UL IEEE Student Branch – Research week event

On 30th April 2024, the newly formed IEEE Student Branch of the University of Limerick organised its first event as part of the UL research week, a Panel discussion on the Impact of AI in Science and Engineering: Policy, Application and Advancement. This event was organised as part of the UL research week. We had a very diverse panel, including Prof. Ita Richardson (Dept of CSIS & the Co. Principal Investigator in Lero), Dr Pepijn Van de Ven (Dept ECE and Director of D²iCE Research centre), Dr Gerard Dooly (School of Engineering and CRIS research centre) and Dr Bharath Sudharsan (Senior AI ML Data Engineer, General Motors).

The event had 30 people in attendance, and 10 members joined online. There was a healthy discussion about the impact of AI in science and engineering, its influence on academia, the use of AI in mental health research, and its use in underwater research and industrial research. The attendees were looking forward to more such events. D²iCEresearcher Prof Pepijn discussed the use of AI in mental health and various projects under the D²iCEresearch centre. D²iCE Researcher, Reenu Mohandas, the IEEE Student Branch Secretary, organised this IEEE event along with fellow IEEE SB office bearers, Ben Bartlett (Chair), Sagar Dalai (Vice Chair), Cillian Fahy (Treasurer), Lubna Luxmi (Student Branch Counsellor), Matheus Santos (chair of the OCEANS chapter) and Marco Moreno for the posters and media. We are thankful to the HOD of ECE, Prof. Colin Fitzpatrick and my Supervisor, Dr. Ciaran Eising for their continued support throughout the event. The IEEE Student Branch was granted approval in November 2023, with 23 members and growing. We look forward to organising more fruitful events in the future.