“Demystifying the Hype of AI”

Pro-Vice Chancellor and Executive Dean of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment, Professor Colin Turner cordially invites you to the 'Celebration of 40 Years of Computing at the Derry~Londonderry Campus' with an Inaugural Professorial Public Lecture by Professor Michaela Black

“Demystifying the Hype of AI”

where Professor Black will share insights on AI's trajectory, its societal impact, and what the future holds in this exciting field.

Arrival and Registration: 6.00pm

Formal Proceedings: 6.30pm

Followed by a drinks and canape reception in MU125

RSVP by 13th November 2024

Michaela Black, Professor of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Ulster University, her career has seen her apply AI and gamification to a wide range of domains including healthcare, finance, education, telecoms and marketing with 70+ publications and securing £30M+ in pedagogic and research funding. She has actively engaged in a wide range of AI projects securing funding from a wide range of funders including coordinating an EU-funded project MIDAS (Meaningful Integration of Data, Analytics and Services) 2016-2020. This 40-month project, secured €4.5m in funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme. It delivered Data Science hardware and software solutions to connect fragmented health data and enable policymakers across 4+ European countries to analysis data and enhance policies across a range of diverse topics such as: mental health, obesity, diabetes and looked after children, as well as sharing and ensuring uptake of Ethics & Governance for data access practices such as MIDAS Honest Broker Service. She was a member of a consortium of researchers from the public and private sectors of nine European countries who has just secured EC funding for LUCIA: Understanding Lung Cancer related risk factors and their Impact (£12.5M) seeking to improve the outcome of lung cancer by providing in-depth knowledge of the risk factors and facilitating prevention and early diagnosis. Michaela is currently PI of newly launched AI Collaboration Centre (AICC £16.3M), a collaboration between Ulster and Queens focusing on increasing business awareness, skills and adoption of AI technology to boost competitiveness and productivity across all industries in NI. As an academic lead she is helping formulate the outline business case for City Deal Cognitive Analytics & Digital Robotics Innovation Centre (CADRIC £39M) driving multi-disciplinary innovation necessary to translate the benefits of Ulster University’s leading-edge research in data driven disciplines such as bio-inspired AI and cognitive robotics, into economic, environmental, and social benefits for NI. Michaela is a current co-director of the engage technology, a stakeholder participation system, proven and effective platform for gaining participant input and key consensus on relevant topics using real-time digital technologies. engage has delivered successful engagements in partnership with organisations across government, industry, professional bodies, PPIs, NGOs and academia, on the island of Ireland and across Europe. This work has influenced topics such as Brexit, work force planning in Department of Health and Matrix NI Policy on Women in STEM. An active STEM ambassador, Michaela strives to encourage more women to join this field. Actively part of the Athena Swan (AS) team at UU to promote diversity and equality. She secured EPSRC funding with University of Bath Inclusion Matters Scheme, to host a datathon which aimed to improve equality, diversity and inclusion within the engineering and physical sciences.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Room MU011, Ulster University, Derry-Londonderry Campus, Northland Road, Londonderry, United Kingdom