In mid-November, five HBHL聽Fellows attended the (MAIN2019) at Universit茅 de Montr茅al. In this third annual edition of the MAIN conference, attendees had a unique opportunity to hear from experts from the fields of neuroscience and artificial intelligence. As HBHL聽contributed聽funding for the conference itself for the third consecutive year, the HBHL Fellows were able to attend the conference free of charge.
Read on to hear from some聽of the HBHL Fellows聽about their experience at the conference:
Marie-Elyse Lafaille-Magnan
鈥淢AIN2019 was a tour de force and at times a circus show (video game bloopers, data blitz, blackboard, Panda in the room聽and聽the audience). There were talks from expert scientist聽in all fields to push us to think about machine learning design, application, and interpretation. There were mind-bending moments that brought me back to my undergrad courses in physical chemistry and biochemistry. It was very insightful to listen and partake in the discussion that shapes the development of AI and its application in neuroscience. Dr. Mackenzie Mathis blew my mind. I really want to learn more about the tools she created and explore their application. I liked the data blitz and the poster sessions, as well as the panels. I'm glad I could attend such a conference after learning about deep learning with IVADO and MILA. My best conference takeaways are that it's okay to use a random forest algorithm, partial least square regression and that transporting preexisting models may be a solution to use ML in a small sample.鈥�
Mehrdad Asghari Estiar
鈥淭his conference provided me a great opportunity to familiarize myself with state-of-the-art machine learning technologies to address cutting-edge research questions in clinical neuroscience. Moreover, I was fascinated by some presentations such as Dr. Amy Orsborn from University of Washington, Dr. Mackenzie Mathis (Harvard University) and Dr. Patricia Conrod (Universit茅 de Montr茅al).鈥澛�
Konstantin Senkevich
鈥淭he purpose of the MAIN conference was to boost the exchange of research on artificial intelligence and deep learning in neuroscience and their biological, technological, mathematical聽and theoretical aspects. I had never previously attended meetings about artificial intelligence. The conference helped me to deeper understand current patterns in the field and see a real application. I met colleagues in different areas and shared a lot of discussions about the possible application of deep learning and artificial intelligence in my field.鈥澛�
Pierre-Fran莽ois Meyer
鈥淭he MAIN 2019 conference was an incredible experience. The line-up of speakers from a variety of fields (industry, academic theoretical and applied to real world problems) was simply incredible and the content inspiring. Attending the conference was a great way to get a 鈥榯our鈥� of where the machine learning field is currently at, see the diversity of approaches and get an idea of the road that remains to be travelled to obtain truly intelligent machines. This was also a great opportunity to interact with a vibrant AI community from the Montr茅al area and opens up the possibilities for collaboration. I am eagerly looking forward for next year!鈥�
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