How do you build a future workforce of data science and artificial intelligence leaders? At WPI, one approach is to immerse undergraduates in an intense summer program—the Applied Artificial Intelligence for Advanced Applications research experience.
With a three-year grant of $461,597 for a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site from the National Science Foundation, WPI launched this 10-week research-intensive program in June 2024.
Eleven students from eight institutions across the United States completed the program, successfully presenting their research findings on Aug. 1 at WPI’s annual summer undergraduate research showcase. The students worked in teams of two or three to tackle diverse AI challenges, including the development of better algorithms for computer vision to the design of a model that can detect and remove biased language in medical curricula.
Elke Rundensteiner
“A summer program like this provides undergraduates with the opportunity to engage in cutting-edge AI research and experience firsthand its potential to solve critical societal problems, all of which inspires them to return to their colleges and universities and choose the course and project work that will best prepare them for graduate studies,” says Elke Rundensteiner, the William B. Smith Professor of Computer Science and founding head of WPI’s Data Science and Artificial Intelligence programs. “We challenge undergraduates with real problems, which require them to learn material that they have never before encountered. This experience pushes them academically and personally and helps them gain confidence.”
Led by Rundensteiner as principal investigator (PI) and co-PI Kelsey Briggs, director of Programs and Strategic Initiatives for Data Science, the summer experience built upon the university’s previous eight years of summer data science research programs for undergraduates. The program also reflected WPI’s long history of work on topics ranging from machine learning and deep learning to generative modeling.