Virtual AI Lecture Series Exploring Practical Applications—Rudy el-Khoury 11/13
Virtual AI Lecture Series Exploring Practical Applications—Rudy el-Khoury 11/13
Hosted by Joseph Johnson and Mitsunori Ogihara, this ongoing webinar series promotes the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) among University of Miami faculty, staff, and students, and the surrounding community. Each session explores practical applications of AI in research, business, and everyday life.
The content of these lectures is tailored for a general, non-technical audience and concludes with a Question and Answer session. All lectures take place via ZOOM on Fridays from 2:00 to 3:30 PM, and are free and open to the public. Each session has a separate registration link. An email confirmation containing the ZOOM link will be sent upon completion of registration. Scroll down for links to videos of past speakers . . .
Upcoming Speakers
November 13 | Registration Link Forthcoming
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Rodolphe “Rudy” el-Khoury, PhDTALK TITLE: TBA D I R E C T O R D E A N Rodolphe el-Khoury is Dean of the University of Miami School of Architecture. Before coming to UMSoA in July, 2014, he was Canada Research Chair and Director of Urban Design at the University of Toronto, Head of Architecture at California College of the Arts, and Associate Professor at Harvard Graduate School of Design. He has taught at Columbia University, Rhode Island School of Design, and Princeton University and has had Visiting Professor appointments at MIT, University of Hong Kong, and Rice University (Cullinen Visiting Chair). After earning a Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Fine Arts from Rhode Island School of Design, el-Khoury obtained a Master of Science in Architecture from MIT and his Ph.D. from Princeton University. el-Khoury was trained as both a historian and a practitioner and continues to divide his time between scholarship and design. As a partner in Khoury Levit Fong (KLF), his award-winning projects include Beirut Martyr’s Square (AIA San Francisco), Stratford Market Square (Boston Society of Architecture), and the Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art (AIA Cleveland). His books on eighteenth-century European architecture include The Little House, An Architectural Seduction, and See Through Ledoux; Architecture Theatre, and the Pursuit of Transparency. Books on contemporary architecture and urbanism include Monolithic Architecture, Architecture in Fashion, States of Architecture in the Twenty-first Century: New Directions from the Shanghai Expo, and Figures: Essays on Contemporary Architecture. el-Khoury’s current research in architecture focuses on applications for information technology, aiming for enhanced responsiveness and sustainability in buildings and smart cities. He is also working on the application of robotics and embedded technology in architecture in projects and prototypes for interactive and responsive environments, including immersive environments and multi-sensory architecture. With the tools and resources of RAD-UM, his lab at UMSoA, he aims to put every brick online and believes that “embedded technology empowers networked environments to better address the environmental and social challenges we face today.” Articles on his projects and research have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star and WIRED Magazine. He was also featured online (Gizmodo, DeZeen, Fast Company, Domus, Reuters) and on television and radio shows (CBC, Space Channel, NBC, TFO, BBC World), speaking about the Internet of Things and importance of connectivity. His work in this area is documented in The Living, Breathing, Thinking Responsive Buildings of the Future (Thames and Hudson, 2012). His 2013 TEDxToronto talk on Designing for the Internet of Things has been viewed more than 15,000 times. |
Past Speakers
November 6 | Registration Link Forthcoming
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Vasileios “Vas” Stathias, PhDTALK TITLE: TBA A S S I S T A N T D I R E C T O R Dr. Vasileios Stathias is leading institution-wide data, AI, and precision medicine initiatives at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center spanning research, clinical care, and operations. His work focuses on building AI-ready biomedical data platforms, developing clinicogenomic real-world data resources, applying AI and bioinformatics to drug discovery and precision oncology, and leading strategic collaborations across NGS, biopharma, technology, and AI organizations. Dr. Stathias has contributed to major national precision medicine initiatives, including NIH LINCS, NCI CPTAC, and AACR Project GENIE, with research spanning data platforms, multi-omics, AI, and cancer therapeutics. Born in Athens, Greece, his early fascination with the study of genetics lead him to apply to the Miller School of Medicine for his graduate studies in Human Genetics. During this time, he incorporated both wet lab and computational work under the tutelage of Dr. Nagi Ayad and co-mentor Dr. Stephan Schürer. The work he did then was integral in developing a glioblastoma synergy assay using LINCS data to identify combination drug treatments to enhance activity and avoid resistance. For his a post-doctoral fellowship he joined the Schürer Lab where he continued this work to develop a platform for predicting synergy combinations in multiple cancer cell models. Vas enjoys being active and is a proud member of the Brickell run club.
