Featured Stories
University of Nebraska: Startup Harnesses Gait Data to Improve Health Outcomes
LINCOLN, Nebraska, July 29 -- The University of Nebraska posted the following news:
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Startup harnesses gait data to improve health outcomes
By Tiffany Lee, Research and Innovation
Long before a doctor makes a formal diagnosis, the way a person walks - their gait - can provide clues about emerging disease.
For conditions like Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, peripheral artery disease and more, gait changes serve as an early warning sign. But clinicians often miss these signals because gait - often called the "sixth vital sign" - is difficult to measure and often overlaps age-related
... Show Full Article
LINCOLN, Nebraska, July 29 -- The University of Nebraska posted the following news:
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Startup harnesses gait data to improve health outcomes
By Tiffany Lee, Research and Innovation
Long before a doctor makes a formal diagnosis, the way a person walks - their gait - can provide clues about emerging disease.
For conditions like Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, peripheral artery disease and more, gait changes serve as an early warning sign. But clinicians often miss these signals because gait - often called the "sixth vital sign" - is difficult to measure and often overlaps age-relatedchanges.
Harnessing the power of gait as a biomarker is the concept behind Grasshopper Health, a startup launched by University of Nebraska-Lincoln engineer Fadi Alsaleem to commercialize a wearable, low-cost medical device that continuously delivers gait data to a patient's smartphone and a provider's chart. The goal of this device - called the Axis Patch - is to pave the way for earlier diagnoses, improved treatments and better tracking of how well certain interventions, like medicine or surgery, are working.
With a recent investment and strategic partnership from Omaha, Nebraska-based CQuence Health, the company is advancing toward clinical trials and broader adoption of its gait-monitoring device.
"The company formed around this technology because gait is an indication for at least 18 diseases where people show illness in the way they walk," said Alsaleem, James and Virginia Blackman Associate Professor of architectural engineering and Grasshopper co-founder and technology adviser. "We were initially focused on peripheral artery disease but soon realized gait changes relate to heart attacks, Parkinson's and more. A small idea changed into a big one that might change everything we do in the medical field."
Grasshopper Health represents a merger of expertise across three University of Nebraska institutions. The collaboration dates to 2021, when a team including Alsaleem received a University of Nebraska Collaboration Initiative grant to develop a machine learning-based wearable designed to improve the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral artery disease.
Sara Myers, professor in the University of Nebraska at Omaha's internationally recognized Department of Biomechanics and associate vice chancellor for research and creative activity, and Iraklis Pipinos, a vascular surgeon and professor of surgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, had 20 years of peripheral artery disease-related data from prior research. Alsaleem - who specializes in wearable devices with long battery lives - was inspired by this trove of data, which included information from both healthy individuals and patients with the disease.
To an engineer, it was the kind of information machine learning thrives on - a chance to train algorithms to recognize the hidden signatures of disease.
"That's where things clicked," Alsaleem said. "We figured out how to leverage all of this existing data."
Though researchers have long recognized the link between gait and disease, multiple hurdles have prevented its use as a reliable biomarker. During office visits, doctors are limited to seeing patients walk in short bursts at a single point during the day. And even highly trained professionals can miss subtle shifts - especially when age-related gait changes can be normal.
For the devices that have been developed, one or more problems have prevented their widespread adoption - cost being the most significant. None have been affordable for the general population, and up until a few years ago, insurance did not reliably cover physician-prescribed wearables.
Grasshopper is launching into a transformed landscape: Recent changes in health care reimbursement have created pathways for broader insurance coverage.
"A major advantage is our timing," Alsaleem said. "People have tried to bring similar devices to market, but they've died out because of confusion about who will pay for it. Now, we have a new reimbursement model for digital devices."
Bulkiness and uncomfortable fit have also stymied other models. Husker engineer Eric Markvicka is helping Grasshopper to achieve a lightweight and low-profile patch.
"We envision the final product being like a Band-Aid, where you just put it on your lower back and forget about it," Alsaleem said.
The device's other advantages include a long battery life - the device is expected to last about two weeks without needing to be charged, with hopes of eventually reaching a month or longer - and the ability to continuously, wirelessly transmit data to patients and doctors. This would allow doctors to remotely monitor hundreds of patients at once.
The patch is also unique for tracking multiple potential diseases, rather than just a single condition, which has been the standard to this point.
