In December 2008, the Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Machine Learning (AICML) met with TEC Edmonton to decide what commercial applications could be found for the technologies they were developing. TEC Edmonton’s EIRs developed a new business strategy, which helped AICML secure funding of approximately $10 million over 5 years from Alberta Ingenuity. AICML is a centre that supports research in a branch of artificial intelligence that finds patterns in large data sets, that is, algorithms that ‘learn’ by analyzing data patterns and processing various external inputs, such as sensory input – intuitive ‘learning machines’.

This funding is crucial component of the Centre’s ability to operate and without it, AICML would likely dissolve. Dr. Randy Goebel, Principal Investigator (PI) for AICML and Professor in Computing Science at the University of Alberta, is grateful to TEC Edmonton, in particular, Robert Murakami, former NRC-IRAP Executive-in-Residence.

“Robert articulated and will implement a business strategy for commercialization that we, as PIs, understand, while at the same time does not compromise our ability to independently, scientifically investigate areas of interest to us,”
says Dr. Goebel. Recognizing the value of TEC Edmonton’s expertise in technology transfer and company development, AICML signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with TEC Edmonton. The MOU acknowledges that TEC Edmonton will support inventions with potential commercial value.
A specific example of this new collaboration process between business and academic research will be the development of new health care applications through a research charter with Alberta Health Services. 

“Working closely with the AICML is a great opportunity and challenge as this Centre has some of the best scientific researchers in the world,” says Murakami.

“An integral part of the strategy developed is the creation of a company called Myriad Machine Learning, Inc. (M2L) which will complete software application developments for industrial clients.”