ICDS is pleased to announce 20 awardees in the inaugural upskilling program, totaling over $300,000.

Awardees were selected from 8 colleges, 17 departments, and 3 campuses.

Quantum 

• Honavar, Vasant Gajanan: Faculty Upskilling in Quantum Sciences (Quantum Computing)
• Sparrow, Victor: Linear and Nonlinear Wave Propagation Using Quantum Computing

AI 

• Basak, Amrita: Integrating Synthetic Biology and Deep Learning for Designing Programmable Life-Like Materials
• Calacci, Dana: From Evaluation to Alignment: Toward Community-Aligned AI
  
• Cameron, Christopher Daryl: Building Practical Tools for Empathic Human-AI Interactions
  
• Golder, Sona: Developing New Competencies in AI and Experimental Research Design
  
• Hu, Xianbiao: Agentic AI for Autonomous Vehicles: Enhancing Goal-Directed and Cooperative Decision-Making at Penn State
  
• Hu, Yuqing: AI-Augmented Digital Twins for Human-Centered Urban Resilience and Planning
  
• Karunanayaka, Prasanna: ICDS Faculty Upskilling Fellowship – AI and Quantum Sciences
  
• Khodakarami, Nima: APPLYING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN HEALTHCARE RESEARCH
  
• Kumar, Ashish: Application of Deep-Learning to Study the Evolution of Transient-State Combustion in Underground Mines
  
• Li, Bin: Integrating Generative AI into Extended Reality
  
• LIU, SHIMIN: Exploring New Frontiers in the Application of AI for Mining Engineering at Penn State through Fiber Optic Sensing and Smart Mine Ventilation
  
• Sharma, Priya: Moving from novice to navigator: Building AI fluency for educational research
  
• Zou, Ellen Wenting: Building Multi-Agent Education System to Combat Bullying Among Teens
  
• Zuo, Wangda: Enhancing Research in Sustainable and Resilient Cities through AI
  

Dual Focus

• Jin, Dezhe: Quantum many-body physics through AI
  
• Jin, Mia: AI-Enhanced Quantum Computing for Complex Materials Challenges
  
• Li, Jia: Application to Faculty Upskilling Fellowships in AI and Quantum Sciences
  
• Liu, Chaoxing: Designing Topological Phases in Quantum Materials with AI