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��ӽ紫ý’s Amarda Shehu appointed inaugural Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer

Melanie Balog — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 11:37:10 +0000

��ӽ紫ý’s Amarda Shehu appointed inaugural Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer Melanie Balog Wed, 09/04/2024 - 07:37

FAIRFAX, VA - ��ӽ紫ý has named Associate Vice President for Research for the Institute for Digital Innovation (IDIA) Amarda Shehu as the university’s inaugural vice president and chief artificial intelligence officer (CAIO). In this role, Shehu will lead the strategy and implementation of AI across research, academics, and partnerships for the university, maximizing opportunity and adoption in addressing the world’s grand challenges while leading on ethical considerations, governance, and risk mitigation.

“As the number one public university in Virginia and a top 10 U.S. university for innovation, as well as the first to offer a School of Computing and degree in cybersecurity engineering, ��ӽ紫ý is driven by inclusive access to research and education that provides insight and inspires solutions. There is an institution-wide recognition of the centrality of AI to the future of knowledge creation, scientific discovery, creative expression, workforce development, and campus operations,” said Andre Marshall, ��ӽ紫ý vice president for research, innovation, and economic development. “By collaborating with other units to build an AI growth roadmap for the university, Dr. Shehu will be a transformative force in taking ��ӽ紫ý to the top of this field and partnering in the region to advance the Commonwealth of Virginia.

As ��ӽ紫ý’s inaugural Vice President and CAIO, and one of the first at a U.S. university, Shehu will spearhead university-wide research and programs, attract AI talent, and ensure compliance with ethical standards and regulatory requirements. Shehu will work with the university’s chief risk officer and chief information officer on tools and platforms, as well as governance to ensure data privacy and security. She will also collaborate with academic divisions on new majors and expanded coursework.

“I knew when I started my research in this field over 20 years ago that AI would unleash enormous speed and power in innovation, which is at the heart of what drives ��ӽ紫ý,” Shehu said. “Power lies in our ability to harness this technology in sustainable and democratic deployment that improves society and the human condition. I am thrilled to work alongside brilliant faculty, students, staff, and industry partners to position ��ӽ紫ý at the forefront of AI in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

Shehu is a professor in the Department of Computer Science in the College of Engineering and Computing, where she also serves as an associate dean for AI Innovation. She is the inaugural founding co-director of ��ӽ紫ý’s transdisciplinary Center for Advancing Human-Machine Partnerships. Shehu is lead PI on the ��ӽ紫ý-National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute Consortium (AISIC) cooperative research and development agreement within the Department of Commerce in response to the 2023 White House Executive Order on AI. As part of the Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact division’s leadership team, Shehu will continue to provide leadership for IDIA. A full biography is available here.

Shehu’s position comes at a time of rapid AI advancements at the university. In April 2024, ��ӽ紫ý launched the Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center (MARC), which will serve as the focal point for research in autonomy, robotics, and AI. In fall 2024, the university will launch a graduate certificate that focuses on responsible AI. Earlier this summer, ��ӽ紫ý was awarded a $1 million grant to establish the nation’s first Center for AI Innovation for Economic Competitiveness, which will bolster the economic competitiveness of small and medium enterprises across Virginia. Much of the work in AI will take place at the Fuse at Mason Square, the university’s new state-of-the-art research and entrepreneurship hub for students, digital innovators, researchers, and regional businesses opening this fall.

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Mason centers receive gift from Hewlett Foundation to bridge research practice gap in education

Colleen Rich — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 15:31:56 +0000

Mason centers receive gift from Hewlett Foundation to bridge research practice gap in education Colleen Rich Fri, 09/22/2023 - 11:31

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Two centers at ��ӽ紫ý—EdPolicyForward in the College of Education and Human Development and the Center for Advancing Human Machine Partnership (CAHMP), a transdisciplinary research center—will collaborate on a project that aims to better connect research to practice in education policymaking, and support school divisions in improving student and teacher performance and enhancing the effectiveness and fairness of resource allocation through data-driven decision making.

