for Innovation (SOSCIP) project with the Department of Mathematics and Statistics Associate Professor Michael Chen, a collaboration that was facilitated by ’s industry engagement unit. Backed by funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP), SOSCIP’s Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) Accelerated Platforms were able to provide as much as 97 per cent accuracy on face shape classification.

Akosua Asare on Dragons' Den

“Seamlessly integrating AI into the daily lives of online shoppers is much needed now, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Zhu. “This demand will continue to increase as AI and deep learning are now an integrated and essential part of the e-commerce operation and retail experience.”

The technology supplied by Faculty of Science graduate students has undoubtedly contributed to Essence Luxe Couture’s success: the company’s founder landed a deal on Dragons' Den for a $150,000 business investment for 25 percent of her company. You can watch Asare’s pitch on CBC's Dragons’ Den .

Provided by .

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Grad student leads study on using AI to better assist in humanitarian crises

vinish — Fri, 02 Oct 2020 19:31:58 +0000

At 91��ɫ, we aspire to better understand the human condition and the world around us and to employ the knowledge we gain in the service of society. One way to do this is through Artificial Intelligence (AI); the integration of AI into society is one of 91��ɫ’s key aspirational areas.

One intrepid grad student, Tino Kreutzer, in the School of Health Policy and Management, is doing just that—finding ways for AI to help society’s most vulnerable. He led a 13-person team whose members include 91��ɫ Professors Lora Appel and Aijun An as well as researchers from Harvard Medical School and the United Nations World Food Program.

The team considered how a form of AI called Natural Language Processing (NLP) could help to asses community needs in humanitarian crises. The findings were published in IBM Journal of Research & Development (2020). Kreutzer’s dissertation work is supervised by Professor James Orbinski, the inaugural director of the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research at 91��ɫ.

Current humanitarian assessments fail to capture the complex and rich context in which these crises unfold,” Kreutzer stresses. “There’s an urgent need to bridge the growing gulf between the people affected by humanitarian emergencies and response professionals through improving the quality and quantity of information provided by the affected population.”

_{Tino Kreutzer}

_{Refugee claims have risen from 10,000+ in 2013 to 47,000+ in 2017. Kreutzer emphasizes the pressing need to bridge the gulf between the people affected by humanitarian emergencies and response professionals.}

This is Kreutzer’s forte and, in fact, the subject of his PhD: Pioneering a novel system for understanding population needs in emergencies through the innovative use of new technology. Kreutzer has more than 10 years’ experience working in the response to humanitarian crises, natural disasters and the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. He now heads KoBo, Inc., which maintains the free KoBoToolbox toolkit used for collecting interview data from people affected by disaster.

Needs assessment critical first step in humanitarian crisis

Needs assessments is vital for program planning, monitoring, evaluation and accountability. Evidence has shown that it profoundly affects an organization’s ability to respond to crises. And yet, Kreutzer contends, this is still a weak link in humanitarian response.

_{Needs assessments affect an organization’s ability to respond to crises. Image Credit: Community Liaison Agents of MONUSCO participate in a training session, Feb. 11 2015/Bunia, Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo/Tino Kreutzer}

He explains the challenges, “Current approaches often require interviewers to simplify complex, open-ended responses to questions. As a result, the amount and usefulness of information are severely limited.”

How AI could provide opportunities to gain qualitative information?

Kreutzer suspected NLP could be used to provide far-reaching new opportunities to capture qualitative data from voice responses and analyze it for relevant content to better inform humanitarian assistance decisions.

In this vein, his research venture, launched in 2018, consisted of two main components:

Design a system using NLP to transcribe, translate and analyze large sets of qualitative responses to a humanitarian need assessment survey with a view to improving the quality and effectiveness of humanitarian assistance.
Anticipate the ethical challenges of introducing this new technology and create a framework to reduce and mitigate these new risks.

Far more insights provided with new methodology, facilitated by AI

The table illustrates the difference that Kreutzer’s team discovered with respect to qualitative information secured by the researchers’ use of NLP, compared to current methods.

_{The comparison between current interviewing methodology and NLP-supported methodology. This shows how much more information can be gained through the latter}

Kreutzer describes the advantages of using AI: “Using current methods, qualitative information was difficult to process, labour intensive and time consuming. NLP can provide potentially far-reaching new opportunities to rapidly analyze voice responses for relevant content to inform humanitarian assistance decisions.”

_{The answers provided in the new methodology could tell researchers much more about food insecurity, for example}

Next step—Pilot project

Kreutzer proposes a pilot phase in a humanitarian crisis for which no transcription and translation models exist. The key stages would include:

Modifying an appropriate humanitarian assessment questionnaire to include more open-ended questions.
Generating a transcription and translation model: Collecting speech recordings, etc.
Creating an analysis model.
Building a toolkit that can be applied to all humanitarian data collection contexts.
Providing recommendations for replication and scaling up in other emergencies.
Publishing all results.

Kreutzer emphasizes that this new tool should work in conjunction with face-to-face interviews, which offer a more personable way to interact with people who have suffered trauma and are struggling to recover.

To read the article, visit the IEEE website. To learn more about this project, visit the website.

Provided by .

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