As a university student in Serbia with a passion for math and physics, Ana Trišović found herself drawn to computer science and its practical, problem-solving approaches. It was then that she discovered MIT OpenCourseWare, a part of MIT Open Learning, and decided to check a course on Data Analytics with Python in 2012 — something her school didn’t offer.
That have was transformative, says Trišović, who’s now a research scientist on the FutureTech lab inside MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
“That course modified my life,” she says. “Throughout my profession, I actually have considered myself a Python coder, and MIT OpenCourseWare made it possible. I used to be in my hometown on one other continent, learning from MIT world-class resources. After I reflect on my path, it’s incredible.”
Over time, Trišović’s path led her to explore a spread of OpenCourseWare resources. She recalls that, as a non-native English speaker, a number of the materials were difficult. But because of the range of courses and learning opportunities available on OpenCourseWare, she was all the time capable of find ones that suited her. She encourages anyone facing that very same challenge to be persistent.
“If the primary course doesn’t be just right for you, try one other,” she says. “Being persistent and investing in yourself is the perfect thing a youngster can do.”
In her home country of Serbia, Trišović earned undergraduate degrees in computer science and mechanical engineering before occurring to Cambridge University and CERN, where she contributed to work on the Large Hadron Collider and accomplished her PhD in computer science in 2018. She has also done research on the University of Chicago and Harvard University.
“I like that computer science allows me to make an impact in a spread of fields, but physics stays near my heart, and I’m continually inspired by it,” she says.
MIT FutureTech, an interdisciplinary research group, draws on computer science, economics, and management to discover computing trends that create risk and opportunities for sustainable economic growth. There, Trišović studies the democratization of AI, including the implications of open-source AI and the way that may impact science. Her work at MIT is a likelihood to construct on research she has been pursuing since she was in graduate school.
“My work focuses on computational social science. For a few years, I’ve been taking a look at what’s often known as ‘the science of science’ — investigating issues like research reproducibility,” Trišović explains. “Now, as AI becomes increasingly prevalent and introduces latest challenges, I’m fascinated by examining a spread of topics — from AI democratization to its effects on the scientific method and the broader landscape of science.”
Trišović is grateful that, way back in 2012, she made the choice to try something latest and learn with an OpenCourseWare course.
“I immediately fell in love with Python the moment I took that course. I actually have such a soft spot for OpenCourseWare — it shaped my profession,” she says. “On daily basis at MIT is inspiring. I work with people who find themselves excited to speak about AI and other fascinating topics.”