The collaboration is supported by a generous gift from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is a nonpartisan, private charitable foundation that advances ideas and supports institutions to promote a better world. The collaboration between EdPolicyForward and CAHMP manifests the power and opportunities that transdisciplinary research can bring to Mason's research and practice community.

Sanmay Das

The Education Program at Hewlett Foundation makes grants to help educators, schools and communities turn schools into places that empower and equip students for a lifetime of learning and to reach their full potential.

The core Mason project team includes Sanmay Das, professor of computer science and co-director of CAHMP; Anne Holton, professor of public policy and education; Seth B. Hunter, assistant professor of education leadership; David Houston, director of EdPolicyForward and assistant professor of education; and Peng Warweg, assistant director of CAHMP.

Anne Holton

The project will leverage the core team’s expertise in education policy research, artificial intelligence, and advanced data analytics, as well as partnerships with local school divisions, to better connect research to practice, with the goal of helping all students succeed through efficient, effective, and equitable use and distribution of school resources.

Over the next 16 months, the team will deliver a series of policy briefs to communicate relevant research findings to state and local leaders on matters of importance to their decision-making, creating a two-way dialogue between researchers and policymakers, and a dissemination strategy to inform the policymaking decisions of local, state, and national audiences.

The project is also expected to enhance the capacity for data-driven decision-making in school divisions, especially in the use of methods from artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced data analytics to support and enhance equity in access to programs that benefit student outcomes and improve student and teacher performance.

EdPolicyForward, the Center for Education Policy, promotes equity and improved educational outcomes for all students, from preschool through college and beyond. The center connects research to policy and practice, develops and advances effective and pragmatic solutions, and drives meaningful public discourse addressing persistent inequalities in U.S. public education.

Founded in 2019, the transdisciplinary CAHMP facilitates research, teaching, and innovation in understanding and leveraging human-machine partnership to solve current and emerging societal problems. CAHMP’s network of researchers work on cross-disciplinary topics, such as responsible AI, learning technology, education policy and analytics, and generative AI for education.

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Mason Researchers Land $1.39M to Study AI’s Effects on Global Culture

Colleen Rich — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 17:15:12 +0000

Mason Researchers Land $1.39M to Study AI’s Effects on Global Culture Colleen Rich Fri, 02/25/2022 - 12:15

Schar School of Policy and Government professor J.P. Singh leads a team of researchers from across ��ӽ紫ý campuses that has been awarded a three-year, $1.39 million grant to study the economic and cultural determinants for global artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructures—and describe their implications for national and international security.

J. P. Singh. Photo provided

The grant was awarded by the Department of Defense’s esteemed Minerva Research Initiative, a joint program of the Office of Basic Research and the Office of Policy that supports social science research focused on expanding basic understanding of security. This year’s 17 university teams were selected from more than 220 proposals and will receive a total of $28.7 million in grants.

“Perhaps the most important and unique feature of our project is that we will use sophisticated big data models in computer and social sciences to specify the economic and cultural determinants,” said Singh, the principal investigator of the grant.

“This analysis will be important for showing how cultural values and institutional priorities embedded in AI shape security—and insecurity—in the 21st century.”

The final products from the grant will include forecasting models for AI infrastructures for different national and global contexts, enriched with field research and reports.

“This prestigious award recognizes the kind of transformative and multidisciplinary research for which Mason and the Schar School are known,” said Mark J. Rozell, dean of the Schar School. “Professor Singh's research cuts across academic boundaries to engage the insights of different disciplines in understanding complex public policy issues. His work speaks to not only academic researchers, but opinion leaders and policymakers as well.”

Singh has assembled a transdisciplinary team of veteran researchers from several academic fields to contribute to the project. In addition to Singh, a political economist, fellow researchers include:

Amarda Shehu, an award-winning machine learning engineer from Mason’s Department of Computer Science at the Volgenau School of Engineering and co-director of Mason’s Center for Advancing Human-Machine Partnerships (CAHMP);
Antonios Anastasopoulos, an assistant professor of computer science at Mason’s College of Engineering and Computing;
Michael Hunzeker, an assistant professor at the Schar School and associate director of Mason’s Center for Security Policy Studies; and
Jesse Kirkpatrick, an ethicist, research assistant professor, and acting director of Mason’s Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy.

