Part of IBM Community - 122 groups

CT OpenSource AI Connect

Hamden, CT, US

45 members · Public group

What we’re about

CT OpenSource AI Connect is a Connecticut-based IBM meetup group hosted at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT, focused on exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence and society. We cover topics such as Artificial General Intelligence, recommender systems, cloud-based machine learning, and the latest trends in AutoML.
This meetup is open to all—whether you're a beginner or an expert, there's something for everyone in our engaging discussions and hands-on workshops. Join us to network with professionals and enthusiasts who are passionate about advancing AI technology and its impact on our world.
We proudly collaborate with The Open AI Community and support the AI Alliance, which is committed to building and advancing open source AI agents, data, models, evaluation, safety, applications, and advocacy to ensure everyone can benefit.

### Focus Areas of the AI Alliance:

Skills & Education: Supporting global AI skill-building, education, and exploratory research.
Trust and Safety: Ensuring safe and trusted generative AI with benchmarks, tools, and methodologies.
Applications and Tools: Building the most capable tools for AI model builders and GenAI application developers.
Hardware Enablement: Fostering a vibrant AI hardware accelerator ecosystem through enabling software technology.
Open Foundation Models and Datasets: Enabling an ecosystem of open foundation models, including multilingual and multi-modal capabilities, and open datasets.
Advocacy: Supporting regulatory policies that create healthy, sustainable, and open ecosystems for AI.

Upcoming events

See all

Network event
Thu, Nov 13 · 12:00 EST
•
Online
[AI Alliance] Gofannon: Ramen
Online
1 attendee from 115 groups
Everyone is talking about agents; if you don't have agents already in production you are hopelessly behind. Wasn't vibe coding supposed to take care of everyone's computer problems? How am I behind if AI takes care of everything for me now? Maybe I need an MCP and then I'll be caught up. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a tool where I could just say what I wanted the agent to do and it would vibe it out for me? And then maybe I could tell it what I wanted the app to look like, and it would vibe that out too. That day is today, that tool is called gofannon.

In this talk we'll discuss our motivations for making gofannon, lessons learned that we've incorporated from prior iterations, and a (possibly live) demo where we'll go from idea to deployed app. See you there!

About the presenter
Trevor Grant (IBM)

About the AI Alliance
The AI Alliance is an international community of researchers, developers and organizational leaders committed to support and enhance open innovation across the AI technology landscape to accelerate progress, improve safety, security and trust in AI, and maximize benefits to people and society everywhere. Members of the AI Alliance believe that open innovation is essential to develop and achieve safe and responsible AI that benefit society rather than benefit a select few big players.

Join the community
Sign up for the AI Alliance newsletter (check the website footer) and join our new AI Alliance Discord.
Network event
Thu, Nov 20 · 12:00 EST
•
Online
[AI Alliance] SEMIONT – AI-Native Knowledge Kernel for Human/Agent Collaboration
Online
117 attendees from 115 groups
Meet Semiont, the wiki-like knowledge base supporting graph retrieval, where humans and agents co-create Knowledge. Includes MCP server.

About the presenter
Adam Pingel (LinkedIn, GitHub) is IBM's Head of Open Tools and Applications for the AI Alliance. Adam has been fascinated by AI and chatbots since playing with Racter in the 80’s. But the “winters” were long and frequent. The stars aligned in 2015 when he became VPE at Ravel Law. Ravel was building AI-powered tools for the legal industry and was working with Harvard Law School on what is now known as the Caselaw Access Project. After an acquisition by LexisNexis in 2017, he moved his family to Raleigh (in 2019) to take the role of CTO of Global Platforms. In 2022 he joined IBM to work on domain-specific applications of generative AI. Adam holds an MS and BS in CS from UCLA and Stanford, respectively. When not at a keyboard, he enjoys spending time with his family.

About the AI Alliance
The AI Alliance is an international community of researchers, developers and organizational leaders committed to support and enhance open innovation across the AI technology landscape to accelerate progress, improve safety, security and trust in AI, and maximize benefits to people and society everywhere. Members of the AI Alliance believe that open innovation is essential to develop and achieve safe and responsible AI that benefit society rather than benefit a select few big players.

Join the community
Sign up for the AI Alliance newsletter (check the website footer) and join our new AI Alliance Discord.
1 attendee from this group
Thu, Nov 20 · 17:00 EST
Kick off - Discovering the Power of Open Source AI with IBM
Qunnipiac University School of Business - CT Opensource Meetup , Room SB 170, 275 Mount Carmel Avenue, Hamden, CT, US
### Meetup Description:

Join us for the Executive Kick-Off of CT OpenSource AI Connect, a new initiative dedicated to advancing open-source AI through collaboration, innovation, and community engagement. Hosted at Quinnipiac University in partnership with the IBM AI Alliance, this event brings together thought leaders from academia, industry, and open-source communities to explore the transformative potential of AI for society.

