​​Program Overview

​​Join Vancouver AI Space (Season 3)

​​A 6-week online program (with optional in-person sessions) hosted by Vancouver AI Meetup (VAM!) featuring:

• ​​Runs from May 17, 2025 to June 28, 2025

• ​​Guidance to bring your AI idea to life

• ​​Support from a passionate community

• ​​$300 prize pool for the top 3 demos

• ​​$25 prizes for weekly challenges

​​What You'll Get to Learn

• ​​🤖 Agentic LLMs

• ​​🔍 Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

• ​​⚡ Prompt Engineering

• ​​🛠️ Full Stack Implemenation of an AI App

​​Program Highlights

• ​​Work at your own pace online with a team

• ​​Learn from research and industry experts

• ​​Connect with new people in the field

• ​​No mandatory in-person attendance required

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​​How does it work?

​​🚀 AI Idea & Team Formation:

• ​​💡In the first week, be prepared to propose or join an existing project that you are excited about.

​​🎯 See Example Projects:

• ​​AI Essay Grader: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9I7SuuPctk

• ​​Fake News Detector: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG24uUtCHR4

• ​​Blend your moments into captivating reels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1N5obByhB8

​​💬 Communication:

• ​​Get access to a Discord community for regular teachings, personalized feedback, and support from facilitators and the community when you apply.

​​📅 Agenda:

​​Program runs from May 17 to June 28, 2025

​​🎯 Orientation Day

• ​May 17, 11:00-2:00pm (PST)

• ​​Available both online and in-person at Northeastern University 410 W Georgia St #1400 Vancouver

​​🎉 Demo Day

• ​​June 27, Friday, 5:30-8:00pm (PST)

• ​​Available both online and in-person at Northeastern University 410 W Georgia St #1400 Vancouver

​​Each week includes (all optional)

• ​Lectures Released every Monday 8:00 am (PST)

• ​​📚 Online Office Hours

  • ​​Mondays & Wednesdays, 5:30-6:30pm (PST)

  • ​For all kinds of support

• ​​👥 In-person co-working spaces

  • ​Thursdays, 5:00-7:00pm (PST)

  • ​​For people to work together and network

• ​​🎉 In-person social events

  • ​​Saturdays, 5:30pm-8:00pm(PST)

​​⏰ Deadlines:

• ​​✅ Weekly assignments due Sunday midnight

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​​Who's this For?

• ​​👥 Developers, entrepreneurs, or students passionate about building an AI-driven project.

• ​​📅 Flexible schedule: Works well for those with full-time jobs or full time studies

  • ​​Work at your own pace, online, during nights and weekends.

• ​​🧠 Skills needed: Some grasp of Python (or the willingness to read some Python Code)

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​​Roadmap

​​🧠 Week 0: Setup 

• ​​Join the discord to introduce yourself, and connect with others in the community

​​⚡ Week 1: Build a Basic Agentic AI App

• ​​We’ll guide you to build a simple example of an Agentic AI app as a warm up.

​​👥 Week 2: Share Your Idea

• ​​Submit your AI idea and get feedback to refine it.

​​💬 Week 3: Build a Prototype

• ​​Turn your idea into a basic working model for a specific usecase.

​​🤝 Week 4: Create a User Interface

• ​​Design an interface, like a website or app, for users to interact with your App.

​​🌐 Week 5: Test Your App

• ​​Run your app through different use cases to ensure it works effectively.

​​📅 Week 6: Submit and Present

• ​​Submit your demo and showcase your app to an audience.

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​​What You Get

• ​​⚡ Weekly lectures, labs and assignments covering cutting-edge AI topics

• ​​👥 Office hours and co-working spaces (both in-person & Online)

• ​​💬 Active Discord Channels with support from expert devs and professors

• ​​🤝 Dedicated accountability partner for motivation

• ​​🌐 Network with industry developers and AI experts in the field

• ​​🎯 Final demo day to showcase your work to a worldwide audience

• ​​🎓 Certificate of Achievement upon successful program completion

• ​​🍽️ Enjoy food and refreshments during events

• ​​🏆 Win prizes from challenges and best demos

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​​What Our Participants Say

​​"As we wrap up an incredible 6 weeks of hard work, learning, and collaboration, I’m thrilled to share that my AI project is nearing completion! These past weeks have been filled with challenges, tight deadlines, new skills, and so much fun. A huge shoutout to Vancouver AI Space and our amazing instructors and facilitators, Issam Laradji and Kosay Jabre, for making this journey possible. Your guidance and the vibrant virtual and physical spaces you’ve provided have been invaluable for learning, socializing, and supporting one another."

​​- Tijana Sretenović

​​"I am deeply grateful to the organizers of the Vancouver AI Space program @Issam Laradji and @Kosay as well as all the participants for fostering such an inspiring and creative environment that stimulated meaningful discussions and ideas. The experience has been incredibly helpful in advancing the development of my app, DiabetesAI. I am proud to be part of this vibrant Vancouver AI community and look forward to contributing further to its growth and innovation."

​​- Igor Putrenko

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​​Main Facilitator

​​​Issam Laradji LinkedIn

​​Adjunct Professor, UBC, Research Scientist, ServiceNow

​​​Research Scientist at ServiceNow and an Adjunct Professor at University of British Columbia. He has a postdoc from McGill and a PhD from the University of British Columbia, and his research interests include natural language processing, computer vision, and large-scale optimization.