The team originated from Mason’s interdisciplinary Center for Advancing Human-Machine Partnerships (CAHMP), which researches how to structure and optimize reciprocal relationships between humans and assistive computing systems.

“This award speaks to the ability of this diverse team to identify unique intersectional problems and novel, cutting-edge methodologies,” said Shehu. “It also speaks to the strength of this multidisciplinary team that came together through many deliberate team-forming activities in the Center for Advancing Human-Machine Partnerships, their dedication to understanding one another across disciplines, and ultimately their passion to advancing interdisciplinary research.”

Singh noted that three graduate students and a postdoctoral researcher will be hired to assist in the project.

Two of the 17 grants awarded this year went to Mason researchers. Itamara Lochard, director of Cyber Policy Studies at Mason's Center for Assurance Research and Engineering, received funding for her project, Habitus and the Information Environment: An Ethnographic Case Study of Digital Anthropology.

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AI aids those with ADD in construction

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 18:39:05 +0000

AI aids those with ADD in construction Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/16/2021 - 13:39

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Craig Yu

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Using virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI), a team of researchers at ��ӽ紫ý is taking a wrecking ball to barriers faced by neurodiverse individuals in construction.

The Mason team partnered with researchers at Purdue University on a $2 million National Science Foundation project. The project will explore the future of construction and identify ways to use human-robot teaming to open the field of construction to neurodiverse individuals, specifically those with attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

People with ADD or ADHD have more variable attention than those without it, which includes great strengths and weaknesses. Their strengths include incredible problem-solving skills and creativity. Their tendency to be disorganized, have a wandering mind, and take part in more high-risk behaviors can limit their ability to succeed in specific fields, like construction. But the research team believes that with the help of new technology, we will better understand this condition.

“As the future of construction is moving toward technological coupling, workers and machines have to team up to accomplish project goals. Using AI, robots can learn to understand, react, and predict human behaviors. This collaboration could make it possible for us to bring neurodiverse people into construction,” says Behzad Esmaeili, assistant professor of civil, environmental, and infrastructure engineering, and the principal investigator (PI) of the Mason team.

Robots, or cobots, could learn to spot inattention, riskier behaviors, and mistakes while their human partners can be trained to work with these robots to improve their collaboration.

At least 5 percent of the population has been diagnosed with ADD and ADHD. Still, many are undiagnosed, says Brenda Bannan, professor of learning design and technology in the College of Education and Human Development and co-PI on the grant.

For AI robots to learn human behavior, they have to gather data, which has limitations on construction sites. “We cannot safely collect data from actual construction sites because it exposes people to potential injuries. Additionally, this is for a futuristic construction site, where humans and robots are working together,” says Esmaeili.

Craig Yu, assistant professor of computer science and co-PI, uses VR and works with the research team to develop a virtual environment to simulate different scenarios on construction sites, including risky and accidental situations. “We can run various simulations and collect plenty of data that AI robots and systems can learn from, without posing any risks,” says Yu.

The team can also use the virtual environment to train people and construction teams to work with these robots. “Using VR lowers costs and risks, and it can be used to further improve efficiency and productivity on construction sites,” says Yu.

Yu, Esmaeili, Bannan, and their co-PI Maurice Kugler, professor of public policy in the Schar School of Policy and Government, will employ the observations and data from numerous variable sensors, like eye trackers, cognitive brain monitoring, and other psychophysiological and biomechanical metrics to better understand the behavior of people with ADD and ADHD on construction sites and teach robots about how this population uniquely works.

“This innovative technology can give access to people with ADD to completely new employment opportunities and therefore substantially benefit workers, employers in the construction industry, and society at large,” added Kugler, who will conduct the cost-benefit analysis of the research project.

Their collaboration came from conversations at meetings for the Center for Advancing Human Machine Partnerships (CAHMP). “This is the purpose of CAHMP. It was designed to strike these transdisciplinary collaborations and projects,” says Bannan, one of the center’s founders.

The team has already screened nearly 300 participants, and they plan to start running VR simulations and collecting data in February.