Pilot program
A six-month pilot, October 2026 to March 2027, that connects students, researchers, and industry practitioners around the challenges of putting AI systems into use.
What it is
Purpose
Help participants identify a useful problem, make sound engineering decisions, and document what they build and learn, with an explicit student-learning purpose alongside practitioner engagement.
Who it is for
Small and medium business owners, startup founders, students, and engineers. No existing team is required.
Funding and schedule
The IEEE Signal Processing Society Member Driven Initiative approved $3,500 for the pilot in August 2026. The opening workshop is scheduled for October 25; later live sessions are proposed for January–March 2027.
Learning format
Participants work toward a practical AI project through guided workshops and optional self-paced modules. All coursework, course materials, AI tools, the learning platform, and the course website are provided by Live AI Dream.
Program team
How the pilot comes together
The chapter’s six-month AI workshop program is led by Vice Chair Chhavi Jain, with strong support from chapter officers and collaborators.
Chhavi Jain · Pilot lead
Proposed the pilot and leads program planning, workshop coordination, speaker engagement, and practitioner outreach. Chhavi serves as Vice Chair of the IEEE SPS San Diego Chapter. Live AI Dream provides the coursework and supporting learning infrastructure.
IEEE SPS San Diego Chapter
The chapter is the organizing community. Chair Upal Mahbub and Vice Chair Somsubhra Barik support the initiative and chapter events.
Live AI Dream
All AI workshop coursework, instructional materials, AI tools, the learning platform, and the supporting course website are provided by Live AI Dream. The partner also provides technical and marketing support.
Live AI Dream also provides access to the library of more than 1,200 AI projects on aionedge.org, each with a dedicated page providing a detailed explanation of the project.
IEEE Signal Processing Society
The Member Driven Initiative approved funding for the pilot. The chapter also acknowledges Dr. Lina J. Karam’s support in developing the initiative.
Six themes, one practical journey
| Month | Theme | What participants work toward |
|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | Put AI to Work in Your Business | A business brief, workflow map, and agent blueprint. |
| November 2026 | Ground Your Assistant in Business Information | A small knowledge base and source-backed answers. |
| December 2026 | Connect Tools and Human Approval | A tool specification, approval boundary, and action log. |
| January 2027 | Make Your AI Agent Reliable | Test cases, a failure checklist, and a readiness decision. |
| February 2027 | Take Your AI Agent Into a Real Workflow | An integration plan, controlled pilot approach, and operating guide. |
| March 2027 | Show What Your AI Agent Delivers | A demonstration, business-value assessment, and project case study. |
November and December are optional and self-paced; no live events are scheduled for those months. January to March live sessions are proposed. Full course details.
Follow the pilot
Event recaps will share the session topic, speakers and contributors, organizer-reported attendance, and participant work shared with permission. Confirmed dates and registration details will be posted on the events page.