When imaging reveals an abnormality in a kidney — such as cancer or a stone — patients and their physicians face a critical decision for what to do next: Wait? Do an invasive procedure? Or run more tests?

A new 91�Թ��� research project combines artificial intelligence (AI), computer vision and clinical expertise to help physicians make that decision with greater confidence and efficiency.

The project, called Kidney-VLM, is supported by a one-year $974,681 grant from the Florida Department of Health’s Florida Cancer Innovation Fund and is led by Pegah Khosravi, a medical AI expert and College of Medicine associate professor with a joint appointment at 91�Թ���’s College of Engineering and Computer Science.

VLM stands for vision-language model, a trainable AI platform that examines both images and data. The 91�Թ��� system analyzes visual information such as CT scans, while the language component comes from radiology, bloodwork and pathology reports. Bringing together those sources allows the system to provide a more comprehensive look at a patient’s kidney health to support more informed treatment planning. A physician could also ask the system a question and receive a response tied specifically to the patient’s imaging data and pathology.

“Kidney-VLM is designed to connect pieces of a patient’s medical story that may often be reviewed separately,” Khosravi says. “Medical AI should not merely produce an answer. It should provide evidence that allows clinicians to understand, evaluate and appropriately question that answer.”

A Clearer Vision for Patient Care

Khosravi is leading the project through , a collaborative initiative that brings together more than two dozen AI-related faculty members, their students and industry partners across disciplines. AdventHealth, a 91�Թ��� Pegasus Partner, is also partnering on the research.

Trustee Chair of Computer Science , IAI’s director and founding director of 91�Թ���’s Center for Research in Computer Vision, brings decades of experience in computer vision, visual reasoning and machine learning to the project.

He says the new research addresses the challenges of integrating computer vision and medical AI into clinical settings.

“Kidney-VLM advances computer vision by moving beyond isolated detection or classification toward an integrated and clinically interpretable system,” Shah says. “This project offers an opportunity to translate advances in computer vision into a practical tool that may help clinicians characterize kidney tumors more confidently and reduce unnecessary procedures.”

The project exemplifies 91�Թ���’s willingness to foster interdisciplinary research and continue responsibly exploring the potential of AI, he says.

“By bringing AI researchers, physicians, and clinical partners together from the beginning, the project creates a pathway from foundational research to meaningful patient impact,” Shah says. “With 91�Թ���’s strength in computer vision, the College of Medicine’s clinical expertise, and our partnership with AdventHealth, Florida is well positioned to become a national leader in responsible and clinically impactful AI innovation. This is exactly the type of collaboration we seek to foster.”

91�Թ��� computer science researchers Yu Tian and Chen Chen are helping develop the AI architecture. Tian is an assistant professor with joint appointments in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and College of Medicine, while Chen is an associate professor of computer science.

“Success will not be measured only by whether the model achieves a higher accuracy score,” Khosravi says. “We also want to determine whether it performs reliably across various patient groups and clinical settings, whether its explanations are medically sound and whether clinicians can recognize when the system is uncertain. Of course, a clinically useful AI system must be accurate, but it must also be transparent, calibrated and safe.”

Making AI Work in the Clinic

Abdo Asmar, a professor of internal medicine at the College of Medicine and a nephrologist with 91�Թ��� Health Faculty Physician Practice, is guiding the project from the clinical side. He cares for patients who may undergo imaging because of kidney disease, hypertension, kidney stones or another medical issue and then discover they have a renal mass or complex cyst.

“This project is important because it focuses on a very real clinical problem with direct implications for patients: how to make better decisions when kidney tumors or suspicious renal findings are discovered,” Asmar says. “Ultimately, this could help patients avoid unnecessary surgery, reduce healthcare costs and ensure that those with more concerning cancers receive timely evaluation and treatment. To me, this project represents a practical and patient-centered application of AI.”

He stresses that physicians must approach AI as a support, not a replacement, for medical judgment.

“We’re not replacing clinical judgment but strengthening it at the point where decisions are most consequential.” — Abdo Asmar, professor

“We’re not replacing clinical judgment but strengthening it at the point where decisions are most consequential,” he says. “While I am excited about the potential uses of AI in medicine, I remain grounded in the belief that physicians and medical researchers have an obligation to use AI carefully, ethically and always in service of better patient care.”

AdventHealth Research Institute’s Michael McDonald, a urologic oncologist, surgeon and researcher is working with the team to ensure the research remains clinically relevant and scientifically accurate.

He envisions that Kidney-VLM can address existing diagnostic limitations.

“Our ultimate goal is to provide physicians with better information before treatment decisions are made,” McDonald says. “For example, in kidney cancer, one of the major challenges is that imaging can’t always reliably determine whether a renal mass is benign or malignant before surgery, and the final diagnosis may not be known until after the tumor is removed and examined by pathology.”

Kidney-VLM is a focused tool to pinpoint a specific set of medical conditions, but Khosravi and her team are hopeful that the model will provide a foundation for broader advances in medical AI.

“The importance of this project extends beyond a single algorithm or disease,” Khosravi says. “Kidney-VLM provides an opportunity to develop a reproducible framework for trustworthy medical AI that can eventually be adapted to other cancers and clinical challenges.”

Research reported in this article was funded by the State of Florida, Department of Health, Public Health Research, Biomedical Research Program, through the Casey DeSantis Florida Cancer Innovation Fund (grant number 26C36). This content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the State of Florida.

We are America’s Space University. And we celebrate 91�Թ��� Space Week to honor our origin as we dare to build what’s next.

Where Global Leaders Unite to Forge the Future of Space

The John C. Hitt Library is likely the only place where you can find odes to Citronaut, space mice, sports and human spaceflight together in one room.

