Geoff Hinton

Vector Institute names its first president

ullahnor — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 14:41:22 +0000

Vector Institute names its first president

ullahnor Tue, 09/26/2017 - 10:41

Topic

City & Culture

Artificial Intelligence

Geoff Hinton

Raquel Urtasun

Vector Institute

Its creation was greeted with national and international media attention. Now, the Vector Institute has its first president and CEO: Garth Gibson, currently at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Gibson is recognized for his contributions to scalable computing research, which laid the foundations for some of the world’s fastest supercomputers. As a leader in advanced education, he co-created and built Carnegie Mellon’s mature Parallel Data Lab into one of the largest and most active consortiums of university researchers and corporate partners to spur new discoveries and accelerate their commercialization. As an entrepreneur, his research was adopted and applied to technology solutions for multiple sectors.

“Vector’s mandate calls for a leader with expertise in advanced science, entrepreneurship and business. Dr. Garth Gibson is that leader, and we are very fortunate to welcome him to the Vector Institute,” said Ed Clark, the founding chair of the Vector Institute.

Read about Gibson at the New York Times

Gibson (left), who was raised in Aurora, Ont., will be joining Geoffrey Hinton, the institute’s chief scientific adviser and U of T University Professor Emeritus in computer science; Richard Zemel, a U of T professor of computer science and Vector’s research director; as well as other U of T machine learning experts such as Raquel Urtasun, an expert in self-driving car technology, who is heading up Uber’s first international research lab in Toronto.

“We’re pleased to welcome Garth Gibson to the Vector Institute and look forward to him bringing the same high-quality of leadership as he has exhibited at Carnegie Mellon,” said Vivek Goel, U of T’s vice-president of research and innovation.

“The establishment of the Vector Institute has generated great interest and excitement, spurring interest from industry and attracting top global talent in machine learning and deep learning,” said Gibson.

“Canada has the potential to become a global leader in advancing AI research, development and commercialization, and all of Canada stands to benefit as a result.”

Gibson officially starts work at Vector on Jan. 2.

U of T plays prominent role in what magazine dubs Toronto 'tech revolution'

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 22 Sep 2017 19:07:15 +0000

U of T plays prominent role in what magazine dubs Toronto 'tech revolution'

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 09/22/2017 - 15:07

Chris Sorensen

Author legacy

Chris Sorensen

Topic

City & Culture

Artificial Intelligence

Computer Science

Entrepreneurship

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Faculty of Arts & Science

The latest issue of Toronto Life magazine dubbed Canada’s largest city “the new Silicon Valley” – and the University of Toronto is playing a key role.

The magazine highlights several U of T researchers who have helped fuel Toronto's tech revolution. They include:

● U of T Associate Professor Raquel Urtasun, an expert in computer vision and machine learning who heads up Uber’s new self-driving vehicle lab in Toronto.

● U of T University Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Hinton, an engineering fellow at Google and the chief scientific adviser at the Vector Institute who is often dubbed the “godfather” of deep learning.

● Jimoh Ovbiagele, one of three former U of T students who launched artificial intelligence-powered legal research firm ROSS Intelligence, which recently opened a new R&D lab in Toronto.

The Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) at U of T’s Rotman School of Management is also cited for its novel quantum machine learning program, which aims to supercharge AI applications by marrying them with the nascent field of quantum computing.

“We’re thrilled to see a major Canadian publication recognize the significant innovation and entrepreneurship infrastructure we’ve helped build in Toronto and at U of T, over a period of many years,” said Derek Newton, U of T’s assistant vice-president of innovation, partnerships and entrepreneurship.

“It’s also gratifying to see how our researchers’ work – in fields that range from artificial intelligence to regenerative medicine – is attracting some of the world’s biggest companies to Toronto, while also laying the groundwork for the next generation of Canadian ones.”

