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AIIM for opportunity.
AIIM for leadership.
Congratulations to the 2026 AI Institutes at Michigan (AIIM) Empowering Research with AI Award recipients. Presented during the awards ceremony at the AI in Research Symposium hosted by MIDAS, these awards were selected from more than 180 submissions spanning dozens of schools and colleges across all three U-M campuses to recognize individuals and teams whose innovative and rigorous use of AI is advancing research and practice across disciplines.
First Prize Winners
AI-Driven Transcription of Herbarium Specimens: Scalable Workflows for Biodiversity Data Mobilization
Literature, Science, and the Arts
Brad Ruhfel, William Weaver, Kyle Lough, Stephen Smith
AI-powered Dataset Curation, Processing, and Rehearsal Interfaces for A Cappella
Information; Engineering; Music, Theatre and Dance
Ting-Yu Pan, Kexin Phyllis Ju, Yuna Lee, Christian Li, Hao-Wen Dong
BacterAI: Self-driving Microbiology Labs at Scale
Engineering
Paul Jensen, Benjamin David, Vasu Rao, Noelle Toong, Ruqaiya Siddiqui, Chloe Baumer, Will Herbert
Beyond the Black Box: Generative AI and Synthetic Data for Trustworthy Medical Image Analysis
Medicine
Matthias Wilms, Ahmad O. Ahsan, Nils D. Forkert, Emma A. M. Stanley
Canons of Statutory Interpretation at the Supreme Court, 1791-2024
Law
Nina Mendelson, Jonathan Choi
A Foundation Vision Model for Electrocardiography: Reducing Data Demands to Democratize Diagnosis of Microvascular Dysfunction
Medicine
Venkatesh L. Murthy
The Great Lakes AI Lab: A Focal Point for Freshwater Science
Environment and Sustainability
Dani Jones, David Cannon, Ayumi Fujisaki-Manome, Casey Godwin, Yi Hong, Abby Hutson
Interpretable and Decision-Making Artificial Intelligence for Catalyst and Materials Discovery
Engineering
Bryan R. Goldsmith, Suljo Linic
The Noisy Path from Source to Citation: Measuring How Scholars Engage with Past Research
Information
Hong Chen, David Jurgens, Misha Teplitskiy
Second Prize Winners
Accelerating Drug Discovery Through AI-Driven Molecular Simulation
Literature, Science, and the Arts
Paige Bowling
AgriTwin: An Attention-Based Multimodal Deep Learning Framework for Simultaneous Yield and Price Forecasting in U.S. Specialty Crops
Engineering; Rackham School of Graduate Studies
Vijay Raj Giri, Anisha Giri
A Counterfactual AI Framework to Quantify Rhetorical Style and Its Impact in Scientific Communication
Information
Jingyi Qiu
Developing Scalable and Physics-Informed Scientific Foundation Model for Materials Science
Engineering
Changwen Xu
Explainable Graph-Based AI Enabled Decoding Battery Short Circuit Risk
Engineering
Jinrong Su
Explicit Formulas for Units of Ideals of Finite Matrix Monoid Algebras
Literature, Science, and the Arts
Elad Zelingher
Intelligent Histology: Real-Time AI for Intraoperative Brain Tumor Diagnosis and Margin Assessment
Medicine; Engineering
Akhil Kondepudi, Cheng Jiang, Xinhai Hou, Edward Harake, Yiwei Lyu, Todd Hollon, Honglak Lee, Lin Wang, Karen Eddy, Sandra Camelo-Piragua
LiFind: AI-Enabled Privacy-Protected Centimeter-Level Indoor Self-Localization
Engineering
Xiao Zhang
Machine Listening to Music Across the Globe
Music, Theatre and Dance
David Sears, Vibhor Katiyar, Marzhan Nurdauletova, Luis Rivera, Arishahuda Zakry, Camellia Chen, Ada Langston