A new, interactive exhibit, debuts this week in the Immersion Studio on the fourth floor of the library’s Digital Exploration Center.

The exhibit brings six decades of 91�Թ���, United States and international space history and culture beyond the archives and into visitors’ hands. It draws on digital assets from 91�Թ���’s former student newspaper, Central Florida Future, NASA, 91�Թ��� Athletics and the university.

91�Թ��� Libraries graduate research assistant Eric Thompson ’19, a history alum pursuing a doctorate in texts and technology, is the mind and heart behind the project. He set out to maximize the studio’s potential through its 270-degree immersive projection and interactive touch capabilities.

Over the past two months, he meticulously selected every image and wrote nearly 7,000 words for the exhibit’s text boxes, bringing the experience together through an iterative process that used artificial intelligence (AI) to generate code.

The Cocoa Beach, Florida, native worked as a bicycle mechanic for nearly a decade before enrolling through to pursue a more fulfilling career as a public historian. He wants to bring history to life beyond the classroom, in places like museums, parks, and monuments.

“I was giving tours of a Civil War painting at the Atlanta History Center, and when you’re doing programming like that it’s exciting because it’s different every single time depending on the makeup of whoever comes through,” he says. “I think the best public history exhibits make some sort of argument. We’re not just saying, ‘Hey, look at this neat thing from 100 years ago.’ We’re also saying what that meant back then, and how it ties to our society today.”

Here, Thompson explains how the exhibit came together, what visitors can expect and the stellar result when the humanities collide with technology.

What inspired this exhibit?

At the beginning of this semester, the for 91�Թ��� Space Week 2026 and my supervisor asked if I wanted to propose something specifically for the Immersion Studio. I started with just a wall — I built a very, very bare-bones prototype that was basically just the mission patches from the space games. Can I make this work? What does it look like from there? How do we do some more history or scholarship along with that?

That’s where some of the other elements — old newspaper articles, actual NASA mission patches, 91�Թ���’s space origins — started to come in. One advantage of a digital exhibit is that you’re not constrained by what fits in a 4-foot-wide glass case. Nearly all images are clickable with a tap of your finger so you can read more information.

The texts and technology program has been recognized as a leader in digital humanities education. How did you apply what you’ve been studying to this project?

One of the research methods that texts and technology students use a lot is something called critical making. It’s a way of building something, thinking and writing through that process very deliberately, and iterating on it. That’s what this process was.

Another key element was how I used AI. I wrote all of the content. I picked all of the images and even hand-sketched the layout, but I don’t know how to code. I didn’t write the programming that made boxes be boxes. I would prefer a human whose job is to program and get paid for it, but I didn’t have that opportunity in this case.

So the code work on this was done with a generative AI tool, Claude. I had a leg up through coursework that was explicitly about using AI like this, including a significant manual review process. It has to be really deliberate.

What do you hope this exhibition adds to campus culture?

As a university, we don’t have the same generations of history that other places do because we were founded just 63 years ago. So we have an opportunity, all of us, to take a more active role in shaping it. I hope somebody will learn something about our campus history and use that to build positive change here on campus.

How did you highlight the humanity of this tech-forward exhibit?

I very intentionally wrote the names of the people on the mission patches with crews. There are people at home who designed these, who thought through these experiments and these projects. Most of these patches are human-forward designs, and people made choices to symbolize our values and what’s important to us.

Why should people come visit this?

The Immersion Studio opened in February, and we want to show what the space is capable of. My hope is that faculty will come in and realize they can bring a class here or design a presentation. Student organizations can hold meetings here. I plan to do my dissertation defense in this space one day.

“We want to show what the space is capable of.” — Eric Thompson ’19

The Digital Exploration Center is a really interesting space on campus. People who aren’t necessarily in something tech-focused are still going to need to learn how to use more modern tools and need workstations and equipment that their departments may or may not have.

So this is a really high-powered space that’s open to anybody on campus. I would love it if somebody found this space because of this exhibit; that would be a win.

A 91�Թ���-led research team will receive a $19.2 million, five-year award from the U.S. Army Research Office to investigate how light travels through complex, changing environments — and how researchers can control it.

Led by Guifang Li, a professor in 91�Թ���’s College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL), the program brings together researchers from CREOL and 91�Թ���’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, the University of Dayton and the University of California, Berkeley, alongside industry partners.

The award will also support a new chapter for CREOL’s Townes Laser Institute under Li’s leadership. Established at CREOL in 2007 and named for Nobel laureate and laser pioneer Charles Townes, the institute advances laser technologies and their potential applications. Li plans to expand its focus on multidisciplinary projects that apply advances in lasers and photonics to practical challenges.

“Townes Laser Institute will translate multidisciplinary scientific advances into solutions that aspire to benefit society as profoundly as the laser itself, to honor the legacy of Charles Townes,” Li says.

Understanding Light in the Real World

Light traveling through the real world rarely behaves as it does in an ideal laboratory.

Atmospheric turbulence, scattering materials, biological tissue and other complex media can scramble an optical wave, degrade an image or prevent light from being precisely delivered to a desired location. The new program seeks to develop ways to measure these distortions remotely and correct them rapidly, particularly when a sensor, beacon or other measurement device cannot be placed at the far end of the optical path.

Although partly motivated by challenges involving directed-energy systems, the research could also inform imaging through biological tissue, laser-based medicine, remote sensing and free-space optical communications.

“We are interested in a very fundamental problem: How do you understand and control light when the environment between you and where you want the light to go is unknown, changing and inaccessible?” Li says. “That question appears in many different forms — from atmospheric propagation to looking through scattering tissue. If we can develop new ways to measure the optical environment and adapt to it in real time, the underlying science could have an impact across many fields.”

Learning About an Environment from the Light Itself

One of the program’s central questions is whether researchers can determine what happened to light during its journey without directly accessing the other end of its path.

