Aya Soffer
Aya Soffer | |
|---|---|
| Born | Aya Chasia Soffer Israel |
| Occupation(s) | Computer scientist, IBM executive |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Known for | Vice president of AI Technology at IBM Research, director of IBM Research Haifa |
| Notable work | Development of IBM Watson, contribution to Project Debater |
Aya Chasia Soffer () is an Israeli computer scientist serving as the vice president of AI Technology at IBM Research and leading IBM's research laboratory in Israel as its director.
Education and career
Born to two scientist parents,[1] Soffer obtained her undergraduate degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1986.[1][2] She spent four years working in the medical imaging field before pursuing advanced studies. She earned both her master's degree (1992) and doctorate (1995) in computer science at the University of Maryland, College Park.[3] Her doctoral thesis, titled Retrieval by Content in Symbolic-Image Databases, concentrated on information retrieval and was supervised by Hanan Samet.[4]
Following her PhD, Soffer joined the Goddard Space Flight Center as a research scientist, where she contributed to the creation of NASA's digital libraries for Earth science datasets. In 1999, she became part of IBM,[3] where she played a role in the development of the IBM Watson initiative.[5] Starting in 2012, she contributed to IBM's Project Debater before advancing to her current position as vice president for AI Technology and head of IBM Research’s Haifa laboratory.[1]
Recognition
Soffer has been honored with several accolades, including being named among Forbes Israel's "Power Women" in 2019. In 2020, TheMarker recognized her as one of the 100 most influential individuals shaping life in Israel, and in 2021, Globes included her among the 50 most powerful women in the country.
External links
- Aya Soffer, IBM Research
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cite error: Invalid
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- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cite error: Invalid
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- ↑ Shamah, David (7 June 2015). "Artificially intelligent Watson gets Israeli boost as it studies medicine". The Times of Israel.