The University of Maryland’s Biocomputational Engineering (BCE) degree program is proud to welcome Visiting Lecturer, Joe Chalfoun. Chalfoun has been working in the biocomputational engineering field for the past 15 years as a research scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Chalfoun's current interest is in image analytics, mainly in artificial intelligence applied to cell biology and large dataset experiments. He enjoys developing cutting-edge technologies in computer algorithms to help expand biologists’ capabilities to conduct experiments and perform measurement sciences otherwise not reachable by existing methods.
This semester, Chalfoun is teaching ENBC423: Applied Computer Vision. This course introduces students to the basics and modern deep learning models in the artificial intelligence field applied to computer vision.
Chalfoun notes that, by the end of the course, students will know how to create an algorithmic pipeline to extract meaningful information from images. In addition, he hopes that students will learn the architecture of a deep neural network and be able to create and apply deep learning models in computer vision.
Chalfoun described his favorite part of teaching as seeing students advance in their knowledge throughout the semester. He is excited for the future of biocomputational engineering, particularly about personalized medicine applications for cancer and Alzheimer’s disease treatments.
Chalfoun advises students that companies and government research facilities are hiring computer vision experts at incredibly high rates.
“I am excited to teach BCE students to prepare them to handle this type of job in their future, by adding my own personal experience and lessons learned to the course,” said Chalfoun.
Interested in learning how a degree in biocomputational engineering can position you for a successful career in biotech?
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