One group of techniques will examine the extremely small amount of light naturally scattered back as an optical wave travels through a medium. By combining coherent optical measurements with advanced computational methods, the team will study whether these weak returning signals can reveal how conditions vary along the optical path.

Other approaches will use carefully designed patterns of light and mathematical inverse methods to simultaneously learn about an unknown object and the medium obscuring it.

The team will also explore using artificial intelligence to analyze optical measurements and gain a better understanding of complex environments.

Correcting Distortions in Complex Media

Understanding how light has been distorted creates a second challenge: How can the distortion be undone?

The team will investigate multi-plane light conversion, which manipulates an optical wave across a series of controllable planes rather than relying on a single optical element to correct complex distortions.

In principle, the approach could give researchers greater control over both the amplitude and phase of an optical field, allowing a system to address distortions that conventional single-plane methods cannot easily correct.

For light traveling through the atmosphere, the technique could provide new ways to compensate for rapidly changing turbulence. Related principles could help researchers recover images obscured by biological tissue or improve the precision with which lasers deliver light through complex biological environments.

Bringing Optics and Computation Together

The program combines traditionally separate fields, including coherent optical sensing, computational imaging, inverse methods, artificial intelligence, adaptive optics and programmable photonics, to investigate systems capable of characterizing and adapting to a complex optical environment.

The multidisciplinary approach also reflects Li’s vision for the Townes Laser Institute: bringing researchers together to develop solutions for specific applications.

Preparing the Next Generation of Optical Scientists

The program will also train students from 91�Թ���, the University of Dayton and UC Berkeley to work across optical physics, photonics, computation and engineering. Students will gain experience in optical sensing, wavefront control, computational imaging, artificial intelligence and advanced photonic systems.

“An award of this scale gives us an unusual opportunity not only to pursue ambitious scientific questions, but also to train students across institutions and disciplines,” Li says. “The students will learn to think about optics as a complete system — combining physics, devices, computation and experiments. That workforce development is an important part of the program.”

Moving Discoveries Beyond the Laboratory

Industry partners will explore potential applications for discoveries emerging from the research.

Meadowlark Optics Inc., Caelight Inc. and Holodyne LLC will help commercialize technologies emerging from the research. Texas Instruments will support the program by providing the research team with prototypes of microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS, before they become publicly available.

“This award reflects 91�Թ���’s growing leadership in optics and photonics and demonstrates the impact that fundamental university research can have on technologies of national importance,” CREOL Dean says. “Just as importantly, the program will educate the next generation of scientists and engineers needed to advance these technologies.”

This research is supported by the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory through the Army Research Office under award number W911NF262A129.

When Xiayu Summer Chen left home in Canton, China, where she grew up — first for college in Beijing, then for graduate school in New York City — she faced a problem familiar to students everywhere: How do you stay close to family from thousands of miles away

Her challenge came with an added complication. Chen was raised by her grandparents, who had never used social media or FaceTime.

So she turned to the technology she knew best: painting. She drew step-by-step instructions showing them how to use both. When her grandmother died during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chen began creating video tutorials her grandfather could watch on his phone.

She didn’t call it research. It was just what you do for the people you love.

“I went from seeing my grandparents as very independent people to watching their functional capacity decrease, and I wanted to do something to help,” says Chen, assistant professor of social work in 91�Թ���’s College of Health Professions and Sciences.

That instinct — helping people remain independent, safe and connected — now drives Chen’s research at 91�Թ���. She’s using generative artificial intelligence to help older adults and their caregivers navigate an increasingly digital world.

Approximately 60% of adults age 50 and older feel that technology isn’t designed with their age in mind.

By 2030, one in five Americans will be 65 or older, outnumbering children under the age of 18 for the first time in history, according to U.S. Census Bureau projections. At the same time, more older adults are adopting new technologies. Yet 60% of adults age 50 and older feel that technology isn’t designed with their age in mind, citing a lack of confidence in their digital skills and concerns about technology’s design, according to AARP’s 2026 Tech Trends and Adults 50-Plus report.

“We are living in the digital era,” Chen says. “As we use AI more in our daily activities, we have to provide ways for aging populations to learn and adapt just like everybody else.”

Improving Digital Literacy for Older Adults

After graduating from New York University in 2019, Chen worked as a patient ambassador at Maimonides Cancer Center. A few months later, COVID-19 hit.

“All of a sudden, our services transitioned from face-to-face to being online, but a lot of my patients were older adults and immigrants who had low digital literacy,” she says.

Beyond navigating diagnoses and treatments, patients had to learn how to log in to a telehealth portal, order prescriptions and pay their bills. Chen’s job shifted with them, and she spent much of her time walking patients through screens, one click at a time.

“That’s when it occurred to me to explore the digital divide and help equip older adults with digital literacy,” she says.

Over the past two years, Chen has authored nine journal articles and book chapters examining the digital divide among older adults and the use of technology to address dementia, loneliness and mental health.

That work has culminated in Wise to AI, a gamified learning platform Chen built with generative AI. Alongside lessons introducing AI and chatbots, the platform teaches users how to recognize when AI is being used to scam them, guided by a trusty animated dog modeled after Chen’s own Shiba Inu, Rumi.

The stakes are real and growing. Americans age 60 and older reported losing $7.7 billion to online scams in 2025 alone — up 59% from the previous year, according to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. Actual losses are likely higher, as many victims never report being scammed.

“I created this game to teach older adults some of the tricks and scams they may experience.”

One Wise to AI module tackles the growing problem of AI romance scams. Users choose a persona, such as Rose, and enter a scenario in which Robert, a charming older man she has been talking to online, tells her he’s making money by investing in cryptocurrency. A few days later, he offers to help her get started.

