Iolanda Leite: the scientist who seeks to build socially competent robots
The INESC-ID and Técnico alumna is an Assistant Professor and Researcher at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology and she is passionate about robotics.
Iolanda Leite has always been interested in Tamagotchis and Furby robots, and how they worked. Nowadays, she is still fascinated by them and that is reflected in a successful career abroad, at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, where she is an Assistant Professor and Researcher.
Iolanda Leite entered Técnico – Taguspark campus in 2002. “There was a very familiar environment among students, teachers and non-teaching staff. Those times were quite intense”, she says when looking back on those days. “I have very good memories, especially every time we were about to finish a project. I made friends for life in those times”, she recalls.
The passion for robotics arises when she was still a Técnico student attending Artificial Intelligence or Intelligent Agents course units. “The projects were very interesting and the professors inspired me a lot”, she shares. During her MSc degree, she chose to major in Intelligent Systems, “it was probably at that point that I have seriously considered a research career in this area”, she shares.
For further reading: https://tecnico.ulisboa.pt/en/news/campus-community/iolanda-leite-the-scientist-who-seeks-to-build-socially-competent-robots/
*Técnico news credits
Upcoming Events
NII International Internship Programme Presentation and Q&A by Emmanuel Planas
On April 30, Emmanuel Planas, the acting director of the Global Liaison Office (GLO) and responsible for the internationalisation program at the National Institute of Informatics (NII) in Tokyo, Japan, will give a presentation to introduce the NII and its internship program to INESC-ID students and IST’s Master’s in Computer Science students.
Date & Time: April 30, 14h00
Where: Sala Polivalente, Técnico – Taguspark
“The NII International Internship Program is an exchange activity with students from institutions with which NII has concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement. This incentive program aims at giving interns the opportunity for professional and personal development by engaging in research activities under the guidance and supervision of NII researchers.
The NII Internship Program is open to Research Master’s and PhD students who are currently enrolled at one of the partner institutions that have signed an MOU agreement with NII.”
Educational Workshop on Responsible AI for Peace and Security (UNODA)
On June 6 and 7, The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) are offering a selected group of technical students the opportunity to join a 2-day educational workshop on Responsible AI for peace and security.
The third workshop in the series will be held in Porto Salvo, Portugal, in collaboration with GAIPS, INESC-ID, and Instituto Superior Técnico. The workshop is open to students affiliated with universities in Europe, Central and South America, the Middle East and Africa, Oceania, and Asia.
Date & Time: June 6 a 7
Where: IST – Tagus Park, Porto Salvo
Registration deadline: April 8
Summary: “As with the impacts of Artificial intelligence (AI) on people’s day-to-day lives, the impacts for international peace and security include wide-ranging and significant opportunities and challenges. AI can help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, but its dual-use nature means that peaceful applications can also be misused for harmful purposes such as political disinformation, cyberattacks, terrorism, or military operations. Meanwhile, those researching and developing AI in the civilian sector remain too often unaware of the risks that the misuse of civilian AI technology may pose to international peace and security and unsure about the role they can play in addressing them. Against this background, UNODA and SIPRI launched, in 2023, a three-year educational initiative on Promoting Responsible Innovation in AI for Peace and Security. The initiative, which is supported by the Council of the European Union, aims to support greater engagement of the civilian AI community in mitigating the unintended consequences of civilian AI research and innovation for peace and security. As part of that initiative, SIPRI and UNODA are organising a series of capacity building workshops for STEM students (at PhD and Master levels). These workshops aim to provide the opportunity for up-and-coming AI practitioners to work together and with experts to learn about a) how peaceful AI research and innovation may generate risks for international peace and security; b) how they could help prevent or mitigate those risks through responsible research and innovation; c) how they could support the promotion of responsible AI for peace and security.”