Pop the Balloon or Find Love: The Neoliberal Restructuring of Romantic Desire among Black Americans
Literature, Science, and the Arts; Business
Kyle McCullers, Kayonne Christy
Understanding the Universe with Probabilistic AI
Literature, Science, and the Arts
Camille Avestruz, Jeff Regier, Tim White, Gabriel Alfonso Patron Herrera
Third Prize Winners
4OPS: Solver-Grounded AI for Modeling and Scaling Human Mathematical Reasoning
Arts, Sciences, and Letters – Dearborn
Yunus Zeytuncu
Accelerating Domain-aware Electron Microscopy Analysis Using Deep Learning Models with Synthetic Data and Image-wide Confidence Scoring
Engineering
Matthew Lynch
Advancing Nuclear Reactor Design via Surrogate-Assisted Multiobjective Animorphic Ensemble Optimization
Rackham School of Graduate Studies
Omer Faruk Erdem
Advancing Psychological Assessment through the Use of Generative AI
Literature, Science, and the Arts
Aidan Wright, Chandra Sripada
Aggregating Fragmented Biodiversity Knowledge into Evidence-Grounded Datasets
Environment and Sustainability; Literature, Science, and the Arts
William Weaver
AI as a Teammate: Empowering Maintenance and Optimization in DevOps Pipelines
Engineering and Computer Science – Dearborn
Anwar Ghammam
AI-Based Mucus Plug Detection on Chest CT
Medicine
John Oyer, MeiLan Han, Craig Galbán, Sundaresh Ram, Chris Bosma, Ali Namvar, Charles Hatt, Wassim Labaki
AI-Driven Discovery of Src Kinase Inhibitors: Integrative App for Automated Drug Candidate Identification
Pharmacy
Mohamed Abdelalim
AI-Driven Muscle Ultrasound and Multimodal Data Fusion for Early Detection and Personalized Risk Stratification of Metabolic Dysfunction
Medicine
Steven Soliman, Liyue Shen
AI-Driven Optimal Operation of Modern Power and Energy Systems
Engineering and Computer Science – Dearborn
Van Hai Bui, Srijita Das, Akash Mahajan, Nikhil Pawar
AI-Driven Optimization for Decision-Relevant Power Grid Operations
Engineering
Rabab Haider
AI-Enabled Multimodal Learning and Decision Making for Robotic 3D Concrete Printing: Linking Process Pre-Planning with In-Line and Post-Process Data Collection to Construct
Architecture and Urban Planning
Yuxin Lin, Mania Aghaei Meibodi, Kira Barton
AI-Powered Lawyering: AI Reasoning Models, Retrieval Augmented Generation, and the Future of Legal Practice
Law
Patrick Barry, JJ Prescott
An AI-Enabled Tool to Measure the Little Creatures That Run the World
Literature, Science, and the Arts
Yuhao Zhao, Nathan Sanders, James Boyko, Thiago Gonçalves-Souza
ATLAS: AI for Trial Linking and Automated Screening
Medicine
Renee Liu, Rajesh Rao, Yuanfang Guan, Danielle Dupuis
Benchmarking AI for Secure Child Welfare Research
Social Work
Zia Qi
Beyond Binary Moderation: Transforming Online Safety through Generative AI
Engineering
Rayhan Rashed
A Blueprint for Domain Foundation Models in Physical Sciences with an Application in Water Resources
Michigan Institute for Data and AI in Society (MIDAS)
Xiaofeng Liu, Samet Oymak, William Currie
Connecting Human Perception, Crowdsourcing, and Explainable AI for Rapid and Robust Energy Materials Analysis
Engineering
Gabriella Bruno
Creative and Ethical AI in Music: Musicians Coding for Themselves
Music, Theatre and Dance
Julie Zhu
Deep Value Benchmark: Measuring Whether Models Generalize Deep Values or Shallow Preferences
Information
