2006 Winner: Outstanding Leadership In Alberta Technology
Research Centre Increases Alberta’s Innovation And Technological Breakthroughs
At four years young, the Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Machine Learning (AICML) has become a leader in Alberta technology, establishing itself as a hub for partnerships and collaborations in Canada and around the world. Notable innovations and inventions generated by AICML include a software package for the identification of brain tumors in MRI images, the development of a successful computer game called Poker Academy, and a novel Cost Curve Analysis tool.
Producing Results
Located in the University of Alberta science department, the AICML was established in 2002 as a centre for pure and applied machine learning research. Machine Learning is the process of extracting useful patterns from large volumes of data. To do this Machine Learning has evolved to combine methods of artificial intelligence, computer science, statistics and mathematics.
The Centre is engaged with industry and scientists in a variety of disciplines. Their work in collaboration with the Cross Cancer Institute has led to a number of new techniques which determine how patients respond to treatments based on individual genetics, among other profiles. Its Poker Academy software generated substantial revenue for an Edmonton spin-off call BioTools. And a new Cost Curve Analysis tool is now being distributed to scientists.
Garnering Attention
In other work, companies such as Google and Yahoo! have shown continued interested in AICML web mining and web mining visualization research. And they are designing a new machine learning tool for targeted advertising sales in collaboration with a major Edmonton-based advertising software company.
The AICML has also been a key player in the establishment of the IBM Centre for Advanced Studies at the University of Alberta along with IBM, Alberta Innovation and Science and the University. The new centre will provide Alberta students and researchers with technology and funding, and will focus on current areas of expertise in Alberta including machine intelligence, nanotechnology and biological simulation.
There are now seven principal investigators with the AICML, 17 affiliate investigators, eight research associations and postdoctoral fellows, 13 software developers and 49 graduate students. It is raising Alberta’s profile as a world leader in machine learning. Its researchers continue to make key contributions to both fundamental research and its application to technological innovations and breakthroughs.
