Have you ever heard of the Memorial University AI and Games Lab?

For the past 10 years, the lab has hosted one of the world’s premier artificial intelligence (AI) video game competitions. 

It’s just one of the many examples of artificial intelligence research and development at Memorial.

The ship-based simulators at the Marine Institute use AI. Researchers are combining biology and AI to solve complex medical challenges and improve personalized medicine. And a team in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science is using new forms of data to determine what services are needed for a 911 call — before the call is even received.   

So it makes sense that Memorial will soon open a Centre for Artificial Intelligence. The federal and provincial governments, with contributions from Memorial, are investing nearly $2 million to develop the new space in the Core Science Facility, space that we hope will generate research that will add to our total sponsored research income of $176 million last year.

The centre will serve as a collaborative teaching, outreach and continuing education space. It will bring together AI and computer-related research and students from across the campus and beyond.

In particular, it will support the three new high-tech programs that will begin this fall — master’s degree programs in software engineering, artificial intelligence and data science. These programs will increase the number of people with the skills needed to support the economic growth of the high-tech industry in the province.

Upwards trajectory

Newfoundland and Labrador’s tech sector is expected to add upwards of 5,000 jobs over the next decade and Memorial is working closely with industry to ensure our graduates are ready for those careers.

Over the last five years, Memorial has tripled the number of graduates in undergraduate computer science and computer engineering programs. We are working to increase that trajectory.

As Jamie King, president and CEO of Verafin, said during the 2021 Alumni Tribute Awards ceremony, “600 of our 800 employees are graduates of a single university [Memorial] … if that doesn’t tell you how important Memorial University is to this province and our ecosystem, nothing will.”

A Memorial education — built on our existing strength in tech and AI, enhanced by the resources in the new Centre for Artificial Intelligence and supported by our entrepreneurial programming — will allow our graduates to succeed as part of existing companies like Verafin. 

Or maybe they will create their own high tech company and contribute to a better future.

Either way, the province and the world needs these bright young minds.

After all, entrepreneurship, technology and the desire to drive positive change are how the world’s toughest problems get solved.