Alsaleem credits university resources and expertise, along with Nebraska's startup ecosystem, with helping the team launch Grasshopper. NUtech Ventures, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's technology commercialization affiliate, supported Alsaleem in patenting the machine learning-based methods for diagnosing peripheral artery disease and licensing the technology to Grasshopper.
Support from Paul Eurek, an entrepreneur in residence in the College of Engineering, helped Alsaleem understand Nebraska's startup landscape and capture early funding from the college and the Nebraska Department of Economic Development. The college also provided commercialization support through the Ken Jones Donor Fund.
Dr. Jeffrey P. Gold, president of the University of Nebraska system, inspired Alsaleem to make commercialization a central piece of his work at the university - part of NU's broader mission to improve lives and strengthen the economy through tech transfer.
"Commercialization pushes faculty outside their traditional comfort zones," Alsaleem said. "We're accustomed to publishing papers, but building a startup shifts the focus to positively impacting people's lives."
Gold also connected Alsaleem with Peter Savas, a biotechnology entrepreneur and chair of Grasshopper Health's board, and Richard Vlasimsky, the company CEO, who has significant expertise in bringing health innovations to market. Myers and Pipinos, part of the original NU collaboration, serve as advisers to the company.
"While our research has been very laboratory focused, our team always wanted to have a translational impact," Myers said. "Being able to work together with my colleagues from the other NU campuses shows the breadth of expertise that we have here in our state's universities."
Alsaleem said Husker students are benefiting from the startup, too. Through a research agreement between Grasshopper and the university, three doctoral students receive research funding to support the work.
"It's a win in all directions," he said. "It exposes my students to how to move from research to a real product, and they have research money approved by the university. For me, I get to go beyond my typical academic life to advise a company based on my research."
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Original text here: https://news.unl.edu/article/startup-harnesses-gait-data-to-improve-health-outcomes
University of Michigan-Dearborn: Computer Science Undergrad Lands a Spot on NASA-linked Research Team
DEARBORN, Michigan, July 29 -- The University of Michigan Dearborn Campus issued the following news:
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Computer science undergrad lands a spot on NASA-linked research team
Christian Nwobu is co-developing a system that enables swarms of autonomous space drones to communicate with one another using light.
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Christian Nwobu never envisioned himself conducting research when he began his studies at UM-Dearborn. The East Lansing native, now a senior, began pursuing a degree in computer and information science after a series of high school coding competitions left him with a penchant for programming
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DEARBORN, Michigan, July 29 -- The University of Michigan Dearborn Campus issued the following news:
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Computer science undergrad lands a spot on NASA-linked research team
Christian Nwobu is co-developing a system that enables swarms of autonomous space drones to communicate with one another using light.
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Christian Nwobu never envisioned himself conducting research when he began his studies at UM-Dearborn. The East Lansing native, now a senior, began pursuing a degree in computer and information science after a series of high school coding competitions left him with a penchant for programmingand a taste for challenge. But he wasn't sure where his education could take him.
That changed when Nwobu attended a conference through UM-Dearborn's STEM Scholar program, which supports students from lower-income families who are pursuing STEM fields like chemistry and engineering.
Hearing from UM-Dearborn researchers who were putting their ideas into practice in the lab resonated in a way he didn't expect. "It really showed me how, with the right resources and information, an idea can turn into something that changes the world," Nwobu says. "I learned that there's so much power and opportunity in higher education. There are so many ways to get your ideas out there, it just takes a vision and a love for what you're doing."
The experience encouraged Nwobu to work his way into the lab of CIS Assistant Professor Xiao Zhang, where he collaborated with older students on a series of projects that used visible light as a means of communication in electronic systems. Today, with a grant from the Michigan Space Grant Consortium, he's part of a three-member team working on a NASA-linked project in Zhang's lab. The funding will pay for expenses like travel and equipment, enabling him to take on this research role in addition to his studies.
The team, which also includes CIS PhD student Deniz Ackibas and CIS master's student Ashwin Sarvadey, is working to develop a new communication system to be used by autonomous drones in space. "I told Professor Zhang how much I love doing research and he helped me find this opportunity that could help support me to do this work," Nwobu says.
The grant is one of several resources that have helped Nwobu during his time in Zhang's lab. He also participated in UM-Dearborn's Summer Undergraduate Research Experience, a faculty mentorship program designed to expose undergraduate students to research-oriented career paths. Nwobu was also awarded an EXP+ grant that enabled him to present his research and hone his communication skills.
