August News: ML Tech Certification Scholarships & AI for Emissions Management Event

Hi there,

I hope you are well! One of the best parts of the past month was receiving so many out-of-office messages from our team members, clients and researchers. To me, this means our community is finding creative and safe ways to enjoy the outdoors, take in our favourite festivals, and spend much-needed time with friends and family. 

At Amii, we're preparing for a fantastic Fall 2021 class for our ML Technician Certification. Just this week we announced 20 scholarships to support Albertans as they upskill in this in-demand field. 

We're also thrilled to be seeking new industry partners to join us for REMI - Reducing Emissions through Machine Intelligence. Our program has expanded scope to include companies and organizations in the energy sector focusing on methane emissions management, renewable energy, smart buildings and the power industry. Please join us on August 26 for a webinar on How AI will impact the future of methane emissions management,

See you over video chat soon,    

August Highlights: Research, Industry, Community and Training

Industry & Community Updates:

• Thanks to all who were able to join us for the July AI Meetup! Ten speakers from three AI4Good Lab teams shared their presentations -- if you missed it, watch it now.
• With Amii’s guidance, Alberta-based Blindman Brewing has been looking at implementing machine learning to help them make informed decisions around C02 production during fermentation. Read the case study now!
• Learn what makes AI in Alberta so special! A recent episode of The AI Edge by Globalive Media features our own Rich Sutton and Michael Bowling alongside other AI & ML leaders in Alberta.
• Discover how the Reducing Emissions through Machine Intelligence (REMI) Program is a great first step to better understand the technology and the opportunities to apply it in your business -- watch our REMI Info Session recap!
• The Canada-Arab Artificial Intelligence Forum happens August 24-25! Hear from senior government and industry experts from Canada and the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region, including our own Director of Investment & Partnerships, Nella Brodett.
• ICYMI: for the first time, Edmonton has made the CBRE's top 50 list, ranking as one of the fastest-growing tech sectors in North America. 

Research Updates:

• Csaba Szepesvári (Fellow & Canada CIFAR AI Chair at Amii) discusses reinforcement learning, an area of AI research and application that is rapidly growing in popularity, at the third talk in the AI in Video Games series.
• The fourth talk in the AI in Video Games series features Nathan Sturtevant (Fellow & Canada CIFAR AI Chair at Amii) on in-game pathfinding and how AI search techniques can be used to improve the development and design of puzzles. 
• In week four of the Tea Time Talks, Dhawal Gupta talks structural credit assignment in neural networks using RL and Khurram Javed explores scalable real-time representation learning.
• At a recent AI Seminar, Alaa Eddin Alchalabi presented how machine learning can power an automated culture building program by measuring sentiment, natural language and microaggressions. 
• On July 16, Amii’s Roberto Vega Romero, PhD candidate at the University of Alberta, presented “Probabilistic Labels for classification tasks in medical images" at the AI Seminar.
• The July 23 AI Seminar featured Levi Lelis on policy and heuristic-guided tree search algorithms.

Training Updates:

• The 2021 CIFAR DLRL Summer School took place July 26-31! The school brought together talented students in AI from all over the world to cover the foundational research, new developments, and real-world applications of deep learning and reinforcement learning.
• Take the first step in your AI & ML learning journey! ML Foundations 1 will give you a crash course on the basics, building foundational knowledge using real-world examples. Register for the next class on September 2.
• Continue building on your ML Foundations 1 knowledge at ML Foundations 2 on September 9! This live online class takes a closer look at technical concepts.

REMI Energy

Are you ready to be a leader in AI adoption in the energy sector? Amii’s Reducing Emissions through Machine Intelligence (REMI) program provides an opportunity to harness the power of AI to accelerate your organization's emissions reduction strategy. 

We are currently seeking applicants for our next Reducing Emissions through Machine Intelligence (REMI) Energy Cohort. Applications close on September 10, 2021. To apply, complete the form below.

Learn more and apply today!

New scholarships help Alberta workers upskill for careers in AI

We're thrilled to announce 20 scholarships to our upcoming ML Technician Certification course! 

The scholarships will cover the full cost of registration with a focus on giving access to individuals who are typically underrepresented in STEM fields, who are recent immigrants to Canada or who live in rural settings. These scholarships are available in the Fall 2021 cohort, which takes place live online from September 21 to November 19, 2021. 

The demand for AI & ML expertise is growing across all industries. Develop your ML skills and perspective to meet this growing demand at our ML Technician Certification program!

You’ll graduate from the course with:

• A foundational, science-based understanding of machine learning
• The skills to confidently create a business case for an ML project at your company;
• The ability to undertake an ML project or apply for a job with AI/ML requirements;
• Experience with all stages of a machine learning project.

The deadline to apply is September 13 -- learn more about the program and apply now!

Learn more and apply today!

Upcoming Events

August 26: How AI will impact the future of emissions management

Discover how AI can help us reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this free webinar, we convene a panel of experts to discuss the future of methane emissions management. Amii’s Product Lead of Industry David Chan leads this panel discussion, featuring David Wares (Sales Director, Western Canada, GHGSat),  Emmy Atherton (Co-Founder and Product Lead, Arolytics), and Jackson Hegland (Executive Director, Methane Emissions Leadership Alliance). 

RSVP Now

September 16: A discussion on Artificial Intelligence in Health

Considering the importance of AI innovation in healthcare in Canada and the impact that AI discovery and application can have for patients and the healthcare system, Roche Canada created a center of excellence in artificial intelligence called AI with Roche (AIR), in collaboration with the three national AI institutes under the CIFAR Pan-Canadian AI Strategy - Amii, Mila and the Vector Institute. Join us for a virtual discussion on Wednesday, September 15th from 1:00 - 3:30 PM EDT about the potential of artificial intelligence in health, public-private partnerships and collaboration, and possibilities to improve health outcomes for populations and patients across Canada by leveraging AI.

RSVP Now

September 17 - AI Seminar - Marcus Brubaker

The AI Seminar is a weekly meeting where researchers discuss a wide range of topics related to AI, from foundational theoretical work to innovative applications of techniques. This week, Marcus Brubaker presents. Marcus is an Assistant Professor at York University, working on a range of problems including human pose and motion estimation, vehicle localization, electron cryomicroscopy, Markov Chain Monte Carlo, non-parametric statistical inference and ballistic forensics.

RSVP Now

September 22 - 24: Inventures

Inventures brings the best and brightest together for three days of learning, inspiration and creative collisions. From rousing keynotes and expert panels, to startup pitch competitions and informal networking opportunities, Inventures is more than a great conference filled with great programming, it’s an opportunity to build networks, strike deals and launch creative ideas into overdrive!

Register Now

See a full list of Amii and partner events on our Events page.

Job Opportunities

Work at Amii:

• Machine Learning Engineering Specialist -- apply by August 27

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