What to Expect:

Networking & Refreshments to kick off the evening

Opening Remarks and the vision behind CT OpenSource AI Connect

Executive Insights on enterprise data, security, and industry collaboration

Sneak Peek Talks on Quantum AI and trending areas in AI research & open development

Engaging Discussions on ethical innovation and open collaboration

Open Source AI Workshop

Bring your laptops, notebooks, pencils or pen for workshop and sessions

Whether you're an AI researcher, technologist, executive, or student, this meetup offers a unique opportunity to connect, contribute, and co-create the future of open AI.
Let’s ignite collaboration, inspire innovation, and impact society—together..

Thanks to Quinnipiac University Dean and Faculty for hosting this event
Dean: Prof. Taskin Kocak
Associate Dean: Brian O'Neill,
Faculty: Prof. Mostafa Analoui, Prof. Guido Lang, Prof. Chetan Jaisawal

Location: School of Business, Room SB 170, Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT
Date: Nov 20'th 2025
Start Time: 5:00 PM

***

🕠 5:00 PM – 5:20 PM
Item: Meetup Start, Networking & Refreshments

🕠 5:00 PM – 5:20 PM
Item: QPU Talk
Presenter: QPU Dean and Faculty
🕠 5:30 PM – 5:45 PM
Item: Welcome & Kick-Off (IBM)
Presenter: Sanjeev Kumar Marimekala, (STSM and Thought Leader (Enterprise Architect), IBM, CIO and CT OpenSource AI Connect Chair
Talk Title: "Ignite Collaboration. Inspire Innovation. Impact Society."
Description: Introduction to the CT OpenSource AI Connect initiative and the purpose.
- Democratizing AI innovation through open collaboration
- Bridging academia and industry
- Empowering communities with ethical AI
- Creating a platform for mentorship and learning
🕠 5:45 PM – 6:00 PM
Item: Executive Insights, IBM
Presenter: Ed Lovely, VP and Chief Data Officer, IBM, F&O
Talk Title: "Enterprise Data, Security, and Industry Collaboration"
Description:
A strategic perspective on how enterprise data governance, security frameworks, and cross-industry collaboration are shaping the future of open-source AI. This session will highlight key challenges, emerging best practices, and opportunities for collective innovation.

🕕 6:15 PM – 6:30 PM
Item: Sneak Peek Talk - Academic Perspective
Presenter: Prof. Phillip Bradford, Associate Professor, Computing Dept. University of Connecticut
Talk Title: "Quantum AI – Common Threads"
Description:
An exploration of the intersection between quantum computing and artificial intelligence, highlighting shared principles, emerging research, and the potential for transformative breakthroughs. This session will connect theoretical foundations with practical implications for open-source AI development.

🕕 6:15 PM – 6:30 PM
Item: Sneak Peek Talk (Remote) - ResearchNet.ai
Presenter: Arunava (Ron) Majumdar, Founder & CEO
Talk Title: "Trending Areas in AI Research and Open development"
Description:
A spotlight on emerging trends in AI research—from foundation models and multimodal learning to federated AI and open-source tooling. This session will explore how open development practices are accelerating innovation, democratizing access, and shaping the future of responsible AI.

🕕 6:30 PM – 6:35 PM
Item: Sneak Peek Talk (Remote) - Texas State University
Presenter: Prof. Damian Valles, HIPE Director
Talk Title: "Trending Areas in AI Research and Open development Clearer AI Transparency and Trust in Academic Research"
Description:
The talk covers an overview of transparency practices, such as data disclosure, code availability, and reproducibility, that are adopted (or neglected) in AI research publications. By analyzing academic publishing trends, it highlights the gaps between claimed openness and actual accessibility, and explores how these practices affect trust, accountability, and scientific progress. Many are considering large language models to enhance transparency, from automated literature audits to generating reproducible research workflows, presenting both opportunities and challenges for academic integrity.

🕕 6:35 PM – 7:00 PM
Item: Workshop (IBM)
Presenter: Joe Sepi, Program Director, Open Technologies and Developer Advocacy, IBM, Research
Workshop Details: "Open Source AI Workshop"
Workshop Description:
You've probably heard how tools like ChatGPT are changing workflows — but when it comes to privacy, security, and control, using public AI tools isn't always an option. In this hands-on workshop, you'll learn how to run your own local, open-source LLMs — no cloud, no cost, and no compromise. We'll walk through installing and running models with tools like ollama, AnythingLLM, and continue using familiar environments like VS Code. By the end, you'll have a fully functional local AI assistant, ready to support your work securely and offline. Our overarching goals of this workshop is as follows:Learn about Open Source AI and its general use cases.
Use an open source LLM that is built in a verifiable and legal way.
Learn about Prompt Engineering and how to leverage a local LLM in daily tasks.
26 attendees