In an impressive display of skill and innovation, St. Mary's College of Maryland senior computer science majors Alex Stoyanov-Roberts and Shameer Rao clinched first place at the VelocityX: AI Hackathon. The event, which was hosted by the College of Southern Maryland and sponsored by the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, took place over March 21-22.
The hackathon challenged participants to develop an image classification model capable of identifying aircraft. This task falls within the realm of computer vision, a branch of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning that focuses on enabling machines to interpret and understand the visual world. Contestants were provided with a dataset containing thousands of aircraft images to aid in their model development.
Stoyanov-Roberts and Rao, drawing on their academic experience from a course on AI and Natural History (ENST 395 / COSC 480) taught by Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Victor Perez at SMCM, crafted their model using Roboflow, a platform designed to build accurate computer vision models. The pair didn't stop there; they went on to develop their own interface to enhance interaction with their model, showcasing their commitment and innovative thinking.
Their dedication was evident as they spent the majority of their spring break annotating images and refining their model, preparing rigorously for the competition. This hard work paid off, earning them the top spot in the hackathon.
Further highlighting their ambition and expertise in the field, both Stoyanov-Roberts and Rao have been accepted into a PhD program at Morgan State University, where they plan to focus on cybersecurity, marking a significant step forward in their promising careers.
No comments:
Post a Comment