Toronto Life’s cover comes the same week that U of T, RBC and two partner universities – McMaster and Western – launched a new co-working space for startups called ONRamp in the heart of Toronto’s Discovery District. The 15,000-square-foot facility spans three floors and consists of a mix of flexible shared workspaces, meeting rooms, boardrooms and event spaces.

It also comes as U of T announced a partnership with Fujitsu to launch a new R&D lab in Toronto that’s focused on quantum-inspired computing.

The magazine mentions several other U of T entrepreneurs and their startups: U of T alumna Chakameh Shafii’s startup TranQool offers video counselling from licensed therapists; Huda Idrees’s startup Dot Health seeks to make digital health records available to clients.

Meantime, Jorge Silva, who did his PhD at U of T, is singled out for his work developing a portable device called Tecla-E that helps people with disabilities control smart devices. U of T Associate Professor Parham Aarabi, of the department of electrical and computer engineering, also gets a mention for ModiFace, which allows customers to apply makeup to real-time images of their faces.

Toronto Life recently partnered with the organizers of a three-day technology festival called Elevate Toronto. The event sought to showcase Canada’s innovation prowess in fields ranging from AI and fintech to virtual reality and health care, and featured more than a dozen U of T entrepreneurs and experts.

One of the conference’s recurring themes was identifying the city’s unique advantages when it comes to innovation and figuring out ways to further capitalize on it.

“I really believe that having world-class universities in the core of the city is a critical factor,” Kristjan Sigurdson, a PhD candidate at Rotman and an associate director at the Creative Destruction Lab, told one of the event’s panel discussions.

Another panelist – Jordan Jacobs, who co-founded Layer6 with U of T alumnus Tomi Poutanen – said he’s witnessed a noticeable shift when it comes to recruiting overseas employees to work at the company, which uses AI to improve recommendation engines.

“It’s the first time in my lifetime,” he said, “where Canada is a first choice.”

U of T researchers to feature prominently during three-day Toronto tech festival

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 19:45:43 +0000

U of T researchers to feature prominently during three-day Toronto tech festival

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 09/11/2017 - 15:45

Cutline

Dubbed the "godfather" of deep learning, Geoffrey Hinton is among those with U of T connections who will speak at the Elevate Toronto technology festival this week (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Chris Sorensen

Author legacy

Chris Sorensen

Alumni

Artificial Intelligence

Cities

Computer Science

Creative Destruction Lab

Entrepreneurship

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Geoff Hinton

Innovation

Raquel Urtasun

Research & Innovation

Vector Institute

Experts and entrepreneurs from the University of Toronto will have a heavy presence at this week’s Elevate Toronto technology “festival” – a new three-day event that showcases Toronto’s emerging status as a leading innovation hub.

The festival, which kicks off Tuesday, features a series of conferences and social events at venues across the city on topics that range from health-care innovation to financial technology and virtual reality.

One of the biggest draws is shaping up to be Wednesday’s MaRS Discovery District conference on artificial intelligence, or AI, a fast-growing field where U of T has emerged as a global research leader.

The AI event’s keynote address will be delivered by U of T University Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Hinton, a senior engineering fellow at Google who is known as the “godfather” of deep learning, a branch of AI that uses layers of algorithms to mimic the human brain. Hinton’s research helped spark an AI revolution in recent years as companies race to incorporate the technology into everything from new drug discovery tools to self-driving cars.

One of those companies is ride-sharing giant Uber. Earlier this year, the Silicon Valley firm tapped U of T Associate Professor Raquel Urtasun, a star in the AI field of computer vision and machine perception, to head its new driverless car research lab in Toronto.

Urtasun (pictured below) is scheduled to deliver a talk September 12 at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts.

“Elevate Toronto's keynote speakers and events showcase not only some of U of T's most outstanding innovators, but also sectors where we are leading the world,” said Derek Newton, U of T’s assistant vice-president of innovation, partnerships and entrepreneurship.

