Dean's Desk - July 29, 2021

Dear GT Computing community,   I come to you today with some fantastic news: Georgia Tech has received two NSF AI Institute awards, with a third going to the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA). College of Computing faculty members are key players in two of those three grants.

Sonia Chernova (SIC) is the PI and Beth Mynatt is the co-PI of the NSF AI Institute for Collaborative Assistance and Responsive Interaction for Networked Groups (AI-CARING). The AI-CARING institute aims to develop new longitudinal, collaborative AI systems that work with aging adults, including those diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, and their caregivers.

Ashok Goel (SIC) is the co-PI of the NSF grant that went to the GRA, which is the NSF AI Institute for Adult Learning in Online Education (ALOE). The ALOE Institute will develop new AI theories and techniques for enhancing the quality of online education for lifelong learning and workforce development. According to some projections, about 100 million American workers will need to be reskilled or upskilled over the next decade

Both of these Institutes build on decades of our research, and both will not only create novel technologies but also train a new generation of researchers. Here in the College of Computing, we strive to build new technologies that improve the human condition, and these Institutes embody that ethos to a T (stolen by the students or otherwise).

Please join me in congratulating Sonia, Beth and Ashok for their intellectual leadership. Congratulations also to Pascal Van Hentenryck of ISyE, who is the PI for the NSF AI Institute for Advances in Optimization (AI4Opt). 

These grants, $60 million in total, rest on literal decades of work on AI, aging, and education in the College. They are also at the leading edge of a new wave of investment in AI at Georgia Tech. We are expected to hire 100 new AI researchers in the field over the next few years. CoC is also investing not only in faculty but in graduate fellowships and in new courses teaching AI as a tool for science and engineering.

I couldn’t be more proud of our achievements in AI, and I can’t wait to see what this expansion allows us to do next. We’ve got a lot to celebrate, so enjoy the good times and I will see you back here next week.

Peace.

--
Charles L. Isbell, Jr. John P. Imlay, Jr. Dean College of Computing Georgia Tech   EA: Alicia Richhart, alicia@cc.gatech.edu, 404-894-8357   Don't just adopt opinions,  develop them     Georgia Tech: https://research.gatech.edu/georgia-tech-joins-us-national-science-foundation-advance-ai-research-and-education NSF AI Institute awards: https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=303176 New longitudinal, collaborative AI systems: https://www.cc.gatech.edu/news/649114/new-ai-institute-builds-tech-support-aging Adult Learning in Online Education (ALOE): https://www.ic.gatech.edu/news/649137/georgia-tech-will-help-bring-critical-advancements-online-learning-part-multimillion Achievements in AI: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc6f_2nPSX8 Allows us to do next: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lDR_PNPXCk A lot to celebrate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa8mLH_BQF0 Good times: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLTDpewIpfw