Ann DOOMS
Biography
From Mathematics to Machines and Back
Ann Dooms is professor at the VUB Department Wiskunde & Data Science (WIDS), where she currently leads the large research group Mathematics & Data Science (MADS). Her expertise lies in Digital Mathematics (DIMA), the theoretical foundation for pattern recognition by computer, with applications in medical image processing, document and painting analysis, cryptography, and artificial intelligence. Additionally, she is active in various board positions including chair of the European Mathematical Society's Education Committee, vice-chair of the scientific council of BELSPO and of Defense, and she regularly writes about mathematics for a broad audience. She has won several awards in the fields of research, teaching, valorization, and science communication.
She obtained her PhD in Mathematics as an FWO aspirant in 2004. Following an FWO postdoctoral fellowship, she became professor at the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (ETRO) in 2008 and at the Department of Mathematics & Data Science in 2015, both at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). She was awarded with the UAntwerpen Francqui Chair in the academic year 2021-2022 focusing on mathematical pattern recognition.
Together with Tan Lu she is actively involved in the creation of the spin-off https://www.fleuron.ai which focuses on automatic information extraction from PDFs and text scans based on their award-winning and patented technology (cfr. ICDAR 2019 competition in document recognition with complex layouts).
She teaches the courses Discrete Mathematics, Seminarie in de Actuele Wetenschappen en Maatschappij, Differential Geometry, Digital Mathematics, Seminar in Mathematics & Data Science, Harmonic Analysis (with A. Debrouwere) and Cryptography (cfr. Opleidingspagina).
Additionally, she started the development of the central testing in mathematics in Flanders ("Vlaamse Toetsen") within the Steunpunt Centrale toetsen.
Dooms is alumna of the Jonge Academie and co-founder of the VZW Platform Wiskunde Vlaanderen. She currently holds positions as Vice President of the Scientific Committee of the Royal Higher Institute for Defense (KHID), Vice President of the Federal Council for Science Policy (BELSPO), is member of the Research Council of the University of Antwerp, President of the Education Board of the European Mathematical Society, member of the Education Board of the International Mathematical Union, member of the General Assembly of IMEC, member of the board of the IEEE Signal Processing Society, member of the IEEE Information Forensics & Security technical committee and Associate Editor of the Journal of Information Security & Applications.
She is the Public Relations Officer of the Faculty of Sciences and a monthly columnist for the science magazine Eos Wetenschap and since 2021 of the newspaper De Tijd where she explains the mathematics behind current digital technology. She also authored books for the broad public, from youth to senior:
Location
Pleinlaan 2
1050 BRUSSEL
Belgium
