U President Taylor Randall announced the $100 million initiative in October 2023. Since then, initiative director Manish Parashar and his team have been working with academics across campus to define specific use cases in three areas that play to university strengths: the environment, health care and wellness and teaching and learning. Reports from working groups will be done by the end of June, and summit insights will guide RAI leaders as they build public-private partnerships to accomplish their goals.
One-U RAI Announces Inaugural Awardees: 7 Faculty Fellows, 1 Postdoctoral Fellow, and 1 Distinguished Visitor
Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024 (updated Dec. 9)—In its first push to attract and retain top talent in translational AI, the University of Utah One-U Responsible Artificial Intelligence Initiative (RAI) has named seven faculty fellows, one postdoctoral fellow, and one distinguished visitor.
The faculty fellows span six colleges across the U and their work is expected to drive progress in one or more of the initiative’s thematic areas: environment, healthcare and wellness, and teaching and learning. One-U RAI will typically award three to five fellows each year, but increased that number for 2025 due to a strong applicant pool and excitement from U leadership. "Our inaugural cohort of faculty fellows represents a wonderful cross-section of U faculty,” said Manish Parashar, director of the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute, which houses One-U RAI. “We look forward to integrating their expertise into One-U RAI and working toward shared goals, from recommending guardrails that protect individuals to applying AI to solve complex societal challenges."
SCI Receives HPCwire Award for National Data Platform, an Effort to Democratize Responsible AI R&D
The SCI Institute and the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) won an Editors’ Choice Award for the National Data Platform (NDP), which HPCwire called the “best use of high performance data analytics and artificial intelligence.” Last year, following a $6 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the SCI Institute and SDSC launched NDP to create an equitable data ecosystem. The grant comes from a pilot program under NSF's National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR), “a concept for a national infrastructure that connects U.S. researchers to computational, data, software, model and training resources they need to participate in AI research.” Accordingly, NDP aims to enhance access to open data, fostering innovation and collaboration while addressing global challenges like climate change through AI-integrated solutions.
Promise and Potential Pitfalls of AI in Health Care Come to the Fore at One-U RAI Symposium
The potential of artificial intelligence (AI) sometimes seems limitless. But with that potential comes serious new concerns, such as bias, misinformation, and privacy violations. How to develop and implement AI in a way that ethically addresses those concerns is the goal of the One-U Responsible AI Initiative (RAI), which launched in fall 2023 and held its inaugural symposium this September to a packed audience.
SCI’s Strong Showing at IEEE VIS Includes Top Awards and Organizers
After back-to-back hurricanes forced IEEE VIS organizers to change Florida venues and ultimately abandon in-person conference plans, the event went virtual this week, with a strong presence from the University of Utah Scientific Computing and Imaging (SCI) Institute.
SCI faculty member and VIS General Chair Paul Rosen was gutted by the bad luck, but commended his VIS peers for their response—which included organizing in-person satellite events at the U and beyond. “We had to not just pivot, but double-pivot in two and a half weeks,” Rosen said. “The community really came together and is making the best of the situation.”
VIS, which dates to 1990, is the top forum for advances in visualization and visual analytics. In its 30-year history, SCI has been well-represented at the annual conference and has also hosted/chaired VIS in 2000, 2010, and 2020. According to Rosen, SCI’s presence is especially prolific this year:
Here's how and why Utah is positioned to be a leader when it comes to democratizing AI
By Logan Stefanich, KSL.com
OREM — At this point, the cat is out of the bag when it comes to artificial intelligence.
Whether used for work or play, it's become an undeniable fixture in day-to-day life for many.
"It's clear that AI is transforming every aspect of our lives. It's driving innovation, accelerating innovation, discoveries (and) amplifying impact on science and society. It's really impacting every aspect of what we do," said Manish Parashar, director of the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute at the University of Utah.
But, can AI be harnessed responsibly, making it accessible to everyone and driving transformative innovation and societal progress? That question was at the heart of Parashar's message as he spoke during the second annual Silicon Slopes AI Summit in Orem on Thursday.
Symposium marks 1 year of Responsible AI Initiative
The University of Utah One-U Responsible Artificial Intelligence Initiative (One-U RAI) hosted its Inaugural Symposium on Sept. 23 just shy of its first anniversary to share updates, showcase translational and applied AI work at the U, and spark discussions on how campus can leverage its collaborative culture to become a national leader in responsible AI.
About 200 people attended the daylong symposium at the Cleone Peterson Eccles Alumni House to hear from a wide-ranging roster of experts, including keynote speaker Elham Tabassi. Tabassi, one of TIME magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in AI” and a leader at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, spoke about “Framing and Taming AI Risks” and emphasized the need for a culture of responsible AI practices. The U is proactively building such a culture through One-U RAI, according to Mitzi Montoya, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. In opening remarks, Montoya highlighted One-U RAI’s recently launched opportunities, including distinguished visitors, faculty fellows, and postdoctoral fellows, and coming in spring, cluster hires to grow the U’s pool of AI researchers.
The U Collaborates with Tulane on up to $23 Million Cancer Moonshot Project to Build Advanced Tumor Imaging System
Even as cancer treatment options are multiplying and becoming more sophisticated, one relatively straightforward approach will always be in play: cutting the diseased tissue out of the body.
One persistent challenge with such cancer surgeries is preserving as much of the affected organ as possible while also ensuring all cancerous cells are removed. The so-called “margins” of a cancerous mass are hard to concretely define even when looking directly through a microscope, and are even more ambiguous in the kind of non-invasive scans patients undergo before surgery.
Mike Kirby named Assistant Vice President for Research Strategic Initiatives at the University of Utah
Kirby officially began his new role on July 1, 2024. He reports to Dr. Erin Rothwell, Vice President for Research.
As AVPRSI, Kirby will spearhead all Engineering Research Center (ERC) proposal submissions for the October 2024 deadline; co-lead the Aerospace Hub with the current team leader, Dr. Jake Hochhalter; and take point and shepherd the University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) submission; among other duties. In addition, Kirby will provide insight and writing support for strategic initiatives to elevate the University and its partnerships under the VPR.
Mendoza, Weiss receive $2.6 million grant to study biomechanics of lung tumors
