Overview The UCF Strategic Investment Program invests in core academic activities to support President Alexander N. Cartwright’s vision that UCF will become a “University for the Future” as a top public institution and the world’s leading public metropolitan research university. The investments align with areas of strategic emphasis identified by UCF’s strategic plan as approved by its Board of Trustees. Through the Artificial Intelligence Initiative, close to thirty new AI faculty will be hired, who will be tenured in 5 different colleges: College of Engineering and Computer Science, College of Medicine, College of Sciences, College of Optics and Photonics and College of Business. To apply for one of these positions, please click here. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the world and everyday lives — from facial recognition on phones to smart home devices to security measures implemented for online banking. By some estimates, the global artificial intelligence market will grow sixteen fold from 2020 to 2028, reaching nearly $1 trillion. UCF seeks to be a leading AI research and workforce provider in offering a top-quality education in this field for undergraduate and graduate students. An interdisciplinary team led by Mubarak Shah, professor of Computer Science, will pursue groundbreaking technologies to benefit society and strengthen AI research, security and commercialization in Orlando, state of Florida and the nation. The team includes experts from Engineering, Medicine, Business, Optics and Sciences. It will leverage strengths in AI and computer vision to expand into other core areas, such as robotics, natural language processing, speech recognition and machine learning, and applications. Among the goals are to conduct research to advance future AI industries and to bring together a diverse range of practitioners who will help prepare Florida for the momentous societal challenges and opportunities associated with AI.