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April 10 | Watch Now
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April Mann, EdDTALK TITLE: AI & Academic Writing: Rules, Tools, and Strategies D I S T I N G U I S H E D S E N I O R L E C T U R E R April Mann, EdD, is Director of the Writing Center and is a Distinguished Senior Lecturer in the Department of Writing Studies. She also provides grant-writing support to the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) at the Miller School of Medicine. April has been facilitating the College of Arts and Sciences’ Summer Writing Institute with her colleague Adina Sanchez-Garcia since 2015. The Institute helps faculty throughout the college reimagine the ways they can use writing in their courses to improve their students’ disciplinary learning. She and her colleagues are in the process of initiating a Writing Enriched Curriculum program to support faculty in other disciplines who want to effectively use writing assignments in their teaching. For the past two years, she has been co-facilitating a Faculty Working Group for Teaching with AI. This community of practice brings faculty together to discuss their innovative work with AI in the classroom. She also presented at the Teaching in the Age of Artificial Intelligence 2024 Conference. April is co-author of several publications, most recently “The linguistic leap: Understanding, evaluating, and integrating AI in language education.” Journal of Language Teaching, (with colleagues Shai Cohen, Ludovic Mompelat, and Logan Connors). She has several manuscripts currently under contract or under consideration with colleagues in the Writing Studies Department and the School of Education and Human Development. She is also co-author (with colleagues Ava Brillat and Matthew Kaeiser) of “Crossing the Bridge: Writing and Research Bridge Programming for an Intensive English Program” in PILH: Information Literacy and Writing Studies, Volume II – Upper Level and Graduate Studies. Ed. Grace Veach. Purdue University Press, 2019. She is also the author of “Structure and Accommodation: Autism and the Writing Center”, in Autism Spectrum Disorders in the College Composition Classroom: Making Writing Instruction more Accessible for all Students. Eds. Walsh, Lynda and Gerstle, Val. Marquette University Press, 2011. In addition, she was also a contributor to and reader for Composing Inquiry: Methods and Readings for Investigation and Writing. Margaret Marshall, Prentice Hall, 2004. |
March 20 | Watch Now
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Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes, MDTALK TITLE: Digital Twinning for AI Optimization L E C T U R E R Prof. Dr. Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes is a visionary leader operating at the intersection of academia, business, government and not-for-profit sectors, recognized globally for her deep tech diplomacy and digital ethics efforts. With over two decades of executive experience, she has held numerous high-impact leadership roles and has extensive complex system integration expertise, driving the development of responsible, inclusive, diverse, sustainable AI, blockchain and other deep tech innovation ecosystems at a regional, national or international level. Her unique background positions her as a thought leader on how emerging or frontier technologies are posing unique ethical challenges and are reshaping law, regulatory frameworks, corporate governance, risk management, compliance and enterprise digital strategy. She is an alumna of MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia University, and University of Miami’s Herbert Business School. In addition, she is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, holding executive certifications in AI, Blockchain, Finance, Mediation, Tech Diplomacy, Human Rights, and Ethics. Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes has served as an expert advisor to numerous Fortune 100 and 500 companies, US DOD, IEEE, NIST, and EU, UN or G20-affiliated organizations, guiding them on strategic decisions around digital transformation, digital risk governance, digital trust, and digital cyber-ethics orchestration. Read more . . . Read this NEWS@TheU PROFILE of Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes: “We have to rethink everything” VIDEOS mentioned during lecture: |
February 20 | Watch Now
