Women in AI and Sustainability

This book is intended as an incentive for women to start, continue, or expand their STEM work in AI and sustainability, thus speeding up progress in a field critical to the wellbeing of humanity. The book features a rigorously curated collection of scientifically sound, expertly yet accessibly written chapters capturing state-of-the-art research conducted at the forefront of where the AI field intersects with sustainability. The transformative impact of the work conveyed in the book in conjunction with the non-traditional personal and professional backgrounds of the authors are both instructional and motivational, thus catering to a specific set of readership expectations that conventional scientific literature routinely overlooks. Part of the highly successful Women in Science and Engineering book series, this volume highlights the contribution of women leaders in AI and sustainability, inspiring people across the identity and age spectra to enter STEM and work diligently and passionately to develop and fulfil themselves in tandem with securing a bright future for the field.

Dr Alina Patelli holds a PhD in computer science awarded by Aston University in 2017, and one in systems engineering awarded by her Romanian alma mater in 2011. She is currently a senior lecturer in applied Artificial Intelligence at Aston University, having recently completed her tenure as programme director of the undergraduate Digital and Technology Solutions degree apprenticeship, Aston’s flagship work-based course. Dr Patelli specialises in evolutionary computation, a type of biologically inspired AI. Her focus is on genetic programming with transfer learning and its applications in smart cities, specifically traffic modelling and prediction. Dr Patelli is also interested in autonomic, knowledge-based systems, and self-adaptation and self-organisation in computing. Her academic expertise is applied in the private sector, as part of knowledge transfer partnerships with industry. In the public arena, Dr Patelli has been publishing her academic outputs at a sustained pace in reputable journals and conference proceedings. She has given several public talks at science events (including the 2024 Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition), has featured in podcasts and interviews on her personal and professional development, her research and her apprenticeship work, has written articles for various scientific news outlets, and has contributed her insight to national science strategy planning and in response to parliamentary calls for evidence related to her field. Dr Patelli is a founding member of the UK Young Academy where she contributes and furthers her expertise in AI, digital industry and the communication of science to complete interdisciplinary work for the public good alongside her peers from academia, industry, the public sector and the other learned societies in the UK. Dr Patelli is the trust and ethics theme lead within the Aston Centre for AI Research and Application, where she also holds the role of industry and impact lead.

Prof Anikó Ekárt is a Professor in applied Artificial Intelligence at Aston University, where she also holds the position of Director of Research Degree Programmes in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. She joined her current place of work as a lecturer in Computer Science in January 2006. During her time with Aston University, Prof Ekárt served as Associate Dean for Postgraduate Programmes between August 2017and May 2020 and Head of Computer Science from August 2016 to May 2017. Previously, she held research positions at the Institute for Computer Science and Control, a part of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest, Hungary. At the same time, she lectured in Artificial Intelligence at various levels for the Eötvös Loránd University and the Dennis Gábor University in Budapest. Between 2001 and 2003 Prof Ekárt was a lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Birmingham, where she lectured in Artificial Intelligence and Human Computer Interaction. Prof Ekárt’s research interests are in the broad area of Artificial Intelligence: computational intelligence, theory and applications of genetic programming and evolutionary computation, evolutionary art, and data mining for engineering, design, and health. More recently, Prof Ekárt has started contributing to the field of social learning and trust in AI.