Tunisian AI Awards: Celebrating Tunisian Pioneers in AI
The Tunisian AI Awards is an annual ceremony organized by the Tunisian AI Society to recognize and reward Tunisian professionals, researchers, and pioneers who have made significant contributions to the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Honoring Excellence in AI
The award distinguishes individuals with exceptional skills from the industry, academia, and applied research, whose work contributes to advancing AI in various sectors. This year's winners are Imed Zitouni, Islem Rekik, and Mohamed Jmaiel.
Imed Zitouni: Visionary Leader in AI
Imed Zitouni is a director at Google, based in Bellevue, Washington, USA, and Zurich, Switzerland. Since June 2019, he has been overseeing research and development efforts in natural language understanding and knowledge engineering, aimed at improving Google Search and Assistant. His visionary leadership in advancing AI applications is demonstrated by his innovative work at Google and his active participation in major AI conferences, including his role as president of the industrial track for EMNLP 2023.
Islem Rekik: Pioneer in NeuroAI
Islem Rekik is a lecturer at Imperial College London (I-X Hub) and director of the Brain And Signal Research and Analysis (BASIRA) laboratory. Her innovative research focuses on developing inclusive, affordable, and robust AI models, with a particular emphasis on brain imaging and neuroscience. Throughout her career, she has led over 90 innovative research projects at the intersection of AI and healthcare, publishing over 130 high-impact articles. A pioneer in generative NeuroAI since 2018, she introduced the first generation of generative neural network models on graphs. She has also played a key role in the academic community, co-chairing and organizing over 20 international conferences, workshops, and competitions, contributing to the global dialogue on AI in healthcare and neuroscience.
Mohamed Jmaiel: Renowned Expert in AI and Software Engineering
Mohamed Jmaiel is a full professor of computer science at the National Engineering School of Sfax, Tunisia. His research covers several advanced areas, including software engineering of distributed systems, formal methods in model-driven architecture, adaptive and pervasive systems, autonomous middleware, and AI applications. He has published over 220 articles in international conferences and journals, making significant contributions to his field. He has also co-edited six conference proceedings and five special issues of journals, organized and co-chaired program committees for numerous international conferences, and directed several large-scale research projects. Through his work, Professor Jmaiel continues to stimulate innovation in computer science in Tunisia and globally.
