International Workshop Focuses on Artificial Intelligence, Smart Systems

UCI attendees at the sixth annual workshop included: from left, professors R. Jayakrishnan, Pramod Khargonekar, Faryar Jabbari, Aparna Chandramowlishwaran, Marco Levorato and Mohammad al Faruque, pictured with Lily Wu, Samueli School director of academic Dec. 20, 2018 - Intelligence 2025, the sixth annual UC Irvine/Tel Aviv University workshop, took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, last month. The event, which alternates between Irvine and Tel Aviv, this year was dedicated to artificial intelligence and smart systems. It brought together scientists, industrialists and entrepreneurs to exchange ideas, learn of the newest research in the field and form collaborations.

Artificial intelligence and smart systems will have a profound impact on Earth’s inhabitants within the next several years, workshop organizers said on the event website, bringing a higher quality of life to those in developed and under-developed nations alike. This year’s workshop focused specifically on autonomy and smart systems, analytics and big data, and machine learning. An industry leadership panel led a discussion about disruptive technologies.

Nine UCI faculty traveled to the Nov. 12-13 workshop. Samueli School Dean Gregory Washington introduced the conference’s dignitaries on the first day, while Henry Samueli, Samueli School namesake and Broadcom founder and chief technical officer, gave the keynote address. That afternoon, Professors Pramod Khargonekar, Faryar Jabbari and R. Jayakrishnan spoke on autonomy and smart systems. The next day, Professors Aparna Chandramowlishwaran and Athina Markopoulou talked about analytics and big data, Efi Foufoula-Georgiou and Marco Levorato discussed machine learning and cyberphysical systems, and Mohammad al Faruque shared research from UCI’s Advanced Integrated Cyber-Physical Systems Lab.

Tel Aviv University, Israel’s largest academic institution, shares close ties with UCI. Both universities excel in science and technology education, include expert faculty and resources in all fields and promote strong interdepartmental interaction. They first collaborated on a joint conference, which was held at UCI, in 2012. Previous workshops have focused on communications, innovative medical technologies, energy and water technologies, Internet of Things and nanomaterials.

- Anna Lynn Spitzer