Mila > News > Mila’s David Rolnick Named an MIT Technology Review 2021 Innovator Under 35

30 Jun 2021

Mila’s David Rolnick Named an MIT Technology Review 2021 Innovator Under 35

MONTREAL, QC – June 30, 2021 – Today, Mila is proud to announce that David Rolnick–Mila core academic member, Canada CIFAR AI Chair and Assistant Professor in the School of Computer Science at McGill University–has been named to MIT Technology Review’s prestigious annual list of Innovators Under 35 as a Pioneer. Every year, the world-renowned media company has recognized a list of exceptionally talented technologists whose work has great potential to transform the world.

Rolnick is well known among the AI community for his research at the intersection of machine learning and climate change, serving as co-founder and chair of Climate Change AI and scientific co-director of Sustainability in the Digital Age. Rolnick’s research focuses on applications of machine learning to help humanity mitigate and adapt to the ongoing climate crisis through collaboration with experts from various sectors including ecology, electricity systems, and atmospheric science. 

Prior to joining Mila, Rolnick was a National Science Foundation (NSF) Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his PhD in Applied Mathematics at MIT in 2018.

“I’m delighted to be named to the ‘Innovators Under 35’, which has included several of my personal heroes,” said Rolnick. “I am glad to see the increasing interest within the AI community in cross-disciplinary partnerships for climate action.”

Tim Maher, Managing Editor of MIT Technology Review, said: “We get more than 500 nominations for the list every year, and getting that list down to 35—a task not only for the editors at MIT Technology Review but also for our 30+ judges—is one of the hardest things we do each year. We love the way the final list always shows what a wide variety of people there are, all around the world, working on creative solutions to some of humanity’s hardest problems.”

Learn more about this year’s honorees on the MIT Technology Review website here and in the July/August issue, which goes live online June 30. The honorees are also featured at the upcoming EmTech MIT conference, MIT Technology Review’s annual flagship event that offers a carefully curated perspective on the most significant developments of the year, with a focus on understanding their potential business and societal impact. EmTech MIT will be held online September 28-30, 2021. Click here to learn more about the event.

About Mila
Founded by Professor Yoshua Bengio of the Université de Montréal, Mila is a research institute in artificial intelligence which rallies about 700 researchers specializing in the field of deep learning. Based in Montreal, Mila’s mission is to be a global pole for scientific advances that inspires innovation and the development of AI for the benefit of all. Mila is a non-profit organization recognized globally for its significant contributions to the field of deep learning, particularly in the areas of language modelling, machine translation, object recognition and generative models. 

About MIT Technology Review
Founded in 1899, MIT Technology Review is a world-renowned, independent media company whose insight, analysis, and interviews explain the newest technologies and their commercial, social, and political impacts. MIT Technology Review derives its authority from its relationship to the world’s foremost technology institution and from its editors’ deep technical knowledge, capacity to see technologies in their broadest context, and unequaled access to leading innovators and researchers. MIT Technology Review’s mission is to bring about better-informed and more conscious decisions about technology through authoritative, influential, and trustworthy journalism. Subscribe. Listen. Follow: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram.

About the EmTech event series
MIT Technology Review’s EmTech series examines emerging technologies that will drive the new global economy. From mainstage keynotes to Q&As and small discussions, these events provide a curated view of the year’s most important developments. EmTech gives attendees the opportunity to discover future trends and learn from the most innovative people and companies in the world. Established more than 20 years ago, EmTech events have become a must-attend for entrepreneurs, business leaders, innovators, policy influencers, media, and more. This year’s EmTech events in the United States include EmTech Digital, March 23-25; EmTech Next, June 8-10; and EmTech MIT, September 28-30. Learn more.

Media Contact

Ludovic Soucisse 
Head of Communications and Public Affairs, Mila
514 378-8425
ludovic.soucisse@mila.quebec