TGGD #17: Dr. Sheila McIlraith, Computer Science, University of Toronto

What is the Semantic web and how will it change our lives and how we use the Internet? How far off is Artificial Intelligence - the stuff of dreams, books and movies? What type of research is happening in the robotics field right in our own city?

We are pleased to welcome Dr. Sheila McIlraith, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, as our featured speaker for our final Toronto Girl Geek Dinner of 2009.

As our guest speaker, Sheila will touch upon the following topics:

* cognitive robotics -- creating thinking robots
* what cognitive robotics has to do with the semantic web
* some of the long-term societal influences of AI research

Sheila McIlraith is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto. Prior to joining U of T, Prof. McIlraith spent six years as a Research Scientist at Stanford University, and one year at Xerox PARC. McIlraith's research is in the area of knowledge representation and reasoning. She has 10 years of industrial R&D experience developing artificial intelligence applications. McIlraith is the author of over 50 scholarly publications. She is an associate editor of the journal Artificial Intelligence and past program co-chair of the International Semantic Web Conference. McIlraith's early work on Semantic Web Services has had notable impact. Her research has also made practical contributions to the development of next-generation NASA space systems and to emerging Web standards.

More TGGD Details:

The formal portion of the program kicks off at 7:00. Folks usually gather between 6:00 and 7:00. Meals/drinks are cash & carry. We charge a $10.00 fee to sign up for the event. This money will be directly allocated to your first drink at dinner. If you sign up to attend, please come. Our events frequently sell out and we have many people on the wait list. If you can't attend, please change your RSVP asap so that it opens the door to others who might want to join us. Toronto Girl Geek Dinners are part of the global Girl Geek Dinner movement. The goal of Girl Geek Dinners is to make technology accessible and interesting to all age groups and all people, particularly women. The rule is that guys are welcome as long as they are invited by a girl geek.