MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Five students from Middle Tennessee State University will travel to California this November for an immersive “mini-semester” at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, also known as Berkeley Lab.

Nyah Bentley, Addison Berry, Tomy Chet, Sarah A. Holzmann, Gavin Liles and Gloria Silva will join groups from two other universities, Spelman College and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, for a deep dive into the intersection of artificial intelligence and science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

“Visiting a cutting-edge research facility and gaining firsthand insight into the forefront of AI research is an opportunity that few students get to experience,” said Liles, a graduate assistant in the Computer Science Department. “The connections we make and the knowledge we gain throughout this four-day experience could open doors to future careers and opportunities.”

Because this program is designed by Berkeley to highlight the practical application of artificial intelligence across disciplines, students’ academic specialties vary from data science to psychology to cybersecurity to environmental science.

“We focused on diversified backgrounds of the students,” said Hardik Gohel, MTSU professor of computer science, who called the program “a powerful fusion of AI, machine learning, and data science across various scientific disciplines.”

A Department of Energy national laboratory managed by the University of California, Berkeley Lab, remains at the forefront of artificial intelligence research, using supercomputers to speed up scientific discovery. 

“AI is no longer just a computer science or programming tool, but it’s a foundational driver of discovery in fields like material science, chemical synthesis, physics, climate modeling, those types of things,” said Gohel.

He and Xin Yang, associate professor of computer science, will accompany the five students at Berkeley from Nov. 4-7.

The group will have the opportunity to engage with Berkeley’s scientists and their research, building connections between MTSU and the national laboratory.

“I believe this experience will provide our students with valuable exposure to cutting-edge research, opportunities to interact with leading scientists and a better understanding of research careers at national laboratories,” said Yang. “I hope this visit will also help us build future research collaborations and create more opportunities for MTSU students to participate in research.”

Berkeley is the oldest national laboratory in the country and employs more than 4,200 people. Thirteen scientists at the lab have earned the prestigious National Medal of Science. Its founder, Ernest Orlando Lawrence, won the first of 12 Nobel Prizes the lab has seen in its 95 years.

— Cat Curtis Murphy ([email protected])