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Andres Sawicki, JDTALK TITLE: The Fine Print of Generative AI & Copyright P R O F E S S O R O F L A W D I R E C T O R Prof. Sawicki teaches in the area of intellectual property. His primary research projects explore the extent to which IP can help solve problems in the production of inventions and expressive works. He is particularly interested in the complex psychology of creativity, and in the difficulty of coordinating multiple creative collaborators. Professor Sawicki’s research also examines the interaction among distinct patent doctrines. Professor Sawicki graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with S.B. degrees in Brain & Cognitive Sciences and Science, Technology, & Society. He then earned his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 2006, where he was an Articles Editor for the Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. After graduation, he clerked for the Honorable Robert D. Sack of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. From 2007 through 2010, he worked as an associate in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. His practice focused on intellectual property litigation, especially Hatch-Waxman Act pharmaceutical patent cases. Prior to his appointment at Miami Law, Professor Sawicki was a Bigelow Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School. His work has been published by leading journals, including Cornell Law Review, William & Mary Law Review, and The University of Chicago Law Review, among others. Read more . . . |
November 14 | Watch Now
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Reynaldo Sanchez, MMTALK TITLE: The Future of Making, Teaching, and Learning Music: Exploring Artificial Intelligence and Music A S S O C I A T E D E A N A S S O C I A T E P R O F E S S O R Dean Sanchez is a multi-faceted educator and musician. As the Director of the Bruce Hornsby Creative American Music Program, he has been responsible for expanding the educational opportunities offered by the Frost School of Music overall. An accomplished multi-tasker, he also serves as Director of the Bruce Hornsby Creative American Music Program, an innovative performing and songwriting program curriculum developed with Frost School alumnus Bruce Hornsby to incorporate both American roots music and contemporary composition. The program has become one of the School’s fastest growing areas of study. It also offers those with an interest in electronic music performance an opportunity to become full music majors, a first for a major music school in the U.S. Read more . . . |
October 31 | Watch Now
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Joseph Johnson, PhDTALK TITLE: Applications of AI in Marketing A S S O C I A T E P R O F E S S O R Dr. Johnson teaches Marketing Analytics, New Product Development, Strategic Brand Management and a doctoral seminar on quantitative methods for marketing management. He has thirty-two years of experience, divided between academia and industry, in computerization and empirical models for manufacturing, supply chain and marketing. His current research focuses on the use of AI and text mining tools as a decision aid for managers. Dr. Johnson has created and collaborated in the development of:
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October 17 | Watch Now
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Tom Collins, PhDTALK TITLE: AI for Music A S S O C I A T E P R O F E S S O R Tom is an Associate Professor of Music Engineering Technology within the Music Engineering program at the Frost School of Music and Principal Investigator of the Music Computing and Psychology Lab (situated in the Frost School of Music). His research concerns the development and application of machine learning techniques for/to music-analytical and music-generative tasks, with projects leading to research papers, reusable code, and collaborations with upcoming and GRAMMY Award-winning artists on songs co-created with AI. The lab also works on audio/music in extended reality (XR/AR/VR), AI for podcasting and game audio, and pattern discovery algorithms applied to coordinated movement in music and athletics. Tom has a strong track record in the supervision of PhD students—training them and helping them pursue careers in industry or academia, with recent graduates joining ByteDance, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In terms of teaching, he offers courses on electronic production technologies, research methods, and music artificial intelligence. Read more . . . |
September 26 | Watch Now
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Indraneel Chakraborty, PhDTALK TITLE: AI and Finance: Navigating the Next Decade D E P A R T M E N T C H A I R a n d P R O F E S S O R Dr. Chakraborty received his Ph.D. in finance from Wharton, an M.S. from MIT, and a B.Tech. from Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (President of India Gold Medalist). He has worked for Citadel Investments and Citigroup Global Markets Inc.’s fixed income divisions. Dr. Chakraborty has won multiple awards for his research and teaching. He received the excellence in teaching award in the Master of Science in Finance program each year from 2018 to 2023). In 2018, Poets and Quants recognized him as one of the top 40 under 40 business school professors. Read more . . . |
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