Artificial Intelligence and Algonquin College

Posted on Tuesday, April 16th, 2019

AI at AC

Last week, our Vice President of Innovation & Strategy, Doug Wotherspoon was interviewed by the Ottawa Citizen for a feature story about why Ottawa is poised to be the next artificial intelligence hub.

Full Article: https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/why-ottawa-is-poised-to-be-the-next-artificial-intelligence-hub

Excerpt Below:

Algonquin College: A Community Builder Approach

AI fits with Algonquin College in several ways, said Doug Wotherspoon, the college’s vice-president of innovation and strategy. The school has applied AI to its operations by embedding AI concepts in its programs and working with local companies to help them leverage the technology.

The college launched its Data Analytics Centre in 2017, a multimillion-dollar facility at the Ottawa campus which lets student research teams partner with organizations on projects that advance their use of AI.

The centre recently partnered with one company, AirShare, which is developing AI-guided missiles for detecting, tracking and shooting down drones around airports. The missiles are designed to safely intercept unauthorized drones by deploying what the company calls a “cloud” of latex countermeasures to bring them down.

Another company Algonquin has partnered with is contextere, which makes an AI system that provides blue-collar workers with contextually-important information for tasks they’re working on. The goal is to make workers more efficient and less prone to mistakes. “What the industrial employee does not need is more sensors, more complexity, and more dashboards — they simply need to know when and where to execute,” the company’s website says.

“The beauty of the data centre is that it creates a shared knowledge,” Wotherspoon said. “Even though we might be working with one company that is using artificial intelligence one way, the building of the community allows people to learn from each other, industry to industry and students to students.”

With the centre, the college fills a void for small- and mid-sized companies that don’t have the resources in-house to explore AI possibilities, while offering students a prime hands-on learning and networking opportunity, Wotherspoon said.

While AI is often viewed as a technology-sector issue, Wotherspoon said it will have an impact across every layer of every industry. That’s why, in addition to introducing more AI-centric programs, Algonquin is working on updating its programs to incorporate AI aspects. The school is also using AI to help analyze student engagement and automate actions such as reminder notices, as well as integrating AI into its IT systems.


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