The Third Annual DataX+IDRE ‘Research in the Age of AI’ Symposium will feature distinguished researchers from departments across UCLA to speak on the use, development, and impact of AI in research. This multidisciplinary event will showcase advancements of artificial intelligence across diverse academic fields, as well as leading voices on the effects of AI. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with experts, explore innovative research, and join in thought-provoking discussions. The goal of the event is to build connections among UCLA researchers who engage with AI.
During the scheduled breaks, attendees will have the opportunity to connect with both campus and external stakeholders during the Collaboration Hub. Participating organizations include Health Information Technology (DGIT), Technology Development Group (TDG), Center for Teaching & Learning, HumTech, Social Sciences Center for Education Research & Technology, Library Data Science Center, DataX, OARC, NVIDIA, & Oracle.
Space is limited and registration will be capped. Refreshments, lunch, and an afternoon reception will be provided.
Venue: UCLA University Club
Date: Thursday, May 7, 2026
Time: 8:30 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.
The symposium is open to current UCLA faculty, academic and staff employees, and students.
Program
8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Registration and light breakfast
9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Welcome
9:15 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Keynote
- Achuta Kadambi, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
10:00 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Panel discussion: Bringing AI Research to Market
- Moderator: Joel Kehle, UCLA Technology Digital Group, Business Development Officer – Software/Copyright/Physical Science, Engineering & MedTech Team
- Panelists:
- Achuta Kadambi, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
- Gaurav Sant, Pritzker Professor of Sustainability, School of Engineering, and Founding Director: Institute for Carbon Management
- Ajay Rayasam, Principal, Osage University Partners
11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Research Talk
- Wei Wang, Leonard Kleinrock Chair Professor, Department of Computer Science and Computational Medicine and the Director of the Scalable Analytics Institute (ScAi)
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m Research Talk
- Levelling Up AI Governance – Invasion of the Coffee Drones – Julia Powles, Professor, Executive Director of the UCLA Institute for Technology, Law & Policy, Director of Tech Policy at UCLA DataX
12:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m. Research Talk
- From Agent Models to Agent Societies: No mind is an Island – Guang Cheng, Graduate Vice Chair, Professor of Statistics and Data Science, of Computer Science, and of Biostatistics, UCLA
12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Lunch
1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. New Faculty Showcase
- Understanding and Overcoming Alignment Challenges in Designing with Generative A – J.D. Zamfirescu-Pereira, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science
- Making AI useful in a world of scattered data – Sijia (Lucy) Li, Assistant Professor, Department of Biostatistics at the Fielding School of Public Health
- Uncertainty Quantification of LLM-Powered Predictions – Xiaowu Dai, Assistant Professor, Department of Statistics and Data Science, Department of Biostatistics, and IDRE affiliated faculty
- Generative diffusions for probabilistic forecasting and Bayesian computation – Yifan Chen, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics and DataX affiliated faculty
2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Lightning Talks – IDRE Fellow/DataX Post Doctoral Fellows
- Time Series Foundation Models (TSFMs) for Carbon-Aware Research and Sustainability – Kang Yang, IDRE Fellow, Postdoctoral Scholar in the Networked and Embedded Systems Laboratory (NESL), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Paloma Casteleiro Costa, IDRE Fellow, Postdoctoral Scholar in the Ozcan’s Research Lab, Department of Electrical Engineering
- Shazeda Ahmed, DataX Postdoctoral Scholar
3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Symposium Closing Talk
-
AI in Sport: A Look to the LA Olympics and Beyond – Jacqueline Alderson, Professor of Biomechanics; Director, Tech & Human Performance, UCLA DataX
3:30 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. Symposium Reception
This is an in-person event.
Location
The symposium will be held at the UCLA University Club at 480 Charles E Young Dr E, Los Angeles, CA 90095.
Please refer to the parking website for the most current information about parking at UCLA. The closest parking lot is Parking Structure 2 at 602 Charles E. Young Drive, East Los Angeles, CA 90095.
Click the map to enlarge
Co-sponsors
- IDRE
- DataX
- Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activities
- Office of Advanced Research Computing