Joshua Ashkinaze
DeepChiral: AI Driven Absolute Configuration Analysis for Safer, Faster Drug Discovery
Life Sciences
Mohamed Mohyeldin
Differentiable Electrochemistry: A Paradigm Characterizing Physical Laws in Electrochemical Systems
Michigan Institute for Data and AI in Society (MIDAS); Engineering
Haotian Chen
Directed Search with AI: Evidence from a Large-Scale Experiment with Entry-Level Job Seekers
Literature, Science, and the Arts
Parker Howell, Anant Nyshadham, Achyuta Adhvaryu, Jean-François Gauthier, Sofía Calderón
Disrupting Advantage: Generative AI and the Social Foundations of Status Inequality in Teams
Business
Siyu Yu
DotRAG: Retrieval-Time, Relational Path Reasoning in Knowledge Graphs
Engineering
Larnell Moore
A Dual-LSTM Model for CLV Distributions: Diverging Paths and Bimodalities
Business
Mainak Sarkar
Empowering Nanomaterials Discovery through Physics-Informed AI and Inverse Design
Engineering
Melody Zhang
Empowering Trustworthy Machine Learning Models through AI-Driven Detection and Correction of Data Leakage
Engineering
Taha Draoui
Explainability and Reinforcement Learning Leading to Scientific Breakthroughs in Turbulence
Engineering
Ricardo Vinuesa, Francisco Alcantara-Avila, Federica Tonti, Abhijeet Vishwasrao, Yuning Wang, Atharva Mahajan, Pol Suarez, Marcial Sanchis-Agudo, Filip Johnson
Generative AI Design Model to Enable Scaffolding-Free Robotic 3D Concrete Printing of Vaulted Structures
Architecture and Urban Planning; Engineering
Abdallah Kamhawi, Mania Aghaei Meibodi, Jesse Capecelatro
Governing AI’s Footprint: Making Data Centers and Zoning Legible
Architecture and Urban Planning
Xiaofan Liang, Zhixuan Qi, Matthew Wizinsky, Sarah Mills
GPT Support for Clinical Trial Sites
Medicine
Devin Brown, Kayla Novitski, Joelle Sickler, Rebecca Hankla, Faria Khattak, Emily Philpot, Valerie Durkalski-Mauldin, Sima Sayyahmelli, Christine Patino, Flora Arevalo-Bermudez, Mitzi Roberts, Allegra Sahelian, Ronald Chervin
How AI Ideas Affect the Creativity, Diversity, and Evolution of Human Ideas: Evidence From a Large, Dynamic Experiment
Information
Joshua Ashkinaze
Illuminating the “Black Box”: The Counterfactual Visual Explanation Process (CVEP) for Quantitative AI Interpretability
Engineering
Jian Hu, Gengxin Li, Ming Gao
Interpretable Machine Learning for Identifying the Structural Origin of Medium-Range Order in Metallic Glasses
Engineering
Muchen Wang
Just-in-Time Code Duplicates Extraction with AntiCopyPaster
Innovation and Technology – Flint
Mohamed Wiem Mkaouer
Learning to Hear Like Dolphins
Engineering
Ganesh Umesh Patil
Leveraging AI to Enable Reliable and Autonomous Microscale Additive Manufacturing
Engineering
Kira Barton, Angelo Hawa, Kaifan Yue, Ali Bahrami
Machine Learning Framework for Predicting Clinical Adverse Events of Kinase Inhibitors Using On-/Off-Target Engagement and Tissue Selectivity
Pharmacy
Natalie Jusko
Machine Learning Modeling of Cardiac Sarcomere Contraction and Cardiomyopathies
Innovation and Technology – Flint
Yasser Aboelkassem
Making AI Reliable for Scientific Computing: A Study of Neural PDE Solvers
Literature, Science, and the Arts
Chuqi Chen
Modeling Moral Reasoning in AI: A Multilingual and Cross-Cultural Perspective
Information
Shivani Kumar
Modular Digital Twins for Nuclear Reactors
Engineering
Leo Tunkle, Umme Nabila, Kamal Abdulraheem
