Six experts representing municipal government, public schools, higher education, and both applied and theoretical research came together as an expert panel on various uses of artificial intelligence at the Southeast Tennessee Economic Development (SETD) District’s annual conference.
The panel was moderated by University of Tennessee Vice Chancellor for Information Technology Vicki Farnsworth, who also leads UTC’s AI Initiative, or CH-AI, for “Chattanooga’s AI.” CH-AI assembled the panel as requested by SETD to serve as featured program for its Chattanooga meeting on Oct. 11.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to engage at this meeting with more than 100 members of SETD and the county and community officials they serve, and for the six highly accomplished individuals who brought their expertise to a lively discussion,” Farnsworth said.
Panelists:
Steven Ferguson, Georgia Tech: Principal Research Scientist, Executive Director of Georgia Tech Manufacturing 4.0 Consortium; and Managing Director of Georgia AIM: Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing in Georgia
Yasir Hassan, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga: Data Scientist and Software Engineer, Center for Urban Informatics and Progress
Vasileios Maroulas, University of Tennessee, Knoxville: Professor, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Deputy Director of AI Tennessee Initiative
Grant Knowles, Hamilton County Schools: Director of Innovation and Fine arts
Tim Moreland, Chattanooga Mayor’s office: Administrator, Department of Innovation Delivery and Performance
Donald Reising, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga: Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering
Question topics ranged from uses of AI technologies to improve services for citizens, to the process for developing a policy on AI in K-12 public schools; from the role of AI in smart city technology to how AI is involved in protecting data security; from AI-ready rural workforce development to the potential role of AI in securing utility power grids.
Joining the group of experts was Erkan Kaplanoglu, UTC professor of engineering management, and the UTC College of Engineering and Computer Science’s Robot Dog.
SETD is one of nine such regional organizations overseen by the state’s Economic Development Commissioner.
SETD’s 10 counties are: Bledsoe, Bradley, Grundy, Hamilton, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Polk, Rhea and Sequatchie.
To learn more about AI expertise that CH-AI may be able to secure for your organization or event, email: UTC-AI@utc.edu