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In the Spotlight: Meet Judith Dijk
At Women in AI we’d like to inspire others by featuring women role models that are making a difference in AI. We aim to empower women who are working in AI by highlighting their success stories. This way we hope to inspire other women and girls to get into STEM-related fields. In our series ‘In the Spotlight’ we shine a light on an expert in the field and today we’d like you to meet Judith Dijk.
Author: Ingrid van Heuven van Staereling
Using AI on Camera Data in Complex Outdoor Scenes
Judith’s drive as an applied scientist is to close the gap between fundamental research and applications to create solutions that work in practice. Her research focus is to generate actionable information and situational awareness from camera data acquired in complex, outdoor scenes using artificial intelligence techniques. “Two typical applications for this are 1) the development and deployment of autonomous systems (e.g. drones,) and 2) surveillance camera systems for defense and law enforcement applications.” – she explains. Judith has a technical and scientific leadership role, translating achievements from herself and her teams into results that have impact nationally and internationally.
Transitioning Traditional Images to AI Technology
Until September of this year, Judith worked as a research scientist at TNO, where she defined the research projects, started collaboration with national and international partners and led the teams executing these projects. “Since September I work at the European Defence Agency (EDA) as a project officer. Here I address these challenges on a European level.” A large scientific challenge is the transition of traditional image processing technology to artificial intelligence technology. Challenges are how to train these AI systems with small datasets or a small number of labels, how you can learn without catastrophic forgetting and how to handle adversarial patterns and attacks. With respect to AI and autonomous systems, topics of interest are planning and execution of several tasks including manipulation and creating awareness which tasks the system can execute. Next to that, social, ethical, and legal aspects such as privacy issues and the use of AI systems in an open world need to be addressed.
“As a scientist within TNO, I have defined and formulated many research projects on these topics, including international projects such as the European Defence Fund project STORE. I have also led the teams working on these challenges. In my current role within EDA, I address these topics within my European network.”
Putting New Approaches into Practice
In order to close the gap between fundamental research and applications to create solutions that work in practice Judith works closely together with industry and end users, e.g. on observation systems in maritime environments and on information extraction technologies for night vision goggles. The results of these collaborations result in insights on how these new AI approaches can be used in practice. “I have worked with renowned international institutions such as the Applied Physics Lab of the Johns Hopkins university and the Jet Propulsion Lab from NASA on developing capabilities for autonomous systems using trustworthy AI, enabling the use of such systems in a trustworthy way in the open world.”
The SPIE conference for Security and Defense Europe lacked a good conference track on Artificial Intelligence for Defense applications. “I have set up a track on this topic in 2019. Since the start, this is a successful conference track with excellent papers. Noticing the same challenge for Autonomous Systems, I have also setup a track on this topic as well within the SPIE conference in 2024. The first edition of this conference was also a great success with many participants and twenty excellent papers.”
Being a Role Model and Making the World Safer
Judith’s professional life has taught het that a deep scientific knowledge is essential to connect to other disciplines and to establish fruitful multidisciplinary applied scientific cooperation. “At the same time. my bridge builder personality helps me to bring people from different backgrounds and disciplines together and more importantly to work together for a common goal.” Her contributions to her teams, including the way she challenges and helps young professionals to develop their talents and to find their place in the different collaborations and networks, are recognized widely and contribute to her position as a role model for women within the networks and communities in which she participates. “My research contributes to the effective use of AI for observation and autonomous systems within ethical, legal and societal boundaries. In the end, this should make the world safer.”
Being Part of the WAI Awards
Judith has made her mark, both in her research as well as being a great role model to others. Therefore she has become a part of the Top 3 Nominees of AI Researcher of the WAI Benelux Awards. The WAI Awards celebrate remarkable women who are making an impact on shaping the future of AI, with their expertise and unique perspectives driving innovation. Join us on February 7th 2025 at the Women in AI Gala, where the awards winners will be officially presented. We can’t wait to see you there!