Two Northeastern Professors Recognized as Massachusetts AI Innovators
CEE/MES Professor Qin Jim Chen and DMSB/MIE Associate Professor Tucker Marion both won the Massachusetts AI Hub’s AI Models Innovation Challenge.
This article originally appeared on Northeastern Global News. It was published by Cyrus Moulton. Main photo: Winners of the AI innovation challenge gathered with state officials during a ceremony Thursday on Northeastern’s Boston campus. Photos by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University.
From coastal resilience to streamlining product development, Northeastern researchers are the state’s AI innovators
Northeastern University engineering professor Jim Chen wants local coastal communities to be ready for sea-level rise and other effects of climate change.
But Chen’s plan is not to construct elaborate levees or sea walls. It’s to use artificial intelligence.
“The goal is to turn data into actionable insights and knowledge,” Chen, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and marine and environmental sciences, said Thursday at the ISEC building on Northeastern University’s Boston campus. “We enable coastal communities to update their risk assessment economically and more efficiently.”
Chen was a winner of the Massachusetts AI Hub’s AI Models Innovation Challenge, a program that provided $2.9 million to researchers and/or organizations developing AI datasets and models to solve some of the state’s most pressing problems.
A ceremony to announce the seven winners — including Chen and Northeastern professor Tucker Marion — was held Thursday on Northeastern’s Boston campus.
“Today’s announcement represents precisely what we envision,” Northeastern Provost Beth Winkelstein told the gathered crowd. “Brilliant minds pushing AI forward in really meaningful ways.”
The Massachusetts AI Hub is a collaboration among government, industry, startups and academia. A division of the quasi-public Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the hub is funded by a $100 million, 10-year commitment from the Massachusetts Leads Act economic development bill passed into law this fall.
“We are here to position Massachusetts as a leader in applied AI,” said Carolyn Kirk, CEO of MassTech, which is responsible for driving competitiveness and growth in innovation in the state.
Read full story at Northeastern Global News