Would she send him $500?

Users must decide whether to send the money, think it over, or say no. If they choose incorrectly, the Rumi-inspired avatar steps in and suggests they call a family member first. The family member then warns them not to send a dime.

After completing enough lessons, users earn a certificate.

“I created this game to teach older adults some of the tricks and scams they may experience,” says Chen, who plans to pilot the platform in senior living facilities.

Using AI to Support Caregivers

Chen’s work extends beyond older adults to the people caring for them.

Last January, Chen and a team of researchers published a study in the Journal of Technology in Human Services investigating how AI could support caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Drawing on interviews with caregivers and a review of 20 studies on interactive AI in dementia care, the team concluded that realistic AI-generated human avatars “hold considerable promise as supportive tools.”

The findings build on a review Chen co-authored earlier this year in the Aging & Mental Health journal, which found that AI-based conversational agents show strong usability and acceptance among older adults.

To test those findings, Chen is using generative AI to pull information from sources including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Alliance for Caregiving into a series of YouTube videos presented by AI avatars. The videos will cover topics such as shared caregiving and coping with grief and guilt. The team plans to start recruiting caregivers for feedback this fall.

The need is urgent. Caregivers of people with dementia report greater emotional, financial and physical challenges than their peers, according to the Alzheimer’s Association’s 2026 report. In Florida alone, more than a quarter of dementia caregivers report experiencing depression, the Alzheimer’s Association’s 2024 report found.

“Some caregivers are quitting their jobs to become full-time caregivers without pay and are experiencing a lot of stress, loneliness, and self-neglect,” Chen says. “Instead of having users search for answers via text, we’re hoping AI-generated [avatars] can better deliver the content they’re looking for.”

“If AI is designed in a humanized way, it [could]  provide the comfort and companionship … we all need.”

Across both projects, Chen is exploring a bigger question: Can AI help address some of the complex challenges facing the growing elderly population and their caregivers?

For Chen, the answer isn’t simply about making technology smarter. It’s about making it more human.

“More and more older adults are living alone and feeling lonely,” she says. “It’s getting hard for them to go out and visit community centers and participate in social activities. There are valid concerns about the ethics, equity and transparency of AI, but if AI is designed in a humanized way, it may be able to provide the comfort and companionship that we all need.”

What if an existing drug could be repurposed to treat a rare disease?

That’s the question 91�Թ��� researchers are exploring with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) to find a cure for rare nerve tumors that can cause paralysis, hearing and balance loss.

Led by 91�Թ��� College of Medicine Pegasus Professor Cristina Fernández-Valle, the team is investigating whether medications already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for other conditions could be swiftly repurposed to treat schwannoma tumors.

The researchers have narrowed a field of about 200 potential drugs to 10 of interest, with three emerging as the most favorable targets.

Their goal is to find new treatment options for patients with Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2)-related schwannomatosis. The genetic disorder causes benign tumors to develop on nerves throughout the body and head. As the tumors grow, they can damage nerves responsible for movement and sensation, including those needed to hear and balance.

The disease affects about one in 25,000 newborns worldwide, according to the Children’s Tumor Foundation, with symptoms often appearing during adolescence and early adulthood. When diagnosed in children, the disorder can be severe and may require multiple surgeries during puberty to reduce tumor size and prevent further loss of function. The Children’s Tumor Foundation is supporting 91�Թ���’s research with a $280,020 grant.

“The Children’s Tumor Foundation was critical to us because they fund the exploratory research that helps advance science,” Fernández-Valle says. “All of this foundational data is needed to attract the additional support needed to demonstrate a treatment holds real promise.”

Looking for Treatments Beyond Surgery

Schwann cells normally help repair nerves and transmit electrical signals throughout the nervous system. In patients with NF2, however, these cells can form visible tumors that cause chronic pain and neurological issues depending on the affected spinal or cranial nerve.

Current treatments center on surgery and radiation, but removing these tumors can be challenging without damaging critical nerves, including those that affect hearing. Surgery also is not curative, as tumors can regrow.

That’s why the research team is looking beyond surgery to potential drug therapies.

While schwannomas are not cancerous, the researchers believe some cancer-fighting drugs may help patients with NF2.

The research began with an AI model called TxGNN, developed by Marinka Zitnik’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School. The model analyzes data and biological mechanisms across thousands of diseases and FDA-approved drugs to identify potential treatments for a queried disease.

“It essentially generates a map for a disease or condition, like schwannomas, and finds overlaps in targeting similar pathways or related diseases,” says Ethan Hass, a 91�Թ��� College of Medicine M.D./Ph.D. candidate working in the lab.

Researchers at Sage Bionetworks used the TxGNN model to identify about 200 FDA-approved medications that could potentially benefit schwannoma patients. Fernández-Valle’s team then used an innovative imaging system to observe how each drug affected human schwannoma cells.

Using a camera inside a microscope, the team watched how schwannoma cells in a dish reacted to small amounts of each drug. The most promising candidates – medications currently used to treat diseases as varied as lung cancer and acne – stopped tumor cell growth by impacting different cellular mechanisms.

A Step Towards Personalized Treatment

The research continues.

The 91�Թ��� scientists are determining therapeutic doses for the most promising drugs using patient-derived schwannoma cells. They’re also studying how the drugs affect the tumor growth pathways at the RNA level.

Ultimately, the researchers hope their findings will help identify drug combinations tailored to individual patients. Complicated and understudied genetic conditions like NF2-related schwannomatosis often require treatments that address multiple targets, Fernández-Valle says.

“I think this work is encouraging, and I’d say like with many cancers, you need a cocktail of drugs to treat it,” she says. “I think what we’re doing here is helping to identify some of the ingredients you might need to make an effective cocktail.”

