CENTER STAGE
STRATEGIC GOAL: EXCELLENCE IN MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
 
Prof. Shie Mannor
Prof. Shie Mannor

Technion’s newly inaugurated Center for Machine Learning and Intelligent Systems is set to become a hub of creativity and research that will benefit the scientific and medical communities, and industry.

Technion has succeeded in building a strong world-class AI group, with more than 20 faculty members carrying out first-rate theoretical and applied research. The new Center for Machine Learning and Intelligent Systems that was recently inaugurated will maintain Technion’s position as one of the top universities worldwide in both the research and teaching of intelligent systems.

Prof. Shie Mannor of the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical Engineering heads the new AI Center. Prof. Mannor is an associate editor of the Journal of Machine Learning Research, Operations Research and Math of Operations Research, and held the Canada Research Chair in Machine Learning between 2005-2009 while on the faculty of McGill University.

By promoting both pure and applied research in machine learning, the Center serves as a bridge between academia and Israeli and global high-tech industries. It will educate hundreds of scientists and engineers and train researchers specializing in data science and machine learning, as well as attracting leading researchers from all over the world, and hosting industry and medical experts.

The Center provides a holistic multidisciplinary approach to the investigation of complex problems such as the application of machine learning in personalized treatment of cancer. Its scope includes defense and homeland security, agritech, home and industrial robots, health and medicine, smart environments, fintech, and autonomous vehicles.

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Technion autonomous Formula race car built by Technion students, cruises down Ayalon highway

Technion’s goal in establishing the Center is to leverage its multidisciplinary experience and expertise in fields such as data, information and computer sciences; control theory; automation and robotics; statistics and complex systems; neurosciences and more, in order to address relevant challenges in artificial intelligence and machine learning science.

As a leader in this field, Technion plays a key role in the country’s efforts to maintain and enhance the qualitative edge in science and technology that is vital to its security and economy.

Technion is well positioned to enhance its many existing research relationships with Israeli industry leaders and global companies and to expand its range of partnerships in areas that relate to the new Center. In this context, Technion has already established close ties with Intel, Bank Hapoalim, Hyundai and other companies.

“The new Center is a one-stop-shop. Now we can work with much larger companies with complex needs.” – Prof. Shie Mannor

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James Gertler addresses the audience at the launch of the Zuckerman Fund for Interdisciplinary Research in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, June 2019
Zuckerman Fund Helps US-Israel Research Ties Drive the Global AI Revolution

The Zuckerman Fund for Interdisciplinary Research in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence is tapping into talent at two campuses of Israel’s AI research leader, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

The fund will support up to six research projects annually that are conducted by multidisciplinary research teams at Technion’s main campus in Israel and at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute in New York. The projects will focus on applied research in the sectors which are increasingly influenced by AI, including health and medicine, financial technology, autonomous vehicles, domestic and industrial robots, smart environments, agricultural technology, defense and homeland security.
 
“We are utilizing both the domestic and global resources of Israel’s AI research leader, the Technion, as a game-changing platform for positioning the ‘start-up nation’ at the forefront of the global AI revolution,” said James S. Gertler, Zuckerman Institute trustee. “Supporting tomorrow’s technological solutions through today’s research is a crucial manifestation of our vision that philanthropy’s ultimate goal is the betterment of society as a whole,” added fellow trustee Eric J. Gertler.
 
The Zuckerman Fund for Interdisciplinary Research in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence is an initiative of the Zuckerman Institute.


First Autonomous Race Car Test


PARTNERSHIP WITH INTEL
The new AI Center enjoys especially close ties with Intel, the multinational semiconductor giant. Intel has had a strong relationship with Technion for years, and it is a partner in the new Center. “As part of this collaboration with Intel, the company supports research projects of Technion faculty members engaged in computational learning and artificial intelligence together with Intel researchers. The research covers a variety of areas, including natural language processing, deep learning and hardware optimization for different learning algorithms,” Mannor explains.

“We are proud of the cooperation with Technion, which will promote Israeli technology and Intel’s technological leadership in the field of artificial intelligence,” Intel Israel CEO Yaniv Garty said at the inauguration ceremony.