Those skills will be key in the year-long drone project, where Nwobu will play a role in presenting the team's work to outside stakeholders as well as work on hardware and software implementation. The project will adapt a system that enables swarms of drones to communicate directly with each other using high-frequency flashes from onboard LEDs, interpreted by specialized cameras. The system could enable drones to communicate much more quickly than current technology, which uses a centralized radio station as an intermediary between vehicles.
"You can imagine a flock of geese in the sky, the way they coordinate their movements and fly as a single formation," Zhang says. "Today's technology is much too slow to enable that kind of coordination, but our system could make it possible."
Zhang's lab has already developed a system that works on Earth. The new project aims to build a modified version that can stand up to the rigors of space, using UV light and a space-hardened communication module. The project's goal is to have a working prototype by May 2027.
Zhang makes a point of connecting undergraduate students with the resources to gain new experiences and benefit from the opportunities that research experience can open. "I think research experience is very important as a way to help undergraduates see how their classwork can be applied to real-world projects," he says. "It also gives them a venue to develop other skills, like presenting and communicating their ideas to outside stakeholders in a convincing way. I learned so much from the research work I did as an undergraduate student, and so I try to create those opportunities for my students."
Zhang says working with undergraduate students can also help the master's and PhD students in his lab develop mentorship skills and pass on knowledge like academic tips and career advice. "It's a lot like a family--like older and younger siblings exchanging knowledge," Zhang says. "It's mutually beneficial."
Nwobu is looking forward to contributing new ideas to the drone tracking project. After its current phase wraps up in 2027, the team hopes to secure funding for an additional year of research that would enable them to adapt their prototype system for use with actual NASA equipment.
Regardless of the outcome of this particular project, Nwobu is confident that his research experience will propel him toward his ultimate goal of completing a PhD in computer science, perhaps at UM-Ann Arbor. He has his eye on some of computer science's thorniest problems, like finding more energy-efficient ways to train AI models.
While there are likely to be plenty of challenges along the way, Nwobu is confident he can handle them. And he hopes the success he has achieved thus far can be an inspiration to others. "I wasn't always good at school, or at thinking outside the box," he says. "But I hope my experience will show people that if I can do it, they can too."
-- Story by Gabe Cherry
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Original text here: https://umdearborn.edu/news/computer-science-undergrad-lands-spot-nasa-linked-research-team
Syracuse University Issues Q&A on How Virtual Worlds and Media Environments Create Deep Connections to Place
SYRACUSE, New York, July 29 -- Syracuse University issued the following Q&A on July 28, 2026, involving Nick Bowman, professor in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications:
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From Hometowns to Gotham City, How We Connect to Our 'Special Places'
Professor Nick Bowman explains elements that make us feel connected to non-physical spaces, like the locations we love in favorite video games, movies and virtual communities.
Diane Stirling
Several factors shape how people bond with a beloved place, whether it's a childhood hometown or a vacation spot. Usually those locations are physical
... Show Full Article
SYRACUSE, New York, July 29 -- Syracuse University issued the following Q&A on July 28, 2026, involving Nick Bowman, professor in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications:
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From Hometowns to Gotham City, How We Connect to Our 'Special Places'
Professor Nick Bowman explains elements that make us feel connected to non-physical spaces, like the locations we love in favorite video games, movies and virtual communities.
Diane Stirling
Several factors shape how people bond with a beloved place, whether it's a childhood hometown or a vacation spot. Usually those locations are physicalones, but with increasingly realistic digital and online worlds that can be accessed from almost anywhere, virtual spaces can easily keep pace in creating those deep connections.
That's why some people feel so gratified playing a favorite video game like World of Warcraft, become immersed in Gotham City streetscapes watching a Batman movie, or get caught up in living out an assumed persona in a Second Life online community.
Those concepts reflect an arm of ongoing research by Professor Nick Bowman, who oversees doctoral and master's programs in mass communications and media studies at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.
Bowman studies the cognitive, emotional, physical and social demands of interactive media content and how people experience emotional connections to meaningful locations in their lives.
Below, he shares how people develop bonds to places real and virtual, and why that happens.
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Q: How does your research regarding the pull of media content explain how people connect to special places in their lives?
