REU Site: Applied Artificial Intelligence for Advanced Applications

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a game-changer in advancing data-driven solutions in areas from personalized healthcare, national security, smart transportation, e-commerce, to online education. Increased computing power, the availability of large digital data sets, and algorithmic advances in machine learning and Generative AI have made it possible for AI research and development to create new sectors of the economy and revitalize industries.

Development of talent in AI is of utmost importance to ensure continued advancement and economic growth in AI with the potential for significant economic impact and quality-of-life improvements for all members of our society. Yet there are limited opportunities for undergraduate students to further their education and research in Artificial Intelligence despite its recognition as a STEM field of great importance and visibility in society recently (given the rise of ChatGPT and Generative AI).

This program fills this gap by providing undergraduate students underrepresented in STEM the access to engage in meaningful Artificial Intelligence research. In particular, this project provides students from institutions across the country the opportunity to participate in AI research in WPI's Department of Computer Science and the Data Science and Artificial Intelligence programs via Research Undergraduate Experience summer sites successfully operated at WPI since 2016.

The focus of this site is to tackle societal challenges in tackling bias and information integrity, advancing personalized digital health, and modeling critical resources such as renewable energy and human mobility - all interlinked concerns of national importance.

This project provides a unique educational experience for undergraduate students by engaging them in vibrant research projects through which they tackle critical societal challenges via Artificial Intelligence tools and techniques. The students work in research teams, closely mentored by WPI faculty advisors and graduate students, and have ownership of a project for the duration of the summer.

Undergraduate students participating in this project are trained in the best-practices AI-modeling pipeline from data preparation, model development, model evaluation, to model deployment. Further, they design and apply these techniques to solve impactful problems. Given the opportunity to solve pressing problems related to society and our well-being, the students are empowered to make a difference.

To supplement the educational and research skill development of students, a weekly seminar series on professional development covering topics from research inquiry, ethics, communication skills to career opportunities in AI are held and networking events with industry partners are offered. Their involvement in this research program provides students the interpersonal communication, professional networking skills, and AI research skills that they would not encounter in the classroom, and thus encourages the students to find their interest and consider graduate studies.

This project ultimately prepares students for AI-related professions with the potential for exciting leadership career opportunities -- thus contributing to the STEM workforce and the US economic prosperity.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.