From Lab Bench to Patient Bedside

The project also provides 91�Թ��� students with the opportunity to participate in research that can make a real-world impact.

Since joining Fernández-Valle’s lab, Hass says his interest in caring for patients with difficult neurologic conditions has grown.

“As an M.D./Ph.D. student, translation is the magic word for me,” he says. “I absolutely love seeing research that can be brought from the bench to the bedside. I want to be that bridge between patients and research.”

Whether you’re attending a job fair or trying to advance to the interview stage for a position you’re applying for, you can increase your chances of success by following some tried-and-true tips from 91�Թ���’s .

How can you make a strong impression on your job interview?

• Know your professional story/prepare your elevator pitch
• Offer a confident greeting, handshake and smile
• Think about two to three key selling points about your professional self. For 91�Թ��� students, start with your major/expected graduation and talk about related skills/experience including student clubs and class projects
• Research employers and showcase your knowledge in conversation
• Give examples to back up your answers. Storytelling is a big part of the interview experience.

How can you craft an effective elevator pitch?

Your elevator pitch introduces you to recruiters in 30-60 seconds. Follow the present-past-future format:

• Present: What are you currently studying? What’s your major or program?
• Past: Highlight a recent relevant experience (e.g., internship, research project, volunteer work).
• Future: State your career goals and explain why you’re excited to connect with this employer.

What are some ways you can make your resume stand out in a pile?

• A resume should be concise, organized marketing document highlighting your education, experiences and achievements; its purpose is to secure an interview and evolve with your professional growth.
• Keep formatting clean and consistent: 1-inch margins, 1 page (up to 2 max), standard 10- to 12-point fonts, professional appearance and easy-to-scan layout.
• Focus content on relevance: tailor to the position, connect transferable skills, emphasize contributions and quantify results whenever possible.
• Use strong writing mechanics: start bullets with action verbs, maintain consistent verb tense (present for current roles, past for previous) and keep statements concise.
• Include core sections as appropriate: Heading, objective (optional but tailored), education (reverse chronological order), summary of qualifications (skills-focused) and experience (employment, internships, research, projects).
• Add optional sections when relevant: Activities, leadership, honors/awards, publications or research.

What software or AI tools can help build your resume?

• is a fantastic tool available to all students by logging in with their NID credentials
• VMock is a 24/7 virtual career assistant that utilizes technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and sophisticated analytics engine to deliver instant, personalized, and smart career guidance to students and professionals.
• Do not rely only on AI to write content for your resume. Double check wonky spelling/grammar and word choices to make sure it is your voice.
• Be aware that employers are now reviewing resumes and running them through plagiarism detection software to check for AI.
• Utilize AI (VMock can do this) to make sure your resume matches the language in the job description closely enough so that it will pass through applicant tracking systems successfully.

What questions should job candidates ask the interviewer?

Typically, it’s best to focus on two to three questions to have prepared to ask at the end of the interview.

• Ask about the company culture. What is it like to work there?
• Ask about the position or opportunity in a way that helps you learn more than what you have already learned on your own research. In your opinion, what qualities/traits do you look for in an ideal candidate to be successful in the role?
• Ask about what to expect in the interview process. What are next steps?

Are there any best practices for following up after an interview?

Within 24 hours, send personalized thank-you emails to the recruiters you spoke with that include:

• A brief recap of your conversation
• An expression of gratitude
• A question or statement to keep the dialogue going

As artificial intelligence (AI), virtual assistants and robots become increasingly woven into everyday life, more researchers are asking this question: What happens when technology stops being just a tool and becomes something we can communicate with?

91�Թ��� faculty have spent years helping create a field dedicated to finding the answers.

“Human-machine communication is about studying how humans perceive and interact with technology as a communicator rather than simply as a tool.”

This summer, human-machine communication (HMC) reached a major milestone when the International Communication Association (ICA) elevated it from an interest group to an official Division, recognizing it as an established area of communication research. The achievement reflects the rapid growth of a field exploring how emerging technologies are reshaping the way people communicate, form relationships and make decisions.

“Human-machine communication is about studying how humans perceive and interact with technology as a communicator rather than simply as a tool,” 91�Թ��� College of Sciences Professor Jihyun Kim says. “It’s about communicating with machine agents as interaction partners.”

Among those who helped shape the field are faculty members Kim and Professor Patric Spence, whose leadership has contributed to HMC’s development both at 91�Թ��� and within the international research community.

When Technology Becomes the Communicator

Traditional studies of technology-mediated communication typically examine technology as a channel connecting people. HMC shifts the focus to interactions between people and technologies such as AI assistants, social robots and virtual companions.

Researchers explore how these interactions can influence everything from trust and relationships to decision-making and communication.

Although scholars have studied human-computer interaction for decades, HMC is a relatively young field within the communication discipline. It formally emerged in 2015, bringing together researchers interested in studying machines not simply as tools, but as communicators.

Since then, the rapid adoption of generative AI has accelerated both public interest and scholarly research.

Kim, who recently completed a four-year leadership term with ICA’s Human-Machine Communication Interest Group, witnessed that growth firsthand.

“During my four years in leadership, I saw a drastic increase in the volume of HMC research,” she says. “I also saw scholars from interpersonal communication, organizational communication, public relations and many other communication specialties begin collaborating to better understand AI from their own perspectives.”

“We’re studying how humans perceive AI and communicate with it for good outcomes.”

But as public conversations increasingly focus on whether AI could replace human work or relationships, Kim says that’s a common misconception about human-machine communication research.

“A lot of times people assume we’re glorifying AI, but that’s not what we study,” Kim says. “We’re studying how humans perceive AI and communicate with it for good outcomes.”

Her own research explores how people perceive and interact with AI or machine agents and how people can instead use AI to strengthen, rather than replace, human relationships.

