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Published on Monday, 24 April 2023 09:03

By: Linda Hayden

The Association of Computer Science Departments at Minority Institutions (ADMI) symposium is devoted to computing issues relevant to minority students, education, and institutions. This 2023 Symposium was held in person and highlighted undergraduate and graduate research with a particular interest in innovations in the computing field.

Collaborations

An important facet of the symposium is the opportunity to explore collaborations between major research institutions, industry, and minority institutions. In addition, faculty and students present research papers, discuss poster presentations, and explore graduate school options. 

Competitions

An exciting facet of the symposium is the opportunity to engage students in friendly but serious competitions to showcase their computing knowledge and skills. Integral parts of the event are:

• The research papers.

• A computer science Olympiad.

• A cybersecurity challenge.

• A social media competition.

	Former ADMI Alumni headline the symposium. The Keynote address featured a past ADMI Alumni from Mississippi Valley State University, Dr. Benjamin Harvey. His superb data science expertise has contributed to the federal agency space. Previously, Dr. Harvey held a position with the Department of Defense/National Security Agency and served as the Chief of Operations Data Science for over a decade. Additionally, Dr. Harvey worked as head of data science for the Edward Snowden leaks investigation. Before launching AI Squared in 2019, Dr. Harvey was an early employee of a Silicon Valley startup called Databricks. He served as an artificial intelligence and machine learning expert and architect, where he helped them go from a $100M valued company to over $40B.
	Alvin McClerkin also an ADMI Alumni from Mississippi Valley State University, is a 37 year old co-founder of one of the hottest startup companies in the world.  Alvin started a 15 year career with the Department of Energy, providing federal oversight to government contractors. In 2019, Alvin co-founded AI Squared a tech company, that today is a Top 10 AI startup globally and soon to be #1 with a value of $500 million dollars.
	Dr. Napoleon Paxton is a senior lead scientist a Booz Allen. He is a researcher and business development leader who uses his 20+ years of experience and education to use data to tell stories that solve problems. Dr. Paxton has a Ph.D. from UNC Charlotte in Information Technology, where he was the first African American to be conferred that degree from the school. In addition, he has a Master's degree in Data Science from UC Berkeley (Cal) and a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Elizabeth City State University (ECSU), where he first learned how to conduct research. Dr. Paxton also teaches AI/ML and Data Science topics part-time at both Cal and Stanford University.