A: We often become attached to places as we experience them phenomenologically--through direct, subjective and personal experience--and not something we measure from the outside. It's called "sense of place."
Scholars believe people understand places as constructed experiences just as much as objective locations. That applies to both physical and virtual special places.
Q: What factors contribute to creating a "sense of place?"
A: They are what our research calls "SPIREs"--a combination of the symbolism, purpose, identities, relational orientation and/or emotions--that someone associates with a place. The spaces where we live, work and play give context to our daily experiences. Those five things are about the experience of a place more so than a place being physical or digital.
When places hold symbolic meaning, have a purpose, give us a sense of identity, help us make and sustain relationships and trigger emotional reactions, we connect with them. The things that help us feel a deep and meaningful sense of place don't really require anything to be physical.
So, just as much as Syracuse University's campus provides these things for me, so does a highly social video game. In both places, I'm making friends and feeling emotions and doing worthwhile and meaningful things.
Q: Are the connections people make to physical places different from those they form to virtual ones?
A: Digital worlds can provide experiences and feelings equal to physical realities; we can form a sense of place for digital worlds that rival physical ones.
We don't always have to return physically to bygone places to feel connected to them. And memories alone don't sustain a connection to a place, though they certainly help keep those places alive in our minds and hearts. The ephemeral nature of digital worlds lets us (re)visit them in ways not possible with physical reality.
For more information about SPIRE and "Sense of Place," see "Symbolism, Purpose, Identity, Relation, Emotion: Unpacking the SPIREs of Sense of Place Across Digital and Physical Spaces," (Poetics, Bowman and Banks.)
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Original text here: https://news.syr.edu/2026/07/28/from-hometowns-to-gotham-city-how-we-connect-to-our-special-places/
N.C. State Experts Available to Speak on Cyclospora
RALEIGH, North Carolina, July 29 -- North Carolina State University issued the following news release:
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NC State Experts Available to Speak on Cyclospora
As the parasite, Cyclospora, continues to be traced in lettuce and other produce across the United States, NC State researchers are available to provide context and details on what this may mean for consumers and food industry representatives.
Food Contamination and Food Industry
Ellen Shumaker, director of outreach for the Safe Plates food safety program with NC State Extension, can speak on the overall investigation into cyclospora
... Show Full Article
RALEIGH, North Carolina, July 29 -- North Carolina State University issued the following news release:
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NC State Experts Available to Speak on Cyclospora
As the parasite, Cyclospora, continues to be traced in lettuce and other produce across the United States, NC State researchers are available to provide context and details on what this may mean for consumers and food industry representatives.
Food Contamination and Food Industry
Ellen Shumaker, director of outreach for the Safe Plates food safety program with NC State Extension, can speak on the overall investigation into cyclosporacontamination and discuss ways to reduce the risk for consumers and small retail operations. Shumaker can be reached at ellen_shumaker@ncsu.edu.
Benjamin Chapman, department head and professor for the Agriculture and Human Sciences Department and the interim associate director and state program leader for Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) and Community and Rural Development (CRD) at NC State Extension, can speak on cyclospora implications to the food service and retail industries. Chapman can be reached at bjchapma@ncsu.edu.
Candice Christian, extension associate in consumer and retail food safety in NC State's Agriculture and Human Sciences Department, can speak to the media about best consumer practices at home to mitigate risks, such as washing produce and cooking protocols. Christian can be reached at cadescha@ncsu.edu.
Cyclospora Testing
Lee-Ann Jaykus, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor Emerita in the Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences Department, can speak about Cyclospora the organism, illness, public health implications, investigation of the outbreak (epidemiology and root cause analysis), environmental surveys, sources of contamination and impact of climate and agricultural and food processing practices on contamination and inactivation. Jaykus can be reached at lajaykus@ncsu.edu or (919) 423-6482.
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Original text here: https://news.ncsu.edu/2026/07/nc-state-experts-available-to-speak-on-cyclospora/
Mizzou Researchers Find Simple Habit to Improve Physical, Mental Health
COLUMBIA, Missouri, July 29 (TNSjou) -- The University of Missouri issued the following news release:
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Mizzou researchers find simple habit to improve physical, mental health
Study highlights how consistent daily habits can lower pain and depression, regardless of sleep quality.