“I’m studying augmentation,” Kim says. “How can AI help strengthen the relationships we already have? How can we communicate with AI more effectively, so it enhances our social relationships instead of replacing them?”

Building a Scholarly Home

As interest in HMC grew, so did the need for a dedicated scholarly community.

Spence was among the founding members who organized the first HMC post-conference in 2016, creating one of the first formal spaces where researchers with shared interests could collaborate and exchange ideas.

“Through our research and leadership, we’ve helped put 91�Թ��� on the international stage.”

He later helped establish the journal, which launched in 2020 and is hosted under a 91�Թ��� domain. Before its creation, researchers published HMC studies across broader communication journals, as no publication was dedicated exclusively to the emerging field. The journal provided a central platform for sharing HMC research and scholarship, building an international academic community, and further positioning 91�Թ��� as a leader in the discipline.

“Whenever we do something meaningful in this field, 91�Թ��� is represented alongside that achievement,” Kim says. “Through our research and leadership, we’ve helped put 91�Թ��� on the international stage.”

Kim continued that work during her tenure as vice chair and later chair of ICA’s Human-Machine Communication Interest Group.  She focused on mentoring early-career researchers, expanding the field’s international presence and helping prepare the review dossier that ultimately led to HMC’s elevation to Division status.

From Momentum to Milestone

For Kim, the new designation signals more than organizational growth.

“[The recognition] especially matters for junior scholars because they’re contributing to a discipline that’s formally recognized by the world’s largest communication association.”

“Having this formal recognition within the International Communication Association sends the message that human-machine communication is now an established field,” Kim says. “It especially matters for junior scholars because they’re contributing to a discipline that’s formally recognized by the world’s largest communication association.”

The milestone is expected to create new opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration, including partnerships with researchers studying AI from technical, behavioral and social perspectives.

And as AI continues to evolve, Kim believes HMC will continue growing alongside it, helping researchers better understand not only the technologies themselves but also the people who use them.

“We want to make sure it’s not about studying bad things,” Kim says. “It’s about how we can leverage what AI offers to improve our lives and how we can communicate more effectively.”

What happens when graduate students go beyond the classroom to tackle real-world artificial intelligence (AI) challenges facing the financial industry?

At 91�Թ���’s , that experience comes to life in the FinTech-AI Lab.

The lab puts fintech master’s students to work on complex AI and machine learning problems alongside faculty researchers and industry mentors. Beyond technical expertise, the experience gives students a front-row seat to how AI is being used to solve business challenges and the opportunity to contribute to what comes next.

Established to bridge the gap between academic learning and industry innovation, the lab pairs selected students with leading industry organizations to develop solutions with the potential to influence products, improve decision-making and drive innovation across financial technology.

Each semester, just two to four students are selected through a competitive process based on academic performance and faculty interviews. Instead of completing a traditional capstone project, they join a faculty-led research team conducting applied AI research for industry partners.

Partnership Powering Innovation

One of the lab’s most impactful collaborations is with Equifax, a global leader in data, analytics and technology.

Together with Miller College of Business faculty, Equifax identifies high-impact business challenges, provides resources and mentors students throughout the research process. Fintech faculty members, Associate Professor Cuneyt Akcora and Assistant Professor Yafei Zhang, lead the lab’s research initiatives, meeting weekly with student teams and collaborating with Equifax to review progress and refine projects.

Students spend more than a year working on AI research, gaining an experience that closely resembles a part-time industry internship.

“The partnership shows what makes 91�Թ���’s master’s in fintech distinctive,” Zhang says. “Students not only learn finance, AI and data science in the classroom; they apply these tools to real industry problems with guidance from faculty and industry mentors. In the AI era, that kind of hands-on, corporate-partnered experience is essential.”

Turning AI Skills Into Industry Solutions

The impact of the FinTech-AI Lab comes to life through the work of its students, whose research tackles real challenges facing the financial industry.

Fintech graduate student Michael Azzi set out to help address synthetic identity fraud, the fastest-growing financial crime in the United States.

Azzi developed an address-intelligence framework that combines Google’s Gemini large language model, the Google Places API and a rule-based risk engine to identify high-risk addresses, including virtual offices and private mailbox services. The approach could help improve fraud detection within consumer credit files.

“Working on synthetic identity fraud detection at Equifax showed me how AI can be applied to real-world business challenges,” Azzi says. “Being able to combine large language models with live address intelligence to help protect consumers made this one of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on.”

Another fintech graduate student, Clare Anandra Eric Hamissi, investigated how government intervention programs, including stimulus payments and loan forbearance, influenced consumer default risk.

Her findings revealed that lower-income consumers and those with lower credit scores experienced the greatest reductions in default risk.

The projects don’t necessarily end when the research does. When a project demonstrates strong business potential, Equifax evaluates the results for possible productization or internal implementation, giving students the opportunity to contribute to solutions that could make a measurable impact across the financial industry.

Opening the Door to Experiential Learning

The FinTech-AI Lab demonstrates the Miller College of Business’ commitment to experiential learning while providing students with a new way to prepare for and help shape an AI-driven future.

Students gain experience working with enterprise-scale data, collaborating with faculty researchers and industry professionals, and solving problems at the intersection of finance, AI and data science.

As the lab prepares to welcome its third cohort of fintech student researchers this fall, it continues to set 91�Թ���’s Master’s in FinTech program apart. Students don’t just learn about AI, machine learning and financial technology — they put that knowledge to work alongside faculty and industry experts, solving real business challenges with the potential to influence products and business decisions.

The 91�Թ��� master’s in fintech is a STEM-designated graduate program that prepares the next generation of fintech leaders through AI, data analytics and emerging financial technologies. The first program of its kind in Florida, the program is offered each fall with in-person and online options.

