Recognition for rising stars in ECE and related fields
Artificial intelligence (AI) could make us all healthier: it can help spot infectious diseases, treat high blood pressure, detect Alzheimer’s disease. But a majority of Americans still don’t trust AI—and are more concerned than excited about its potential. In part, says Boston University electrical and computer engineer Kayhan Batmanghelich, that’s because most AI programs are black boxes—even the experts don’t know what’s inside. Batmanghelich just launched a new project to make healthcare AI tools that are more transparent and, he hopes, more effective, reliable, and trustworthy.
Batmanghelich, fellow ECE faculty member Eshed Ohn-Bar, and four other BU researchers have received a Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to propel their research. Although the awards are given to researchers from a broad range of fields, this year’s BU winners all have a computer science–related focus, from programming safer robots to making assistive AI more responsive to people with low vision.
The awards recognize researchers with the “potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization,” according to the NSF. Honorees are selected based on the strength of their innovative research and community service. Each of the BU winners will use the award, which comes with funding, to drive their own work, as well as to support student researchers in their labs.
“These awards reflect the extraordinarily talented and creative faculty that Boston University is able to recruit: researchers with a deep commitment to education and mentoring that complement their high-impact research programs,” says Kenneth Lutchen, BU’s vice president and associate provost for research. “From advancing AI for healthcare and accessibility to designing more equitable systems for public resource allocation, each of these projects reflects the impact-driven scholarship that defines our research community.”
Read the full story at BU’s The Brink
Photo by Cydney Scott