Multimodal Physics Informed Graph Neural Networks for Intracranial Aneurysm Hemodynamics and Rupture Risk Prediction
Innovation and Technology – Flint
Muzammal Shafique
Multiparametric Ultrasound Imaging for Urethral Functional Assessment and Therapeutic Guidance
Medicine
Haowei Tai, Jeffrey Fowlkes, John DeLancey, James Ashton-Miller
Natural Selection via Foundation Models: Towards Holistic Soft Robot Design Evolution
Rackham School of Graduate Studies
Xiaohao Xu, Changhe Chen, Xiangdong Wang, Xiaonan Huang
OTTO-FM: AI-Enabled Semi-Automated Clinical Decision Support to Improve Fluid Management in Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care
Medicine
Daniel Ehrmann, Matthew Hodgman
Particle Identification in YAP:Ce using Random Forest Regressor
Engineering
Valentin Fondement
Personalized Emotion Recognition for Mental Health Modeling
Rackham School of Graduate Studies
James Tavernor
Plurals: A System for Guiding LLMs via Simulated Social Ensembles
Information
Joshua Ashkinaze
Practical Utility of AI-based Sequence-to-Omics Models for Improving the Reproducibility of Genetic Fine-Mapping
Public Health; Rackham School of Graduate Studies
Michael Sweeney
Real-time AI-based Health Monitoring of ICU Patients Using STREAM
Medicine
Ali Namvar, Sundaresh Ram, Wassim W. Labaki, Stefanie Galban, Njira L. Lugogo, Craig J. Galban
Real-time Autonomous AI Data-Filtering Agents for Particle Physics Experiments
Literature, Science, and the Arts
Shaghayegh Emami, Theodor Christian Herwig, Giovanna Salvi, Cecilia Tosciri, David W. Miller, Zixin Ding, Yuxin Chen, Jennifer Ngadiuba, Nhan Tran, Abhijith Gandrakota
Scalable AI Methods for MASLD/MASH/Cirrhosis Phenotyping and Progression Risk Prediction
Medicine
Yousif Alyousifi
Scaling Wildlife Conservation with AI in Invasive-Dominated Forests of Southeastern Michigan
Innovation and Technology – Flint
Trent Adams
SCTA: An Agentic Framework for Stable and Interpretable Target Gene Discovery from Single-Cell RNA Sequencing
Literature, Science, and the Arts
Yang Li, Vaish Cherukuvada, Shuting Ding
Seeing Before Sorting: How Machine Learning Revealed a Hidden Crisis in Educational Classification
Education
Yiran Chen, Ying Sun, Peter Bahr
SignatureDx – A Machine-Learning Classification Tool That Creates & Tests Cancer Diagnostic Signatures
Medicine
Harrison Greenbaum
Tell Me What Happens Next: Provider-directed Automated Clinical Case Review for Enhanced Medical Education in the ED
Medicine
Douglas Craig, Alex Janke, Karan Desai, Laura Hopson, Sara Lin, Florian Schmitzberger, David Somand, Sarah Tehranisa, Kevin Ward, Prashant Mahajan
Thermal-Hydraulic Model Development for Semi-Circular Zigzag Channel PCHEs Based on Machine Learning
Engineering
Shuai Che, Adam Burak, Xiaodong Sun
Toward Contrast-Free Hepatobiliary Imaging: AI-Generated Hepatobiliary Phase–Like MRI from Non-Enhanced Sequences
Engineering; Medicine
Jiaying Zhao
Toward Fuel-Flexible Engine Digital-Twins Enabled by Machine Learning
Engineering
Doohyun Kim, Vijay Giri
A Training-free Method for LLM Text Attribution
Business; Engineering
Tara Radvand
Unmasking Innovation Bias: How AI Reveals Gender Disparities in Patent Citations
Business
Kunal Sachdeva
Using AI to Understand and Foster Human Resilience
Michigan Institute for Data and AI in Society (MIDAS)
Long-Jing Hsu