 Applications are now open for Fall 2027.

The top three finalists from the new program, organized by 91�Թ��� Alumni, are creating jobs, strengthening communities and introducing innovative approaches in industries ranging from health care and hospitality to technology, finance and motorsports.

Their origin stories are shaped by education, family, friendships, unexpected career turns and the ability to adapt. 91�Թ��� helped the Ever Upward honorees build the knowledge, relationships and confidence to turn their ideas into impact. Rodney M. Grabowski, 91�Թ���’s senior vice president for and CEO of the 91�Թ��� Foundation, connected the honorees’ work to the university’s founding mission.

“91�Թ��� was founded to support the space program … to launch humanity even further. And that spirit still defines us today,” Grabowski says. “We’re launching students into careers and leadership positions in every industry. We’re launching ideas from our classrooms and labs into the real world.”

Recognizing Excellence

Ever Upward is 91�Թ���’s first program recognizing the fastest-growing Knight-owned and Knight-led businesses around the world. The 2026 rankings were based on cumulative percentage revenue growth over a consecutive three-year period, using calendar years 2022 through 2024.

Explore ways to

91�Թ��� Alumni accepted applications in January before announcing the top 25 finalists in June. Companies were ranked by percentage of cumulative annual growth in revenue. The final rankings were revealed at a special celebration in August.

Grabowski says, “The success of Knight-led businesses is part of the momentum shaping 91�Թ���’s future. Through the university’s $3.5 billion campaign, 91�Թ��� is investing in people, ideas, research and partnerships that will help bring tomorrow within reach.”

“These companies demonstrate the transformational power of entrepreneurship,” says Mike Harding, 91�Թ��� associate vice president for partnerships. “As they grow, their success creates opportunities for employees, strengthens the industries and communities they serve and inspires other entrepreneurs to pursue their own ideas.”

Learn more about this year’s top three finalists. 

No. 3: Reception 24/7

Ryan Rapolti ’11MBA, founder and CEO of Reception 24/7, traces his approach to leadership to experiences he had at home.

Rapolti watched his mother return to college while raising a family, which shaped his understanding of perseverance. His stepfather’s work in vocational rehabilitation also influenced his belief that business can be a vehicle for helping people.

Those influences became part of the foundation for Reception 24/7, which provides around-the-clock answering services for businesses. As artificial intelligence reshapes customer service, the company combines aspects of that technology with human support so clients can remain responsive and accessible. Rapolti applies the same people-first philosophy to the company’s workplace culture.

For Rapolti, innovation begins with understanding what both clients and employees need, then using technology to strengthen rather than replace human connection.

“You take away so many things from the 91�Թ��� experience — not just what you learn in a textbook or from the professor, but from the people sitting next to you,” says Rapolti. “I am so excited to have been in the top three. Being able to grow quickly is great. Hopefully it will allow us to hire more 91�Թ��� graduates and continue to do great things with the university.”

No. 2: Sebring Driving Club

Four years ago, W. Paul Jones ’94 had a choice to make: accept his fate or pivot.

Jones was the longtime managing director of the Palm Beach Driving Club before the historic raceway shuttered its gates in 2022. When an opportunity to purchase the Sebring International Raceway appeared in front of him, Jones decided to take action.

Jones, who had extensive hospitality management experience, returned to his longtime interest when he founded the Sebring Driving Club, creating memorable experiences in the form of a private driving community. The club gives members access to Sebring International Raceway and a place to connect through a shared interest in motorsports.

By turning the traditional track experience into a year-round membership community, Jones found a new business model.

Jones challenges aspiring entrepreneurs to take the leap and dare to chart their own paths forward.

“Don’t be afraid to fail,” says Jones. “Start your company and keep on going. Go at it with passion.”

No. 1: Coastal Investment Company

For Coastal Investment Company founders Keith Ahrens ’08, Travis Barr ’09, Tyler Bloechinger ’09 and Carey Sobel ’09, entrepreneurship was shaped by friendships that began at 91�Թ���.

The partners built a diversified investment company that acquires and grows businesses across multiple industries. Their model combines complementary expertise with a hands-on approach to identifying opportunities, supporting leadership teams and helping companies reach their next stage of growth.

They credit 91�Թ��� with providing the mentors, networks and entrepreneurial environment that gave them the confidence to take risks and ultimately launch Coastal together. Those connections remain central to the company’s culture, from hiring fellow Knights and drawing talent from their 91�Թ��� networks to mentoring students and young alumni.

“We met at 91�Թ���, continued on, kept in touch and pushed each other,” says Bloechinger. “Relationships are so important. People are what will lead to your success.”

Coastal’s approach shows how different perspectives and complementary strengths can create a more collaborative model for growth.

Celebrating the Top 25

Interested in Ever Upward? Details about the next application period, including eligibility for 2027 honorees, will be announced at .

See the final rankings below.

