Raquel Urtasun

Raquel Urtasun has made significant strides in the field of artificial intelligence, particularly in its application to self-driving cars. Her expertise in this area has been honed through her work as a professor at the University of Toronto and her contribution to the world's leading ride-hailing service, Uber, where she led a Toronto-based research team on self-driving cars in 2017. In 2021, Urtasun founded Waabi Innovation, a company solely focused on developing self-driving car technology, further cementing her place as a leading figure in this innovative field.

Urtasun's work has not gone unnoticed, as she has received a series of awards throughout her career. Among these accolades are the NSERC E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship, the NVIDIA Pioneers of AI Award, and the Ministry of Education and Innovation Early Researcher Award. Additionally, her research has been recognized by industry giants Amazon and Google, with the latter honoring her with Faculty Research Awards three times.

Aside from her professional achievements, Urtasun has also made an impact in the academic world. She served as Program Chair of CVPR 2018 and is an editor of the International Journal in Computer Vision. Her influential role in her field was acknowledged when she was named as one of the Chatelaine Women of the Year in 2018 and was appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2024. All these accomplishments attest to Urtasun's deep understanding and mastery of her field, making her a respected authority on artificial intelligence and self-driving technology.