A local education technology startup with a strong Waterloo Engineering connection is part of a three-month Amazon Alexa accelerator program taking place in Seattle.
YourIKA, short for Your Intelligent Knowledge Assistant, combines artificial intelligence and instant messaging to provide students with tutoring help.
YourIKA’s three co-founders are Fakhri Karray, a Waterloo electrical and computer engineering professor and co-director of the University of Waterloo's Artificial Intelligence Institute, Shady Shehata, a Waterloo Engineering alumnus and adjunct professor, and Rob Henderson, a business consultant and entrepreneur.
Located in the Accelerator Centre in the David Johnston Research and Technology Park, YourIKA uses machine learning, deep learning, neural networks and natural language processing.
Fakhri Karray, a Waterloo electrical and computer engineering professor and co-director of the University of Waterloo's Artificial Intelligence Institute, is YourIKA's chief scientist.
YourIKA was tested at the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Guelph and the two campuses of the University of Toronto. It recently partnered with other online learning platforms, including Waterloo, Ontario-based Maplesoft and U.S.-headquartered Chegg.