1. Coastal Investment Company

• Tyler Bloechinger ’09 

• Keith Ahrens ’08 

• Travis Barr ’09 

• Carey Sobel ’09 

2. Sebring Driving Club

• W. Paul Jones ’94 

3. Reception 24/7

• Ryan Rapolti ’11MBA

4. Orange Tree Staffing

• Mardly Smith ’95 

• Craig Smith ’94 

5. Quadrant Engineering, P.C.

• Rafiqul Chowdhury ’09 ’11MS 

6. Island Direct Primary Care

• John Rothwell III ’13 ’15MS ’18DNP

7. Martin Aquatic Design and Engineering

• Josh Martin ’07 

8. Maymont Senior Care

• Nichole Blake-Little ’15 

9. Boys Electrical Contractors

• Kyle Nylander ’02 ’09 

10. Brewlando

• Shara Sooknarine Pathak ’04

11. Qu5 Services, Inc.

• Zachary Quandt ’84 

12. I’m All Ears

• Shelby Roemer ’08

13. Strategos Group

• Adam Giery ’08 ’11MA 

14. CJS Communications

• Christopher Slaven ’13 

• Alexander Fackler Sr. ’11 

15. Space Coast Pool School

• Lauren Broom ’00 

16. Buckalew Hospitality

• David “Skee” Buckalew ’05

17. Knight Federal Solutions

• Chris Baeten ’03 

18. Boston Data Pro, LLC

• Rajeev Verma ’04MS

19. McGinniss Himmel Insurance Agency

• Allen McGinniss ’05

20. Threaded Marketing Group

• Kelly Jo Jefferis ’04 

21. Garney Construction

• Matthew Reaves ’05 

22. aVenue Event Group

• Sean Hughes Jr. ’10 

23. S Cook Productions, LLC

• Stacey Cook ’99 

24. Global Ktech

• Kannan Srinivasan ’96MS 

25. Kavaliro

• Mark Moore ’99 

• John Mahony ’96

• Diane Mahony ’96 ’01MEd 

• Bill Peppler ’96 

“To lead this amazing team and help change the lives of people with disabilities,” Marino says, summarizing the impact of his work before emphasizing the impact it’s made on him, “I feel like I’m living a dream every single day.”

A number of factors, personal and professional, feed Marino’s enthusiasm.

He was once given only a slim chance to walk again. He knows how it feels to vanquish doubt and has witnessed dramatic changes in others because someone believed in them, perhaps for the first time.

He funnels all of this — passion, teamwork and life experiences — into his why: Discover better strategies to help more people read, learn and find meaningful employment.

“People with learning disabilities are all around us,” says Marino, a professor of special education in the College of Community Innovation and Education. “There isn’t a moment that goes by when I’m not thinking about how I can make a difference for them.”

His resolve has led to $75.5 million in funding for 18 research projects since 2011. The most recent months, however, have been stunning, with technology unlocking so many doors that Marino can hardly believe what’s happening.

“We’re in a spot with AI that I never thought I’d see in my lifetime,” he says. “It means our opportunities to give people hope are growing.”

Using Tech to Better Serve People

The field of special education is complicated. Disorders, spectrums, challenges that change with age, processing delays, they’re all part of a giant melting pot.

Marino boils his work down to the largest group: those who have specific learning disabilities — about 2.4 million students in the United States.

“Most of them face a constant battle to identify letters and translate them into sounds and words,” he says. “The same is true with math symbols and numbers. It takes a ton of persistence to do basic classwork.”

Unfortunately, frustration often leads capable, intelligent people to give up.

“But our work with AI is changing everything,” Marino says. He puts us in the shoes of a student to illustrate. “You’re studying the complexities of cells, trying to read cumbersome texts about mitochondria and osmosis. Now we can show you how to use AI to code words, phrases or symbols and translate them into understandable text.”

The material can be converted to slide decks, podcasts and videos. A process that used to take five days to complete can be done in one minute.

“What matters most is that students can learn,” Marino says. “It’s a gamechanger for teachers, too. Instead of spending an hour presenting information, they can focus on the reason they love teaching: to give students a better future.”

This far exceeds the futuristic vision Marino brought to 91�Թ��� in 2011.

He didn’t even intend to accept a position when he came from Washington State University for an interview.

“I’m an early adopter of technology,” he says. “On that trip, I was introduced to 91�Թ���’s work in VR, AR and . I told my wife, ‘I think we need to come here.’”

He immediately dove in, earning research grants and contracts from agencies like the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Office of Special Education Programs, and Institute of Educational Sciences. He’s layered the newest advancements into each project.

The progress made, according to Marino, has mostly come from a force more powerful than technology alone: the team of experts at TJEEI.

“They have siblings who never thrived because of dyslexia or they’ve cared for a family member with memory loss,” he says. “When a student comes in with a story, at least one of us can relate to it.”

Turning Obstacles into Impact

As for Marino’s own story, he recites the date as easily as his birthday: Sept. 23, 1990. Marino, 19, was playing rugby for Keene State College in New Hampshire.

During a breakaway, two opponents hit him so hard his head snapped back and he landed on his neck. In the hospital, he was told a spinal cord injury would prevent him from walking and his life expectancy will shorten.

“I laid in that hospital bed for a long time,” Marino says, “and had a moment with God where I made a promise: ‘If I get up and walk out of here, I’ll change my life and give back to others.’ ”

“I laid in that hospital bed for a long time. … I made a promise: ‘If I get up and walk out of here, I’ll change my life and give back to others.’ ”

That’s exactly what he did, walking out the door and leaving plans for an architecture career in the past.

For his first job, he mentored students with extreme behavior challenges. Marino’s dad, an educator, opened his son’s eyes to an unfortunate truth: They hired you because no one else wants to work with those kids.

“He was right,” Marino says. “That experience made me realize how much it means to a kid when someone takes the time to help, without judging. I also knew the field of special education is where I’m needed most.”

There are too many stories for Marino to recount. Each carries its own weightiness, so he shares a recent one: “We heard from a graduate who was named employee of the month at Amazon. When we first met, he was living in a poor area of Orlando, riding a bus two hours to 91�Թ���. But he committed to learning and improving his life. We gave him the same commitment. And now look how he’s doing.”

The daily inspiration Marino finds in people he helps at 91�Թ��� is part of why he doesn’t dwell on the near-tragic accident or the limitations it still causes at times. Instead, he focuses on the benefits that continue to grow from it.

“I walked when doctors said I wouldn’t,” he says. “I made it to 30 years old, to 40 and to 50. I’m still going, still keeping my promise, and I have no intention to stop.”