23 OCTOBER 2019 – Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB) through the Enterprise Office hosted the ‘Robotics with Artificial Intelligence (AI) Workshop’ today at the Engineering Block, Phase 3, UTB. The workshop is a joint collaboration between UTB and the Embassy of the United States of America in Brunei Darussalam.
The workshop was facilitated by Professor Dr. Ayanna Howard, a Professor, Chair of The School of Interactive Computing; Linda J. and Mark C. Smith Chair Professor of Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Howard is a renowned roboticist from the United States. She has been recognised as one of the 23 most powerful women engineers in the world by Business Insider and one of the Top 50 U.S. Women in Tech by Forbes. She has made significant contributions in the technology areas of artificial intelligence, computer vision, and robotics. Her published research, currently numbering over 250 peer-reviewed publications, has been widely disseminated in international journals and conference proceedings.
Thirty-six lucky secondary school students attended the workshop where they had the opportunity to play and learn with ‘Cozmo’ – a sophisticated robot that makes use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The AI in the robot gives it human-like characteristics, thus it displays and express emotions much like a human being and the ability to have numerous personality traits. The robot also learns and know the owners face, name and even traits. Cozmo provides an all-around fun way to engage children to learn to code creatively.
UTB has been active in organizing various Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Outreach Programmes for the community including coding and robotic competitions. With this workshop, it will help add a new dimension into the future of STEM Outreach Programmes in UTB.
Yang Mulia Dr Sharina Yunus the Head of Enterprise Office explained that the future lies in robotics and AI technologies. “With the advent of the 4th Industrial Revolution, it is best to start teaching children about robotics, coding and AI as young as possible in order to better prepare them for the future” she said.
Dr. Howard was at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology from 1993 until 2005. She has also served a term as the Associate Director of Research for the Georgia Tech Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines and a term as Chair of the multidisciplinary Robotics Ph.D. program at Georgia Tech.
