GEC NEWS WIREForty-five international STEM students participated in a month-long undergraduate internship at the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) in Abu Dhabi, gaining exposure to cutting-edge AI research and world-renowned faculty.
A rigorous selection process was undertaken for the second edition of the Undergraduate Research Internship Program (UGRIP), which is a four-week program for top-flight undergraduate students to develop foundational AI knowledge and hands-on research skills.
The university’s growing reputation as a hub for quality AI research and publishing at top conferences attracted applications from around the world including the US, Canada, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Colombia, Vietnam, India, Egypt, South Korea, and Kazakhstan. Many of the aspiring researchers are from leading global computer science universities including IIT Madras, Harvard University, Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Vietnam National University HCM City, and Australian National University.
“A core part of MBZUAI’s mission is to identify and nurture the next generation of innovators and leaders in AI, and the 32% growth of UGRIP in just its second year shows the increasing prominence of our university globally and the attractiveness of studying in UAE,” MBZUAI’s Provost, Professor Timothy Baldwin.
The UGRIP interns chose from a range of AI research projects based on their personal interests, and academic and career aspirations. The projects including developing a metaverse prototype for digital healthcare, enhancing the accuracy and robustness of baby cry analysis models using AI; and systematically evaluating the generalizability of large language models across languages and tasks.
Interns also participated in a brain tumor segmentation challenge, which used computer vision techniques to detect tumors in medical images and had the opportunity to engage in an insightful industry panel discussion about the UAE’s AI sector and job market.
To complement their research and interactions with MBZUAI’s expert faculty, the UGRIP interns also experienced the UAE’s rich history and culture through a series of cultural trips facilitated by Abu Dhabi Residents Office (ADRO) and the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT) to places such as Qasr Al Hosn, Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque, and Abrahamic Family House.
