Global tech company sparks interest in artificial intelligence jobs

Expert engineers from one of the world’s most influential technology companies encouraged Tulane students to pursue careers in data science and artificial intelligence Wednesday during the Intel Artificial Intelligence (AI) Workshop held on the uptown campus of Tulane University.

The event was sponsored by the Tulane Department of Computer Science in the School of Science and Engineering and hosted by student organizations Cookies & Code and Women in Technology.

Students from Tulane, Loyola, LSU and other local universities were in attendance.

“This is a great way for students to prepare themselves for careers in data science and AI.”

—Rohit Israni

“This is a great way for students to prepare themselves for careers in data science and AI,” said Rohit Israni, director of strategic business development for artificial intelligence programs at Intel. Israni graduated from Tulane with a master’s degree in engineering in 1998.

A member of Intel’s university relations team, he hosts the Intel Nervana AI Academy workshops at schools across the globe. As a Tulane graduate, he knew that hosting a workshop at the university would be a good fit.

“AI is a rapidly growing field, and Tulane could become a hub for AI in New Orleans,” said Israni. “If you look at the job market, there’s a demand for data scientists and the industry is needing students who are trained. What we’re offering at this workshop is a good introduction into data science, machine learning and deep learning.”

Workshop participants received information on becoming ambassadors for the Intel Student Developer Program for Artificial Intelligence, which provides students with hands-on training and access to newly optimized frameworks and technologies.

Graduate students selected to become ambassadors receive benefits like free software and direct access to Intel engineers and resources to support their research.

Previous projects developed by ambassadors include a mosquito detector that identifies whether the insect is carrying diseases and Face It, a mobile app that analyzes the user’s face and suggests flattering hairstyles or facial hair.

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