From Edge AI to AI Applications for Improved Rehabilitation and Automated Transportation Processes
In which areas do internationally renowned companies such as Google, DeepMind, Infineon, bulwiengesa, and Deepset AI utilize machine learning and data science? What research are Bavarian universities and institutes—such as the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MIRMI) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) or the German Aerospace Center (DLR)—conducting? In Regensburg, the “Women in Data Science” conference has been providing answers to these questions for four years now. The conference continues to grow: This year at the Jahnstadion, seven female speakers, nearly 20 poster presenters, and around 150 participants used the event as a platform for a substantively informed exchange between academia, industry, and early-career researchers.
The team of volunteers gave a positive assessment: With around 150 participants from all over Germany, the event was fully booked. The wide range of topics covered at the one-day conference certainly contributed to the high level of interest. The presentations by high-caliber female experts ranged from data-driven approaches in rehabilitation to the use of data science in the real estate sector and trends in automation in machine learning (AutoML), all the way to an introduction to edge AI for data scientists. Special attention was given to the current state of research on the use of large language models. However, the application of causal models for safety analysis of automated transportation systems, as well as ethical aspects in the field of generative artificial intelligence, were also topics of discussion. In addition to the expert presentations, “Women in Data Science” also offers early-career female researchers opportunities to showcase their research findings within the regional AI scene and to network within the community. “This year, 18 early-career female researchers from universities and companies participated in the poster session,” report Prof. Dr. Maike Stern and Dr. Elisabeth Moser with delight. Both played a key role in shaping the conference’s content in 2024. The posters also confirmed what was already evident from the range of presentations: AI is widely present even in the research context; the contributions spanned topics from design and the social sciences to “typical” data science and industry.
“Women in Data Science Regensburg” is an independent symposium organized by a team of about ten people—comprising students, early-career researchers, and corporate representatives—in partnership with the conference of the same name at Stanford University. Additional supporters include Regensburg’s universities, the City of Regensburg, the Strategic Partnership for Sensors (Strategische Partnerschaft Sensorik e.V.), and other local partners from the high-tech sector. The conference makes a valuable contribution to raising Regensburg’s profile as a hub for high-tech research.
“Women in Data Science” sets an example for diversity in STEM professions. The conference was originally initiated by a female professor from Stanford. She had noticed that speakers at conferences—particularly in the field of data science—were almost exclusively men, while women were notably absent. Although only women present at WiDS conferences, participants of all genders are explicitly welcome.