Speedy hello#

Hey folks! Welcome back — and this time, after only a short break (finally!).

Today’s post isn’t something I had been planning for a long time (as is usually the case).

Instead, it’s more of a spur-of-the-moment thing — especially because the event in question, Engineer’s Talks, wasn’t even announced until about a week before it happened!

Still, I got so excited that I simply had to share it with you here.

One talk in particular really sparked my enthusiasm — but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First things first: What the heck is Engineer’s Talks?

Engineer’s Talks#

Engineer’s Talks is an yearly event organized by the GHOST science club (you can read more about GHOST here).

In short: during these events, senior students present their Bachelor’s Thesis projects related to AI. It’s a great opportunity for younger students interested in artificial intelligence to get inspired, discover new research areas, and get a realistic glimpse of the challenges they might face in their own future work.

Engineer’s Talks have been around for a while now—this was actually the 3rd or 4th edition. In fact, some of this year’s presenters mentioned being inspired by earlier editions when they were just starting out.

Pretty awesome to see how it’s growing and gaining momentum!

Talks overview#

This year’s edition featured three talks, presented in the following order.
(Quick note: I’m pulling this info from GHOST’s Discord announcement — it was missing a few author names, so apologies in advance if anyone is left out!)

1. Łukasz Sztukiewicz, et al.

DetoxAI: A Python Package for Debiasing Neural Networks

2. Weronika Zawadzka, Konstanty Kordas, Jędrzej Pacanowski (plus one more contributor not listed)

Integrative Analysis of Microarray Gene Expression Profiles and Machine Learning-Based Response Prediction in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

3. Jakub Binkowski, Benedykt Huszcza

Generowanie banerów reklamowych z wykorzystaniem algorytmów sztucznej inteligencji
(ENG: Generating Advertising Banners Using Artificial Intelligence Algorithms)

Although all seemed interesting, the one that convinced me to actually join the event was the second one.

Let me explain why.

Inflammatory Diseases#

As I outlined on my About Me page (around the middle), and as I’ve mentioned here and there on this blog, I live with juvenile idiopathic arthritis — or, more generally, ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

I’ll avoid diving into the details about what it is and how it has affected me (feel free to check the links above if you’re curious).
What’s important here is that my personal experiences pushed me to explore this disease scientifically.

The most prominent example of that exploration was my Biology IA (Internal Assessment).

You can read it in full (in PDF format) here.

In short: my research studied the relationship between HLA-B27 alleles and AS. More specifically, I analyzed whether merging these alleles into groups (using phylogenetic trees) could help predict an allele’s susceptibility to AS.

Unfortunately, the study didn’t yield conclusive results.

But on a very positive note:

• I gained a much deeper understanding of my disease.
• I learned about the broader relationships between inflammatory diseases and genetic factors.
• I developed a genuine fascination with this area of science.

So when I heard that some students at my university were working on a project in a similar field, I was instantly hooked and couldn’t wait to talk to them!

Meeting the researchers#

After an engaging presentation by the creator of DetoxAI (seriously, check out their README and maybe even give them a star ⭐), it was time for the “main dish”: a study combining genes, machine learning, and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

(Quick note: I’ll skip the technical details of the talk itself — but if you’re curious, feel free to reach out to the presenters I mentioned earlier!)

After their talk, I approached Konstanty and Jędrzej to ask more about their work (and also about the two girls who contributed to the project — although, for reasons explained earlier, not all authors were officially listed).

They were super cool — open, enthusiastic, and more than happy to chat about their research and struggles.
They even shared a few tips for my own studies in AI at PUT!

It was refreshing to meet people who get what it’s like dealing with inflammatory diseases, the complexity of gene research, and the frustration of how much we still don’t know.

I really enjoyed our conversation.

I also asked about their supervisor — Maciej Piernik, PhD.

They told me he’s deeply involved in researching inflammatory disease mechanisms and has built strong connections with doctors, research institutes, and more.

So, the next step on my journey is clear:
Reach out to him ASAP! I would love to contribute to his work.

Final remarks#

People often say networking can be just as important as pure technical skill — maybe even more so.

Even though this event wasn’t about landing a job, it felt like science in its purest, most exciting form — and I’m so glad I went.

I met some amazing people, learned a lot, and got fired up about my own future possibilities.
Maybe, someday, I’ll be the one inspiring others. Who knows?

In the meantime, it’s time to shift gears.
The GHOSTxIRIM project and the upcoming GHOST Day Conference are rushing toward me at full speed.
Honestly, I was slacking a bit because of time constraints — but now it’s time to go all-in if I want to deliver a strong presentation.

That’s it for today.
Thanks so much for reading — and see you in a couple of weeks (or maybe even sooner)!
See ya! 👋