Dr. Paul Kearns, director of Argonne National Laboratory, welcomed more than 200 middle and high school students to the U.S. Department of Energy STEM-CON: Artificial Intelligence – Compute the Future on Oct. 1, 2019. The first DOE STEM-CON in the country was held at the Gary Comer Youth Center on the South Side of Chicago. The free, after-school, interactive computing event provided area youth a chance to learn more about careers in computing and artificial intelligence (AI).
“In this room alone, and across this neighborhood, we have lots of new ideas and boundless curiosity—two qualities that are needed to accomplish great science,“ Kearns said. “You have the potential to achieve great innovations and discoveries that we have yet to imagine.”
Attendees also heard opening remarks from U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, who represents the 1st Congressional District of Illinois where the event was held; James Campos, the Director of Economic Impact and Diversity Office at the Department of Energy; and Dr. Chris Fall, Director of the Office of Science at the Department of Energy.
Argonne and six other national laboratories provided hands-on AI experiences, including cracking the event robot’s code, exploring virtual worlds on VR headsets, and teaching computers to recognize colors. In the temporary computer lab, students used IBM Watson to train a computer to identify objects as trash or recyclable material, and participated in a computational scavenger hunt. SciByte speakers, including Dr. Bobby Kasthuri of Argonne, shared DOE projects that leverage AI technology. Argonne Student Intern Ambassadors provided insights about research and career opportunities within the Laboratory and DOE.
Argonne’s participation in DOE STEM-CON is an example of how the Laboratory is increasing its engagement in Chicago and with diverse communities. “Argonne’s Education and Outreach Programs division is about connecting today’s world-class research to tomorrow’s STEM problem solvers,” said manager Meridith Bruozas. “Through this event, students make connections with AI technologies, learn about careers in computing and AI, build their own confidence in STEM and envision their future in STEM or even an AI field.”
DOE STEM-CON: Artificial Intelligence – Compute the Future was held in conjunction with the InnovationXLab Artificial Intelligence Summit in Chicago on October 2-3, 2019.