Newton added the university is proud to play a key role in contributing to the city’s broader innovation ecosystem, citing U of T’s world-class research and researchers, as well as a broad, multidisciplinary entrepreneurship program comprising many hubs and accelerators.

U of T has also been a founding partner of several leading innovation organizations, including MaRS Innovation, MaRS Discovery District, health incubator JLABS @ Toronto and the Centre for the Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine.

Most recently, U of T partnered with the federal and provincial governments, as well as industry, to launch the Vector Institute for artificial intelligence research.

“Toronto is poised to become one of the leading technology startup hubs in the world thanks to our world class research, talent, and collaborative community of entrepreneurship hubs and innovation partners,” Newton said.

Other prominent U of T speakers at Elevate Toronto’s AI conference this week include:

• Sanja Fidler, an assistant professor in U of T's department of computer science who is an expert in computer vision
• Darin Graham, industry innovation director at the Vector Institute
• Tomi Poutanen, a U of T alum who is co-CEO and co-founder of Layer 6, which uses AI to improve recommendation engines
• Deepa Kundur, a professor in U of T’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
• Kristjan Sigurdson, an associate director at the Creative Destruction Lab at U of T’s Rotman School of Management and a Rotman PhD candidate
• Inmar Givoni, a U of T alum who is the director of machine learning at Kindred.ai, which seeks to develop human-like intelligence in machines

The university will also be represented at an Elevate health conference held at the Toronto Reference Library on Tuesday. Speakers with U of T connections include:

• Anna Goldenberg, a scientist in the genetics and genome biology program at SickKids Research Institute and an assistant professor at U of T’s computer science department
• Alexander Levy, a U of T alum who is co-founder and COO of Atomwise, a Silicon Valley based company that uses AI to help with drug discovery.

The festival’s “work” conference, meanwhile, features an executive from Blue J Legal, a U of T startup co-founded by Professor Benjamin Alarie that uses AI to predict the outcome of tax law cases.
Eric Miller, a professor of civil engineering at U of T and the director of the University of Toronto Transportation Institute, will be part of a Wednesday panel that discusses “Designing the Toronto of the Future.”

Several of the other presenters at Elevate Toronto’s events are either U of T alumni or have ongoing connections to the university.

Elevate Toronto was first announced earlier this year. Dubbed a “grassroots initiative,” the festival is a collaboration of technology organizations in partnership with the City of Toronto.

Toronto among the fastest growing tech hubs in North America

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 21 Jul 2017 19:08:42 +0000

Toronto among the fastest growing tech hubs in North America

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 07/21/2017 - 15:08

Cutline

A global real-estate report says Toronto has witnessed significant growth in tech-related jobs over the past year (photo by Prayltno via Flickr)

Chris Sorensen

Author legacy

Chris Sorensen

Topic

Toronto leaped ahead in annual North American tech talent rankings compiled by a Los Angeles-based real-estate services firm.

Canada’s largest city jumped from 12th to sixth place in CBRE’s 2017 rankings, adding 22,500 tech jobs last year.

That’s more than those added by San Francisco and New York combined, according to CBRE.

The findings coincide with the emergence of Toronto as a key centre for artificial intelligence, or AI, research – particularly in the field of deep learning, which was pioneered by University of Toronto University Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Hinton.

“Toronto is becoming a leader in producing world-class tech talent, particularly in the artificial intelligence field, and there had been an incredible rate of growth in our tech labour force in the past year,” Werner Dietl, the executive vice-president and GTA regional managing director of CBRE Canada, told the Betakit website.

“When you consider we’ve added more tech jobs from 2015 to 2016 than New York and the San Francisco Bay area combined, it shows just how vibrant Toronto’s tech industry has become.”

The CBRE report said there's currently 212,000 tech workers in Toronto, up 30 per cent from five years earlier. Tech companies comprise a fifth of all office space demand in the city, Dietl told Betakit.

