Students of MSc Artificial Intelligence for Marketing Strategy program meet AI professionals in Dublin
Students of MSc Artificial Intelligence for Marketing Strategy program meet AI professionals in Dublin
Students of the MSc Artificial Intelligence for Marketing (AIMS) program went on a week-long learning trip to Dublin in Ireland, which was co-organized by EM Normandie Business School and EPITA, in mid-October 2021. Meeting professionals of Artificial Intelligence (AI) from industry and academia, students have explored AI applications for solving real-world problems and have widened the understanding and applicability of AI.
Learn by Tackling Real-life Challenges
At the beginning of the trip, our AIMS students were introduced the business-related challenges about the retail of the Kilkenny Group, home to Ireland’s largest collection of Irish designers, in the Innovation Value Institute at Maynooth University. During the trip, students had to identify the areas of improvement, work towards the most viable solutions and devise an action plan using AI, machine learning and data science.
To help them to meet up with the challenge, we invited experienced professionals from pioneering tech giants and innovators to share inspirational vision with them. At the end of the week, students returned to the Institute to present their project results.
Innovation Value Institute at Maynooth University is a multidisciplinary applied research center focusing on digital transformation and technology for over 15 years. Since 2016, it has offered over 4,000 training days to more than 1,500 learners and awarded no less than 800 qualifications. Our students have visited the Institute to learn more how it promotes open innovation and collaboration approach.
Gain insights from AI Experts of Google, Microsoft and Mastercard
During the trip, our AIMS students had the opportunity to meet with industry professionals from well-established companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Mastercard. They attended a talk of Richard Lakucs, a Gaming Growth Manager at Google, who explained the magic behind page ranks and search optimization. The following day, Mohammad Karzand from Microsoft spoke to our AIMS students about ‘The Challenges and Future of Machine Learning’. Students also met James Conway from Mastercard, who spoke about ‘Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Practice Overview and Challenges’.
Meet AI Industry and Research Professionals
The trip was filled with meeting sessions with professionals from both the industry and research center. James Spalding, the founder of VOALÁ, led a session on ‘How We Apply AI to Marketing?’.
Joining the entrepreneur is John Murat, who represented Adison.ai or Talented AI, gave students a talk which centered on ‘Using Artificial Intelligence for Improving Talent Acquisition’.
Understanding that research is indispensable to the development of AI, we have invited Ronan Doorley from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT Media Lab, to speak to our AIMS students about ‘Data Science for Urban Innovation’ at EM Normandie Business School campus in Dublin. Another invited speaker was Mr. Atif Qureshi from Technological University Dublin and Ireland’s Center for Applied AI called CeADAR, who spoke about ‘Artificial Intelligence & Data Science in Research’.
Visit Startup Incubators
Meeting sessions with professionals were accompanied by visits to startup incubators. Our AIMS students have visited Tangent – Trinity’s Ideas Workspace, a collaborative environment set up by Trinity College Dublin to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. They also received a warm welcome by Mr. Robert Macken at the Dogpatch Labs, a curated startup hub, located in the historic CHQ Building and in the heart of Dublin’s Digital Docklands.
Explore the Rich Culture of Ireland
No trips to Dublin would be complete without visiting cultural attractions. They discovered the Irish treasure Book of Kells, a precious 9th century manuscript, which were housed within the Old Library building of Dublin’s Trinity College. The trip ended with a visit to the Guinness Storehouse, which is devoted to the company’s history of the art of beer making.
What Our Student Say
My favorite part of the Dublin business exposure trip was meeting the other students from the EM-Normandie Dublin campus. It was great meeting everyone, and the Dublin campus had some events to have more interaction time with them. The university visits were terrific to see. It’s so interesting how different education can be depending on the country or city. We also had industry experts come and talk to us about what some of their companies do. It was a great insight, and I loved seeing what working in the industry could feel like in the future. The cultural visits were fun as well. One of my favorite visits was a whisky distillery. We had a tour of the history of the grounds and the whisky. It was followed by a tasting as well. We had a project challenge for the Kilkenny Group that we worked on during the week. Even though I had barely any background knowledge for the technical challenge, it was still good to try and use what I learned from the industry experts. I was able to ask the experts a lot of questions relating to my challenge, so they helped formulate my ideas for it.
—-Chase OTTESEN, student of AIMS of Fall 2021 intake