The award was handed out by rector Christen Krogh and vice-rector Per Martin Norheim-Martinsen. The other awards handed out that day was the R&D Award, the Dissemination Award and the Award for promising researchers.
Gustavo Mello has not only been developing the AI Lab since he was appointed as CEO in 2019. He has also played an instrumental role in establishing several innovative environments within and outside of the faculty of technology, arts and design. Among these initiatives are the center of research excellence, NordSTAR, the Simula garage bootcamp, the micro courses at the makerspace, the AI resources center in data journalism, and the student driven organisation NeuralMet (linkedin.no).
– It is a great honour to be awarded for my contributions, and to know that all the hard work we put into this is appreciated by our community and the leadership, Mello says on receiving the award.
– All this work has been possible, enabled and developed by an incredible group of people, and I look forward to what we can accomplish in 2023!
Among the people he mentions as co-contributors are Ranveig Strøm, Roy Krøvel, Evin Güler, Sølve Selstø, Denis Napast, Pedro Lind and Anis Yazidi.
Following is the jury’s reasoning for why Gustavo was the winner of the Innovation Award:
“The candidate has been instrumental in the establishment of highly innovative and unique environments in Norway, such as the quantum computers and the Ocean Lab. He started the seminar series on Intelligent Health and Smart Cities. The candidate has contributed to the creation of NeuralMet, a student driven organization for students in AI, with particular focus on students’ collaboration with industry and start-ups.”
His initiatives went beyond TKD faculty, launching e.g. the AI Journalism together with the Department of Journalism (SAM) and being a pioneer in new bridges between OsloMet and the private sector. The candidate has initiated novel ways of working with the news media to support investigative journalism and help foster transparency and democratic participation. Under his leadership, the AI Lab has supported investigations led by International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, NRK, Faktisk.no and others. The team has helped improve investigative methodologies and introduced methods from data science to journalists.
The candidate has also together with Gründergarasjen initiated a Bootcamp for students and employees at OsloMet to provide them with the skills and competence needed to develop new start-ups and innovation projects.
The candidate’s effort and initiatives have been an important contribution to building a culture for innovation at OsloMet among employees and students.”