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University of Missouri researchers have identified a simple, effective way to improve quality of life. A new study found that maintaining a consistent daily routine can reduce physical pain and ease symptoms of depression, demonstrating how everyday habits can have a meaningful impact on well-being, particularly
... Show Full Article
COLUMBIA, Missouri, July 29 (TNSjou) -- The University of Missouri issued the following news release:
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Mizzou researchers find simple habit to improve physical, mental health
Study highlights how consistent daily habits can lower pain and depression, regardless of sleep quality.
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University of Missouri researchers have identified a simple, effective way to improve quality of life. A new study found that maintaining a consistent daily routine can reduce physical pain and ease symptoms of depression, demonstrating how everyday habits can have a meaningful impact on well-being, particularlyfor older adults with insomnia.
Roughly half of adults age 60 and older report experiencing insomnia symptoms, according to the National Council on Aging. To better understand how insomnia affects overall well-being, Eunjin Tracy, an assistant professor in the College of Education and Human Development, analyzed survey data from 67 older adults, including 37 people with insomnia.
As expected, participants with insomnia reported higher levels of pain and depression. Tracy also found that participants who maintained consistent daily routines tended to report lower levels of pain and depression, a relationship she believes may be explained in part by the way regular schedules help synchronize the body's internal clock.
"Regardless of sleep quality, those who reported having a regular daily routine had lower levels of physical pain and less depression compared to those without a daily routine," Tracy said. "If we are consistent with when we wake up, eat, work or study, interact with others and go to bed, those time cues help synchronize our internal body clocks. Over the long term, that seems to be linked with improved health outcomes."
Those daily habits help regulate the body's circadian rhythm, its internal 24-hour clock that influences sleep, mood and other biological functions.
"When we regulate our circadian rhythm well, our bodies function well, but if it gets too distracted, our bodies don't function as well," Tracy said.
Even small disruptions to daily schedules can throw off the body's internal clock, a phenomenon sometimes referred to as social jet lag. Tracy said maintaining a consistent routine throughout the week can help minimize those disruptions.
"As someone who wakes up and goes to bed at the same time every day, I think a daily routine can be helpful for people of all ages across their lifespan," Tracy said. "There is growing awareness about the concept of social jet lag -- waking up and going to bed at different times on weekends compared to weekdays -- and the disruptions it causes to our circadian rhythm, so hopefully this research helps more people consider the health benefits of a daily routine. Since one-third of our lives will be spent sleeping, I think health and well-being research should be looked at holistically from a 24-hour perspective and not just focus on when we are awake."
"Behavioral-social rhythms and insomnia symptoms: associations with pain, body mass index, and depressive symptoms among older adults" was published in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine.
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Original text here: https://showme.missouri.edu/2026/mizzou-researchers-find-simple-habit-to-improve-physical-mental-health/
California State University's Transfer Success Pathway Can Shorten Path to B.A. Degree for California Community College Students
LONG BEACH, California, July 29 -- California State University issued the following news:
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CSU's Transfer Success Pathway Can Shorten Path to B.A. Degree for California Community College Students
The pathway offers a clear, structured route to an undergraduate degree.
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Starting Aug. 1, students enrolling at a California Community College for the first time this fall can guarantee their spot at a California State University (CSU) campus when they are ready to transfer.
A dual admissions program, the CSU's Transfer Success Pathway (TSP) gives community college students a direct route
... Show Full Article
LONG BEACH, California, July 29 -- California State University issued the following news:
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CSU's Transfer Success Pathway Can Shorten Path to B.A. Degree for California Community College Students
The pathway offers a clear, structured route to an undergraduate degree.
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Starting Aug. 1, students enrolling at a California Community College for the first time this fall can guarantee their spot at a California State University (CSU) campus when they are ready to transfer.
A dual admissions program, the CSU's Transfer Success Pathway (TSP) gives community college students a direct routeto a bachelor's degree at a CSU campus the moment they start their college experience--with support from both institutions along the way.
The window to apply and sign a TSP agreement runs from Aug. 1 until Oct. 31 and can be done through the CSU Transfer Planner, an online tool where all community college students can explore majors at each of the CSU's 22 campuses, plan a successful transfer and research potential careers.
"Now is the best time for community college students to consider how they can best chart a path to a bachelor's degree," said April Grommo, assistant vice chancellor for strategic enrollment management for the CSU system. "The Transfer Success Pathway program can provide students with the shortest timeline and the lowest cost to earn a bachelor's degree."