Toronto’s growing reputation as a North American tech centre alongside San Francisco, New York and Seattle has been driven, in part, by research undertaken at U of T in fields ranging from computer science to medicine, as well as efforts to commercialize that research through industry partnerships and startups.

U of T is home to 10 startup accelerators, including the Department of Computer Science Innovation Lab and the Rotman School of Management’s Creative Destruction Lab – both of which have a strong AI focus.

The university was also a key player in this year’s launch of the Vector Institute for AI research, which aims to produce more deep learning graduates than any other institution in the world.

At the same time, the breadth and quality of research at U of T has helped attract significant commercial investment. In 2016, Johnson & Johnson set up the first international location of its JLABS life science incubator in Toronto, and earlier this year, ride-sharing giant Uber said it was launching a self-driving car research lab in Toronto that would be headed by Raquel Urtasun, an AI guru and associate U of T professor.

“We’re thrilled to see Toronto emerge as one of the fastest-growing tech hubs in North America, including in fields like deep learning, which U of T helped to pioneer,” said Derek Newton, U of T’s assistant vice-president of innovation, partnerships and entrepreneurship.

The CBRE report said Toronto is also benefiting from a cheap Canadian dollar and a high rate of millennial population growth, which is an important source of tech talent.

The city also appears to be getting a boost from U.S. President Donald Trump’s ongoing clamp down on immigration, which Wired magazine says is prompting a growing number of U.S. tech workers to head north to Canada.

Applications from international students to U of T have increased by more than 25 percent for the fall 2017 semester.

Entrepreneurship @ UofT Week: startups nurtured here

lanthierj — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 21:23:42 +0000

Entrepreneurship @ UofT Week: startups nurtured here

lanthierj Mon, 03/27/2017 - 17:23

Cutline

Co-founders Jonathan Lung (left) and Phil Lam (right) of U of T startup Sojourn Labs are focused on developing a car-bike hybrid (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Katherine Fernandez-Blance

Author legacy

Katherine Fernandez-Blance

Topic

It’s Entrepreneurship@UofT Week – your chance to meet innovators from Canada’s leading startups and get tips on everything from making connections to perfecting your elevator pitch.

#EntWeekUofT is the hashtag to follow as the University of Toronto hosts a wide range of events from March 27 to 31.

The week features more than a dozen events hosted by incubator and accelerator programs and other partners, from a webinar with Entrepreneurship Librarian Carey Toane to a session on social entrepreneurship with The Agency.

“Research that feeds innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialization is thriving at U of T, ” said Professor Vivek Goel, U of T's vice-president, research and innovation. “In all sectors and across all of our campuses, our faculty and students are turning ideas into products, services, jobs, and companies that are contributing to the Canadian economy and improving lives around the world.”

Everything wraps up Friday with an all-day Startup Showcase at U of T's Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport featuring a networking opportunity with more than 60 of U of T’s leading startups – and the first annual RBC Prize for Innovation and Entrepreneurship pitch competition, where 10 of U of T’s leading startups will compete in front of a panel of judges for top prizes.

Among Friday’s highlights: the RBC Innovation & Entrepreneurship Speaker Series with leading artificial intelligence researcher and Vice-President Engineering Fellow at Google, Emeritus Distinguished Professor Geoffrey Hinton.

Learn more about the augmented reality bus tour

More than 150 research-based startups have been launched at U of T during the past five years. Artificial intelligence-based NuraLogix has pioneered facial blood flow technology that will make it easier to monitor a loved one’s health, even if they are across the world.

Geoff Hinton

Vector Institute names its first president

U of T plays prominent role in what magazine dubs Toronto 'tech revolution'

U of T researchers to feature prominently during three-day Toronto tech festival

Toronto among the fastest growing tech hubs in North America

Entrepreneurship @ UofT Week: startups nurtured here

Read more about Geoffrey Hinton

Learn more about the augmented reality bus tour

Read more about NuraLogix

Read more about WinterLight Labs

Read more about Kepler Communications