RWTH Center for Artificial Intelligence

The RWTH Center for Artificial Intelligence was founded in 2020, with the goal to support and stimulate AI-related research, education, and cooperation within RWTH, as well as with industrial partners. The RWTH Center for Artificial Intelligence brings together all activities related to Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. The new website www.ai.rwth-aachen.de provides an overview of the center.

 

The RWTH AI Center groups the research areas into four main blocks

(1) AI Methods

Research focused on developing the core methodology for AI

(Areas: Machine Learning, Symbolic AI, Bio-Inspired AI, Mathematical Foundations)

(2) AI Enabling Technologies

Research focused on developing the technology enabling the construction of AI systems

(Examples: Vision/Graphics/Image Processing, Speech & Language, Data Management, Next-Generation AI Hardware & Computing,...)

(3) Domain-specific AI

Research related to the multitude of applications of AI in the different disciplines. (Examples: Robotics & Autonomous Systems, Mobility, Biomedical & Health, AI in Physics,...)

(4) Ethical, Legal, Societal, and Economic Aspects

Research focusing on the various impacts AI has on society.

(Areas: Ethics, Law, and Responsibility; Social and Societal Impacts, Economic Aspects)

One of the goals of the center to facilitate collaborations with industry partners to create novel intelligent solutions.

Industry collaborations can range from student projects to long-term public-private partnerships. Through these collaborations, we test state-of-the-art data-driven technologies and gather requirements for the next generation of AI techniques. This way, we aim to achieve a fast transfer from basic research to practice. Access to challenging datasets in logistics, mobility, health, production, energy, business, and life sciences is key for education and research. The RWTH Center for Artificial Intelligence has unique competencies that have been consolidated into open-source software tools that can be used in industrial projects.

Scientific breakthroughs realized by RWTH researchers have led to a range of startups, for instance Celonis, and innovations in larger companies, e.g. at Amazon, Apple, Google, Siemens. The RWTH Center for Artificial Intelligence also collaborates with various Fraunhofer institutes to transfer knowledge to industry. Possible forms of collaborations include:

• Student projects and case studies at the respective chairs
• Contract research, e.g., funding a PhD project on a commonly agreed upon topic
• Collaborative research projects, e.g., BMBF and Horizon 2020 projects
• Strategic alliances, e.g., in the context of the Cluster of Excellence Internet of Production

Prof. Dr. Ir. Wil van der Aalst is one of the four directors. The other directors are Prof. Dr. Bastian Leibe, Prof. Dr. Gerhard Lakemeyer, and Prof. Dr. Sebastian Trimpe.