Welcome!
My name is Karen Batch and I am a software developer intern at Kings Distributed Systems, working on the Distributed Compute Protocol for Distributed Compute Labs. I participate in the planning, development, and testing of new software, which encompasses documentation, APIs, and overall system architecture. Part of my work at DCP includes working with the other interns, Sam and Duncan, researching new ways to distribute neural network training. As datasets and machine learning models increase in size and complexity, access to computing power to train these models becomes vital. The ability to use DCP’s platform for machine learning would drastically reduce the amount of computing time for training. The goal of my individual research at DCP is to establish a system for distributing machine/deep learning tasks on the platform, with a focus on developing a program to train Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) on the platform for medical image processing.
In June 2019, I graduated from Queen's University with a Bachelor's of Computing (Honours) degree, with a specialization in Cognitive Science. The Cognitive Science program is an Honours Subject of Specialization degree, which incorporates courses from a variety of disciplines, including computer science, linguistics, psychology, philosophy, neuroscience, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. The most significant unanswered question in science today is how human beings are intelligent and aware, and the discipline of Cognitive Science has the goal of integrating the results and efforts in the study of human cognition.
I love computer science and am passionate about current advancements in Artificial Intelligence, especially its applications to health care and making education more accessible. I will be returning to Queen's University in September 2019 to start a Master's of Science Field of Study in Artificial Intelligence degree that is offered through the School of Computing.
Outside of work hours, I spend my time reading fantasy novels, spending time with friends, and training. From the age of five, I have been a competitive synchronized swimmer, training 20-30+ hours weekly, competing across Canada and the United States. I was on the Queen's Synchro team for all four years of my undergrad, but am currently expanding my horizons and testing out my abilities at rowing and CrossFit.