MBZUAI’s first 52 graduates set to leverage AI technology
STUDENTS EARN MASTER’S DEGREES IN COMPUTER VISION, MACHINE LEARNING
The Mohammad Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) yesterday honoured its inaugural class of graduates in a ceremony in Abu Dhabi.
The 52 Class of 2022 graduates had pursued two-year Masters degrees in one of two fields of specialisation — computer vision and machine learning. The graduates received their degrees from Shaikh Theyab Bin Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Member of Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Chairman of the Crown Prince Court.
The event was also attended by Bruno Le Maire, French Minister for Economy and Finance; Omar Bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications; and Sarah Al Amiri, UAE Minister of State for Public Education and Future Technology.
Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, COP28 President and chairman of the MBZUAI, urged the graduates to join the UAE’s drive towards transformational progress.
Dr Al Jaber said: “By embracing the promise of AI, we are taking the next logical step in our national development strategy. AI will transform every aspect of our lives. We stand on the verge of a technological revolution that will be unlike anything we have experienced before, and MBZUAI is at the forefront of what comes next.”
MBZUAI, which opened in 2019, is the world’s first research-based university dedicated to development of AI.
Dr Eric Xing, MBZUAI president, said the university’s degrees are already considered among the world’s top 25 programmes in their areas of specialisation, including AI, computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing.
The inaugural class included students from 24 nationalities, including eight Emiratis. One third of the graduates were female, and a number of them plan to stay on in the UAE and drive the nation’s AI vision.
Emirati Mohammad Al Zaabi, 26, a reservoir engineer and a person of determination, said: “For my thesis, I chose to research deep neural networks. I like challenges, and it helped me learn more about data visualisation.”
Shahad Al Shamsi, 26, was another Emirati graduate. She was selected as class valedictorian, and urged her fellow graduates to focus on turning their learnings into deliverables that will benefit their communities and the world.