User:ArjaynPiratheeparatnam/sandbox

Western AI (WAI)

Formation	September 2019
Type	Software Development
Location	Canada London, Ontario
Parent organization	University of Western Ontario
Students	Undergraduate
Website	https://www.linkedin.com/company/westernuai/

Western AI (WAI)

Introduction

Western AI (WAI) is a nonprofit organization based in London, Ontario, Canada, founded in September 2019 by undergraduate students and sanctioned by The University of Western Ontario (Western University). The organization aims to create a community for like-minded undergraduate students at Western University who share a passion for Artificial Intelligence (AI). Throughout the years, WAI has hosted many events to engage its members and other students who share a similar interest in their goals, from coding competitions, workshops, social meet-ups, and presentations from AI experts. WAI also provides undergraduate students with opportunities to gain professional experience in executive, senior director, project management, or project developer roles.

History

Organization Debut

In the 2019/2020 academic school year, from September to April, a few undergraduate students that were also the first executive members of the organization came together to form the organization Western AI to create a community for Artificial intelligence at Western University. Their first launch event was announced on their official Instagram page, and held on September 23rd, 2019, where 160 members joined the organization to fill the newly developed roles that continue to be available for students at the beginning of each year. Unfortunately, due to the rising COVID-19 pandemic, schools were forced to shut down, and their plans to grow WAI were at a standstill. Later in June 2020, WAI introduced a temporary opportunity for students through their Summer Project Teams.

Background

Since that year, as the pandemic gradually became less of a concern, The number of members that were involved with Western AI continued to increase each year as WAI hosted new social events, more project teams through WAI Projects, coding competitions, inviting AI experts to deliver presentations, as well as attending other AI-related events across Canada. They have also had the opportunity to partner with major tech companies. Some of their noteworthy events include DataQuest, AInnovation, ChatGPT workshop, and many more.

Events

Coding Competitions

Western AI began hosting coding competitions (hackathons) in 2021 for university students across Canada to gain learning experience in AI and other Machine Learning techniques. They currently host two hackathons, which are called DataQuest and AInnovation. Their events also include presentations and workshops from other experts in the industry to speak about their experience, their journey, and how they landed positions for top-tier tech companies around the world. AInnovation first debuted in October 2022, and it received partnerships from companies like Deloitte, Cohere, and Morrissette Entrepreneurship. DataQuest was held in March 2023, which included sponsorship and speakers from the following companies, Alectra Utilities, Bell Canada, Scotiabank, IBM, Microsoft, Publicis Sapient, Zapier, MasterCard, Shopify, Clarivate, Four Seasons, and Vector Institute. Winners within the top 3 also receive special prizes in these hackathons. WAI annually attends the Canadian Undergraduate Conference for Artificial Intelligence (CUCAI) as well, where they select specific teams with the most innovative projects compared to the rest of the teams in WAI Projects.

Social Meet-Ups

Some of the social meet-ups that Western AI has hosted include a Valorant gaming contest, a Bowling Social at Fleetway, annual meetings, and many more. The objective behind these social events is to engage with the members of WAI to produce a unique community. It also allows both general and role members to network and learn from each other.

Workshops and Presentations

Some of the workshops WAI hosts are a part of their hackathons and are held individually. Some of their popular workshops include their ChatGPT workshop, Machine Learning Project educational, which predicts the outcome of the World Cup, and an introduction to AWS. Like their workshops, their individual presentations are also held through their hackathons. They have invited critical speakers from major tech companies like IBM, Amazon, and Deloitte.