IMPRS-IS 2021 Symposium Keynotes

Keynotes will take place from 4:45 to 5:30 p.m. CET on Wednesday, January 27 and Thursday, January 28, 2021.

We encourage all members of our IMPRS-IS community to attend our keynote presentations. Both presentations will take place virtually. Find more details below: 

Keynote Presentation 1: Dr. Ulrike von Luxburg
Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2021
When: 4:45 - 5:30 p.m. CET

Title: The inductive bias in machine learning

Abstract: All machine learning algorithms necessarily have an inductive bias. While this might not be a problem if all we want to do is predict some customer’s behavior (as long as our predictions work well), in science we want to discover "ground truth" and to “understand" the underlying phenomena that generate the data. In particular in applications where data is scarce, as it is the case in many fields of science, the inductive bias might have a considerable influence on the outcome of machine learning algorithms. However, in many fields of machine learning it is not even clear how we could specify, understand or evaluate the inductive bias of an algorithm, let alone understand what the bias is. This is what I am going to discuss in my talk.

Biography: Ulrike von Luxburg is a full professor for the Theory of Machine Learning at the University of Tuebingen, Germany. Her research is focused on statistical and theoretical aspects of unsupervised learning. Next to her own research group, she is coordinating a large research consortium on Machine Learning in Science. She is an active participant in local debates about ethics and responsibility in machine learning.

For more information on Prof. Dr. Ulrike von Luxburg, follow the link:
http://www.tml.cs.uni-tuebingen.de/team/luxburg/things_in_the_past.php

Keynote Presentation 2: Dr. Christoph Keplinger
Date: Thursday, January 28, 2021
When: 4:45 - 5:30 p.m. CET

Title: Robotic materials for the intelligent systems of the future: from soft robotics to energy capture

Abstract: Robots today rely on rigid components and electric motors based on metal and magnets, making them heavy, unsafe near humans, expensive and ill-suited for unpredictable environments. Nature, in contrast, makes extensive use of soft materials and has produced organisms that drastically outperform robots in terms of agility, dexterity, and adaptability. The Robotic Materials Department aims to fundamentally challenge current limitations of robotic hardware, using an interdisciplinary approach that synergizes concepts from soft matter physics and chemistry with advanced engineering technologies to introduce robotic materials – material systems that integrate actuation, sensing and even computation – for a new generation of intelligent systems. This talk gives an overview of fundamental research questions that inspire current and future research directions. One major theme of research is the development of new classes of actuators – a key component of all robotic systems – that replicate the sweeping success of biological muscle, a masterpiece of evolution featuring astonishing all-around actuation performance, the ability to self-heal after damage, and seamless integration with sensing. A second theme of research are functional polymers with unusual combinations of properties, such as electrical conductivity paired with stretchability, transparency, biocompatibility and the ability to self-healing from mechanical and electrical damage. A third theme of research is the discovery of new energy capture principles that can provide power to intelligent autonomous systems, as well as – on larger scales – enable sustainable solutions for the use of waste heat from industrial processes or the use of untapped sources of renewable energy, such as ocean waves.

This talk will end with a brief discussion of the collaborative research style at MPI IS, the mentoring philosophy in the Robotic Materials Department, and the importance of storytelling in science communication.

Biography: Christoph Keplinger is a director at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) in Stuttgart, Germany, where he heads the Robotic Materials Department. Additionally, he is an Eminent Visiting Professor of Soft Robotics at the University of Colorado Boulder, USA. Before joining the Max Planck Society in 2020, he was an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and a Fellow of the Materials Science and Engineering Program at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he also held an endowed appointment serving as Mollenkopf Faculty Fellow.

Building upon his background in soft matter physics (PhD, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria), mechanics and chemistry (Postdoc, Harvard University, USA), he leads a highly interdisciplinary research group at MPI-IS, with a current focus on (I) soft robotics, (II) energy capture and (III) functional polymers. His work has been published in top journals including Science, Science Robotics, PNAS, Advanced Materials and Nature Chemistry, as well as highlighted in popular outlets such as National Geographic and on TED.com. He has received prestigious awards including a 2017 Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, a 2021 Alexander von Humboldt Professorship (declined), and the 2013 EAPromising European Researcher Award from the European Scientific Network for Artificial Muscles. He is the principal inventor of HASEL artificial muscles, a new technology that will help enable a new generation of lifelike robotic hardware; in 2018 he co-founded Artimus Robotics to commercialize the HASEL technology, and has served as Chief Science Officer (CSO) of Artimus since its founding.

For more information on Dr. Christoph Keplinger, follow the link: https://www.is.mpg.de/en/news/christoph-keplinger-joins-the-max-planck-institute-for-intelligent-systems-as-new-director

To access either of the keynote presentations, please contact the IMPRS-IS Coordination Office at imprs@is.mpg.de