By Sasha Zvenigorodsky As a researcher in the Agricultural Engineering department and Extension specialist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Salah Issa has spent over a decade advancing agricultural safety. Here, Salah shares how his work blends research, hands-on training, and emerging technologies like machine learning (ML) to prevent injuries on farms. Dr. […]
Category: AI
When Robots Meet Horseradish: A Ph.D. Student’s Mission Toward Sustainable Solutions for Small-Scale Farming
By Sasha Zvenigorodsky Key Takeaways Illinois may be famous for being the land of Lincoln and home of “Da Bears,” but few are familiar with one of its lesser known claims to fame, which lies underground. The commercial cultivation of horseradish in Southern Illinois took root in the 1850s, when German immigrant farmers discovered that the […]
2025 Ashby Prize in Computational Science Hackathon Winners streamline CRISPR Screening with AI
By Michael Sweeney *Results listed at the bottom CRISPR-Cas systems have revolutionized biology by allowing researchers to investigate how genes function. However, running CRISPR screens can exceed $10,000 per experiment and take months. Following a weekend of intense computation, the winners of this year’s Ashby Prize Hackathon made a step toward a smoother, less expensive […]
Weathering the Storm: An Atmospheric Scientist on Technology, Disruption, and Dedication
By Michael Sweeney Key Takeaways: The world of weather and climate science is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence and set against a challenging federal funding environment. In this story, we’ll talk about the changing landscape and how weather and climate data are aggregated, shared, and used. Dr. Gan […]
Making Campus Data Work: A Conversation with Maryalice Wu
By Francie Fink As Director of Data Analytics at the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (CITL) at the University of Illinois, Dr. Maryalice Wu brings years of experience in survey design, student success research, and statistical consulting. In this conversation, she discusses how she got started, what data analytics means in an academic […]