While most community college students express interest in transferring to a four-year university, only one in five students who intend to transfer do so within four years of initial enrollment.
"For many community college students, the transfer process can feel confusing and uncertain," Grommo said. "The Transfer Success Pathway program is about certainty for students. It gives students early assurance of CSU admission, helping them plan with confidence from the beginning of their college journey."
First launched in 2023 and made into law with the passage of SB 640 last year, the CSU's Transfer Success Pathway offers students guaranteed admission to a degree program and CSU campus of their choice as long as they continue to meet the eligibility requirements and transfer within three years. To date, more than 7,800 community college students have signed a TSP agreement.
Through the program, students benefit from the coordinated support of both systems. Their community college provides academic counseling, education plans, financial aid guidance and progress monitoring, while their chosen CSU campus offers transfer advising, major preparation guidance, financial aid information and access to select campus resources.
"This is a statewide commitment to access. All 22 CSUs and all 116 California Community Colleges participate in the Transfer Success Pathway," Grommo said. "We are working closely with our community college colleagues to provide a clearer, more supportive route for students to earn their undergraduate degree at one of the CSU campuses."
To learn more about the program, visit www.calstate.edu/transfersuccess.
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About the California State University
The California State University is the nation's largest four-year public university system, providing transformational opportunities for upward mobility to more than 470,000 students from all socioeconomic backgrounds. More than half of CSU students are from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds, and more than one-quarter of undergraduates are first-generation college students. Because the CSU's 22 universities provide a high-quality education at an incredible value, they are rated among the best in the nation for promoting social mobility in national college rankings from U.S. News & World Report, the Wall Street Journal and Washington Monthly. The CSU powers California and the nation, sending more than 123,000 career-ready graduates into the workforce each year. In fact, one in every 20 Americans holding a college degree earned it at the CSU. Connect with and learn more about the CSU in the CSU newsroom.
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Original text here: https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/news/Pages/Transfer-Success-Pathway-Can-Shorten-Path-to-BA-Degree.aspx
Bowdoin College: Harnessing AI for the Common Good
BRUNSWICK, Maine, July 29 -- Bowdoin College issued the following news:
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Harnessing AI for the Common Good
By Tom Porter
The inaugural cohort of Hastings Summer Fellows have been using and learning about various artificial intelligence (AI) tools during the break as they work faculty and staff on a wide range of projects, all of them aimed at making the world a better place.
Five students are enrolled in the eight-week funded summer fellowship, launched this year as part of the Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanity (HIAIH).
The HIAIH began last year, thanks to a $50 million gift--the
... Show Full Article
BRUNSWICK, Maine, July 29 -- Bowdoin College issued the following news:
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Harnessing AI for the Common Good
By Tom Porter
The inaugural cohort of Hastings Summer Fellows have been using and learning about various artificial intelligence (AI) tools during the break as they work faculty and staff on a wide range of projects, all of them aimed at making the world a better place.
Five students are enrolled in the eight-week funded summer fellowship, launched this year as part of the Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanity (HIAIH).
The HIAIH began last year, thanks to a $50 million gift--thelargest in Bowdoin's 232-year history--from Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings '83. The aim of the initiative is to ensure students graduate well prepared to lead in a world reshaped by this breakthrough technology.
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Meet the summer fellows and learn about their projects:
Camily Guimaraes Carvalho '29 is working on two initiatives helping Bowdoin faculty with their research:
She is assisting Peter M. Small Associate Professor of Economics Martin Abel expand his online project Ungated Research, a platform linking published economics articles to free working-paper versions. It uses AI to summarize and categorize the articles, thus helping researchers, such as those in low-income regions who may otherwise find their access blocked by a paywall. "Exploring creative software architectures to automate the identification of these working papers has been exciting," said Carvalho.
She's also helping Hispanic studies faculty build an AI-powered Spanish-practice tool for students to use outside class, slated to pilot in elementary Spanish classes this fall. The aim is to support students with helpful advice on how to improve their skills so that they feel confident enough to speak, said Carvalho, an international student from Brazil. "The goal is not to substitute human connection but to provide students with a safe environment where, for a couple of minutes each day, they feel completely at ease making mistakes while the AI tracks areas for improvement and tests them, amplifying their learning process outside the classroom."
