WebValley 2019, environment, food quality and health

The nineteenth edition of WebValley, the international Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) summer camp organized by FBK for high school students, will be back at Casez (Sanzeno) on Sunday, June 16.
20 young researchers, 14 Italians and 6 Americans, supported by tutors and experts from Fondazione Bruno Kessler, will work in teams giving life to an AI laboratory where the working method is inspired by what happens in a place of research, allowing students, including very young ones, to engage in a job of the future.
“With this edition, we want to imagine – in the mountains – new technologies for health and the environment. The way we work at WebValley is unique as we want to offer technical skills right from the start and apply them in a multidisciplinary context – Cesare Furlanello, WebValley scientific director, said. In this case, we enter the race to develop predictive models for miniaturized medical devices and software systems that link health and food quality. Living this research experience in a small town with an agricultural vocation in Trentino means keeping in close contact with the community and opening a discussion on health and the environment, combining an international dimension and important goals for the local area. We know we are competing with countries that invest in AI training far more than Italy, and it is therefore urgent to develop skills, method and vision in young people. At the same time, we have a very down-to-earth program, which we regularly open with meetings open to the public” the researcher added.

The 20 students are supported by experts in AI, medicine and project management in the construction of a real AI startup for healthcare, an essential topic for FBK. The kids will learn to develop a new technology from a solid scientific basis and to make it attractive for the market. “At WebValley, we recreate a bit the environment we breathe in San Francisco and, by putting them in contact with a network of experts, we let the kids understand the skills they need to become researchers, start a startup, or just be professionals who know how to use AI. They will certainly know how to surprise us also this year for their enthusiasm, talent and ability to work together” Furlanello concluded.

Also in 2019, the international participants were selected among the finalists of the lastest Intel ISEF – International Science and Engineering Fair, the largest scientific competition in the world for non-university students.

Growth has been steady since 2001, as confirmed by Claudia Dolci, head of FBK’s Research and Innovation for Education Unit and co-director of WebValley: “The school has grown a great deal, also in terms of international reputation, and this can only be a source of great satisfaction for FBK”. This year, the work of the science camp will be supported as well by Giuseppe Jurman, who will hold a pilot course on data visualization with contents prepared for the Master in Data Science course with the same name.

Partners of this edition of WebValley NVIDIA are the University of Milan and Co.Di.Pra, which organize two public events scheduled at 6.00 pm on June 20 and 26 at the Sanzeno elementary school, Via della Pontara.

The first one: “Is living better in the mountains? The connections between environment, food quality and health” will thoroughly explore the relationship between the environment, lifestyles and cardiovascular risk with Professor Alberico Catapano, professor and director of the Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Milan.

The second one, “A chat between agriculture and artificial intelligence”, will see the participation of Fausto Milletarì from NVIDIA, who – alongside Fondazione Bruno Kessler’s researchers will discuss the impact that AI applications can have on agriculture.

The WEBVALLEY 2019 TEAM
International students: Banan Garada, (Urbana, Illinois, USA), David Yue (Plano, Texas, USA), Ishana Shastri (Germantown, Maryland, USA), Karen Copeland (Jupiter, Florida, USA), Krithik Ramesh (Englewood, Colorado, USA), Neeyanth Kopparapu (Herndon, Virginia, USA).
Italian students: Pietro Moretto (Bovolone, Verona), Paolo Somenzi (Bolzano), Mattia Cestari (Trento), Matteo Zigante (Vicenza), Marco Marinello (Bolzano), Leonardo Dusini (Trento), Julian Modanese (Lana, Bolzano), Giuseppe Izzo (Praia a Mare, Cosenza), Gianmarco Gamo (Brescia), Gabriel Tavernini (Riva del Garda, Trento), Erica Biancolino (Moggio Udinese, Udine), Clori Caprile (Trento), Daniele Marcon (Verona), Gianluca Libarti (Trento).

THE FORMULA

The 2019 edition of WebValley, the Data Science camp dedicated to high school students organized by Trento-based Fondazione Bruno Kessler, is held from June 16 to July 6 at Casez, in the Non Valley, and hosts a team of 20 students aged between 17 and 19 from Italy and the United States. The latter were selected among the finalists of the INTEL ISEF Award, the largest international scientific competition for non-university students.
Like every year, the WebValley formula provides for the selection of a small town in the valleys of Trentino in which to build the laboratory of activities, proving the fact that, with a good reason and with Internet resources, research can be done also in apparently more remote areas.
WebValley is not a school experience but a real research experience that boys and girls live together with researchers and experts.
The initiative, started in 2001, has reached its nineteenth edition this year and has had a total of over 350 participants.
Several students from previous editions have become researchers, in Italy and abroad, some have collaborated or work at FBK, others have created startups and initiatives in the research and innovation domain.

Contact: Salvatore Romano | [email protected] | +39 0461 314 975