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Laurent Najman Elected President of AFRIF: ESIEE Paris Confirms Its Leading Role in AI
ESIEE Paris proudly announces the election of Laurent Najman, a researcher and professor at ESIEE Paris - Université Gustave Eiffel, as president of the Association Française pour la Reconnaissance et l’Interprétation des Formes (AFRIF). This election, which took place in late December 2024, marks a significant recognition of his expertise in the fields of artificial intelligence and computer vision.
Laurent Najman, a recognized expert in computer science and artificial intelligence, is a researcher and professor at ESIEE Paris - Université Gustave Eiffel,. He is also the head of the A3SI team at the Laboratoire d’Informatique Gaspard Monge (LIGM). He has been elected president of l'AFRIF, branche française de l’International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR).
This association, which has contributed significantly to scientific and technological advancements, has been promoting research and innovation in pattern recognition, computer vision, and data interpretation for 25 years.
As president, Laurent Najman plans to leverage his academic background and international collaborations, including with figures like Yann LeCun, to enhance AFRIF's influence. Notably, he has supervised groundbreaking doctoral theses, such as those of Camille Couprie, now a researcher at Meta, and Clément Farabet, currently Building AI at Google DeepMind. Their work together has made significant contributions to the rise of deep learning.
A Presidency at the service of AFRIF's flagship initiatives
The role of the AFRIF president involves overseeing the association's activities and leading major events such as the ORASIS conference (a French-speaking event for young researchers in computer vision) and the RFIAP congress (Recognition of Forms, Image, Learning, and Perception Conference). Laurent Najman is also responsible for coordinating the AFRIF doctoral thesis award, which recognizes the most innovative research in the field.
Election strengthens ESIEE Paris' reputation in artificial intelligence
For ESIEE Paris, this election is another significant recognition, reinforcing the school's visibility in the AI research community. In 2018, the school co-organized the RFIAP conference, further demonstrating its commitment to advancing scientific research. Laurent Najman has emphasized that his presidency will focus on strengthening AFRIF’s influence while showcasing the talents and work of the scientific community.
" I want to use my visibility to serve AFRIF, enhancing its influence and expanding its reach. In a world where pattern recognition technologies are ubiquitous, thanks to deep learning, AFRIF plays a key role as a bridge between researchers, industry, and decision-makers."
Laurent Najman, Professor-Researcher at ESIEE Paris - Université Gustave Eiffel