CY-MATHS-IN Seminar: Real and Artificial Intelligence for Science and Engineering

These are exciting times for mathematicians working in the area of Computational Science and Engineering (CSE). The hardware on which we run our simulations has changed dramatically, data science has come into the picture, and artificial intelligence, especially machine learning, has become omnipresent. Mathematicians must adapt to this new situation and come up with entirely new methods and use out-of-the-box thinking. This holds especially true for the field of machine learning, where more and more criticism is heard: we do not understand why methods work or do not work, it is unclear which features are used to take decisions, the topology of networks is often guesswork, the concepts of time, space and causality are not used, and many more issues.
On the other hand, researchers within the CSE area have realized that machine learning and neural networks could aid in building more accurate models, and in this way contribute to, for example, digital twinning where extremely accurate models and efficient simulations are highly necessary. The USA is a front-runner in the field of combining CSE and AI/ML methods, but Europe is in an excellent position to contribute significantly to this exciting new area.

In the lecture, we will start with some opening thoughts and a brief history of AI/ML, followed by examples of how we can make bridges between CSE and AI to benefit advanced simulations, especially those necessary in an industrial context.

Wil Schilders studied Mathematics, with Physics and Astronomy, at the Radboud University in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, from 1974-1978, and obtained his PhD from Trinity College Dublin in 1980. From 1980-2006 he worked at Philips Research, mainly on mathematical software for semiconductor device simulation and electronic circuit simulation, and from 2006-2010 at NXP Semiconductors.

Since 1999, he was also a part-time professor at TU Eindhoven on scientific computing for industry. In 2010, he moved to TU Eindhoven, and also became the director of the Platform Wiskunde Nederland. He has been active within the European Consortium for Mathematics in Industry (ECMI), being president in 2010-2011 and chairing the Research and Innovation Committee for many years. From 2015-20, he was president of EU-MATHS-IN, the European Service Network of Mathematics for Industry and Innovation (www.eu-maths-in.eu). 

In 2019 he was elected officer-at-large of ICIAM, and in 2021 president-elect. He will be the president of ICIAM in 2023-2027. In 2020, he was the 4^th Mittelsten-Scheid guest professor at Bergische Universitaet Wuppertal, and since 2021 he is a Hans Fischer Senior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study at TU Munich.

He is a fellow of SIAM, and was awarded the Dutch Stairway to Impact award end of 2022. More information: http://www.win.tue.nl/~wschilde/.