In addition to these efforts, Carvalho, who intends to major in computer science and history, is working on a Hastings-funded personal project over the summer--the construction of an AI-powered database connecting low-income high school students in her native Brazil to a number of career-propelling opportunities to which they often do not have access in their under-resourced public schools. "Democratizing access to education is one of my passions, and it is definitely a meaningful use of artificial intelligence."
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Calvin Cecil '28 and Sabina Gill '29 are both working on a project under the guidance of Senior Lecturer in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Reed Johnson, economist Martin Abel (see above), and Visiting Assistant Professor of Digital and Computational Studies Adrienne Kinney, who was hired in 2025 as part of the Hastings Initiative.
The project, which grew out of creative writing research Johnson and Abel have been involved with, is still in the development phase, and Cecil and Gill (alongside Andrew Mott '26, who is not a Hastings fellow) have spent much of the summer setting up the technical side and getting the hardware ready to be rolled out. The aim is to help retired people record their life memories and recollections through a system they are developing. It works like this: It connects via special hardware to an AI-powered voice agent, which "interviews" the phone user using a series of questions or prompts and follow-up questions.
This creates an interview transcript, explains Cecil, which is cross-linked to other related information sources and updated after every conversation, enabling the participant to fact-check and edit the wiki as they see fit. The eventual result would be a self-published memoir. Writing and publishing an autobiography is inaccessible to most people, said the computer science and English major, "which is really sad because many valuable insights and memories are being forgotten." Furthermore, he added, "the process of telling one's own story is hugely fulfilling and human. So, this project seeks to allow more people to participate in that through the assistance of AI."
Gill, who is planning to major in computer science and economics, said she was drawn to the project because of its "human forward" nature. "It is not using generative AI to take away from human creativity. The story being told is entirely the subject's own, with AI as the mechanism that facilitates the conversation rather than shapes it," she commented. "So much of the current conversation around generative AI focuses on what it can replace, but this project is about providing something to people who might not have otherwise had the chance to record their life story."
Cecil and Gill say they have already started testing the product with a few participants, and the project is set to be scaled up in the fall. It's important, they say, to remain aware of AI's limitations throughout the whole process, both in terms of creativity and its tendency to fabricate information, which is why human input remains central at every stage.
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Aubrey Gifford '28 has been working with Tina Chong, associate director of the Baldwin Center for Learning and Teaching, to build and pilot an AI "coach" app that helps students follow through on anti-procrastination goals, through daily check-ins and weekly reflections.
The aim, said the neuroscience and religion major, is to provide students with a comprehensive, evidence-based anti-procrastination program tailored specifically to each user's needs, and she hopes it will be ready by the fall.
Chong runs specialized anti-procrastination workshops on campus, and students who attend these, said Gifford, will gain access to a mobile app that allows them to continue implementing the strategies and concepts learned there. "The app is centered around goals that each student sets for themselves and includes features such as daily micro check-ins, weekly guided reflections, and an AI coach that delivers feedback in a way that best benefits the individual student, helping them achieve the goals they've set. I chose to work on this because I thought it was a cool opportunity to potentially see the tools that I work on directly benefit the student body."
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Henry Risch '28 is assisting Professor of Economics Erik Nelson, who specializes in environmental economics, develop a public-facing interface for a greenhouse-gas-emissions tracking tool built on EPA and Department of Energy (DOE) data.
They are designing a research tool that uses AI to make the EPA's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory--a comprehensive annual report that tracks US emissions-- more accessible to the public and researchers. The project, said Risch, was motivated in part by recent actions from the current administration, including not publishing an annual inventory for the first time in thirty years, and dramatically scaling back the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program that some eight thousand industrial facilities use to report emissions. The AI system, he explained, uses a tool that combines natural language processing with a searchable database of EPA documents, regularly updated fossil fuel use data from the DOE, and Python code, allowing users to ask questions about past and current emission rates in plain English and receive cited, validated answers.
"I was drawn to the project because it pushed me well outside my comfort zone," said the environmental studies and economics major. "This work spans so many important subjects, like economics, environmental science, and software development, that I just couldn't pass it up. As an environmental studies major, I've followed greenhouse gas reporting closely, so getting to work on the tools that could make that data more transparent and usable for researchers feels meaningful.
"Furthermore, to be able to use AI in a way that truly captures the College's mission of pursuing the common good brings a lot of fulfillment to my work."
Published July 28, 2026
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Original text here: https://www.bowdoin.edu/news/2026/07/harnessing-ai-for-the-common-good.html
