Computer Vision News - September 2022

16 Women in Computer Vision Yes, I remember her very well. She passed away a few years ago from a skin ailment, thatwas a terrible story.Was her company Samasource? Yes, Samasource. I know this because I wrote about Samasource when she was still living. I interviewed one of their managers, Nanneke Zelle, at the end of 2018, when Leila was still alive, and then she passed just one year after. Yes, I think, in January or February 2020. She did amazing work! How does that inspire you? Well, it's really inspiring that she was able to give people in such deprived areas the In the beginning, this vision was more of a technical role. I explored different options, hobbies, and ambitions I have outside purely science and academics. I discovered that I'm good at this role and enjoy it. It all came together, and it wasn't planned. Science communication and the scientific- technical parts are always there with me. But I've had to learn, and I'm still learning another side: operations, the translation part of these technologies. It’s one thing to have an idea, and another to make it a reality and have it work in the setting that you envision. It's something that, when I was 16, I didn't know of such a role. But now that I'm in this role, I couldn't imagine doing anything else. That was your dream when you were 15 or 16. What is your dream now? It has changed. I would like to be a facilitator in terms of building a bridge between the scientific world and the real world, to help bring these technologies that I believe will really improvepatients' lives intoyour target environment, like clinics or care homes. That is one of my ambitions. And the other one, which I think stems more from the fact that I grew up in Honduras, is finding ways tomake robotics and AI, include them in the pipeline, and benefit from them in some way. Some people inspire me in this area. I don't know if you've heard of Leila Janah. She passed away, but she is someone that was able to create a company that gives people in Africa the opportunity to be part of these technologies. How? So basically, this company gets contracts with Google and companies working in AI, and the people in these underdeveloped countries learn how to label and process these kinds of data. She was amazing. Awesome Nanneke Zelle (left), a great friend of our magazine, with Leila Janah (RIP), the founder of Samasource. Ana, Nanneke and Ralph are happy to dedicate this small tribute to Leila's wonderful vision and professional legacy.