Artificial Neural Networks for All!

Greg Petrics, Jun 21, 2021

Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are everywhere these days, and they are enabling computers to do things that seemed impossible even just 10 years ago. This a GeoGebra book that I used as "slides" to give a talk to Vermont high school students about what ANNs are, how they work, how one can make them, and how one can prepare for a future where they will be EVERYWHERE. The slides are a bit tricky to follow for an independent reader (for instance the question boxes won't work for you to respond to me), but I still think these are worth publishing for all to see in case they help anyone. Click "About Me" to get the first slide, and then use the navigation features to get around. Enjoy! Email with questions or comments: greg [[dot]] petrics [[at]] northernvermont [[dot]] eee dee you I have ambitions to tear apart the neutral network and show in more detail the forward pass as well as how back propagation works to "learn" new and better weights, but I haven't found time. If anyone is interested in collaborating, please reach out! Enjoy.


  • 1. About me
  • 2. Overview of Today
  • 3. "Build Your Own" Neural Network
  • 4. What the Heck are Artificial Neural Networks?
  • 5. Activity!
  • 6. What are ANNs Good For?
  • 7. Handwriting Recognition in R with Keras/Tensorflow
  • 8. How to Prepare For an AI Future & Conclusion

1.

About me

Hi! I'm Professor Greg Petrics from the Mathematics & Computer Science Department at [url=https://vermontstate.edu/]Vermont State University Johnson Campus[/url]. I teach courses and advise students in the mathematics, data science, and computer information systems degree programs.[br][br]Feel free to address me as "Greg". [br][br]Email me anytime greg.petrics@northernvermont.edu[br][br][b]Education:[br][/b][list][*]Woodstock Union High 2001 (Baseball & Ski Racing)[/*][*]Middlebury College B.A. 2006 (Mathematics & Teacher Education)[/*][*]Dartmouth College M.A. 2008 (Mathematics)[/*][*]Dartmouth College Ph.D. 2011 (Mathematics & Higher Education)[br][b][br][/b][/*][/list][b]Work:[/b][br][list][*]12 years as Professor of Math & Data Science at JSC/NVU-J/VtSU (2011-present)[/*][*]7 years as Professor of Math Education at the Vermont Mathematics Initiative of UVM (2015-2018), SNHU (2019-2022), VTSU (2023-present)[/*][*]Data Analytics Instructor in Northern Vermont University Center for Professional Studies (2019-present)[/*][/list][b]Research:[/b][list][*][url=https://cloudup.com/czNT8CVVoGK]Length optimizing curves[/url] on non differentiable manifolds (AKA "geodesics")[/*][*][url=https://cloudup.com/cYB6T8Ep55P]Biologically inspired[/url] artificial neural networks for image processing[/*][*][url=https://cloudup.com/cYMpftRlToB]Applications of artificial neural networks to problems in thoracic[/url] (primarily pulmonary or lung) health care (student assistantships available)[/*][/list][b]Fun: [/b][br][list][*]Photographer for ski areas and snow sports publications[/*][*]Featured in: Photo Gallery in several issues of Backcountry Magazine [/*][*][url=https://www.powder.com/stories/rugged-lady-fur-coat]Lead Illustration[/url] in Powder Magazine article on Stowe Mountain Resort[/*][*]Rock Climber active in local community[/*][/list]
If you want to continue the conversation, get access to the code from today, or if you want an admissions counsellor from Vermont State University (VtSU) to reach out to you about studying Math and Data Science at VtSU, [b]what's a good email address to get in touch with you? [/b]
– Greg Petrics

2.

–

3.

–

4.

–

5.

–

6.

–

7.

–

8.

–

Information