Professor Raghunathan Rengasamy, Dean Global Engagement and the Marti Mannariah Gurunath Institute Chair Professor at IIT Madras delivered an engrossing lecture on the 80th Foundation Day of CSIR at the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, in which he highlighted the advances of machine learning in mimicking human learning and how AI is going to be important for the future of every aspect of science and engineering.

A core member of the Robert Bosch Center for Data Science and AI (RBC-DSAI), the speaker reiterated that Indian engineers and scientists should be actively engaged in contributing significantly to expanding AI skills. Citing examples from his cutting-edge work in systems engineering that integrate Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning he dwelt on concepts ranging from analysis to synthesis in data science for solving hardcore industrial problems in chemical engineering.

He mentioned the shift in recent years in data analysis applications, where reasoning about systems is moving from the use of domain knowledge and data to the use of purely data-based analysis. He discussed the significance of domain agnostic methods for the integration of prior knowledge in learning algorithms. From commenting on “perseverance” as one of the most valued attributes needed in research, the lecture commenced with a simple yet elegant example of the application of AI in the prediction of ageing using a personal photograph. Applying a neural network-based AI algorithm that analyses a face and predicts how a face will age over the years.

Earlier, Dr Ashish Lele, Director, NCL, in a crisp welcome shared anecdotes on the foundation and inception of CSIR. Professor Raghu Rengasamy inaugurated the 27th edition of NCL-ALOK, a biannual Hindi magazine. The event was moderated by Dr Sarika Bhattacharrya and Dr Anu Raghunathan.