UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Twenty student teams using AI for good in the fields of health, environment, education and humanitarianism are moving to the next phase of the 2023 Nittany AI Challenge, where they will compete for a pool of $50,000 by creating solutions to real-world problems.

The competition is open to students in any major and experience level.

The top 20 teams were selected from a total of 52 submissions from teams of students from eight Penn State Campuses, 12 colleges and 52 majors.

“Once again this year, the amazing creativity and heart of our Penn State students were on display in their challenge proposals, giving us inspiring ideas for how they plan to leverage AI to improve our world,” said Brad Zdenek, innovation strategist for the Nittany AI Alliance and program manager of the Nittany AI Challenge. “We are proud to play a role in helping launch these 20 transformational ideas and excited to work with the teams throughout 2023 as they move their proposals into reality. Now the hard work begins.”

The following selected teams are made up of students from the College of Engineering, Eberly College of Science, Smeal College of Business, College of Health and Human Development, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, College of Information Sciences and Technology,  College of Education, Penn State World Campus, Penn State Abington, Penn State Behrend, Penn State Berks, Penn State Great Valley, Penn State Harrisburg and University Park:

• Alert Heart: a device capable of detecting heart attacks wirelessly and alerting the caretakers.
• bAIbyBot: A device to monitor a baby's growth and development, track their nutritional intake, and identify any potential deficiencies.
• BusRevolution: a tool to develop bus routes throughout the United States that can connect underserved populations.
• Cancer Crusaders: two-pronged approach to detecting skin cancer with a mobile application and smart patch.
• CareerUP: a career trajectory and exploration tool for underserved communities.
• Chirp Alert: application that will share hyperlocal and trustworthy information to the communities that need it most.
• ChronoNews.AI: tool that captures news from curated sources and organizes it in the form of a timeline to combat fake news.
• ClassCollab: an adaptive learning system that supports socially-mediated peer learning, especially in low-resource learning communities.
• ContextuAIze: learning platform to help students understand concepts with real life contexts and visualization paired with their interests.
• FireDrone AI: a tool that maps and predicts the spread of wildfires, empowering first responders to swiftly and efficiently allocate resources.
• LionFoodTracker: an application that analyzes the type and amount of food waste by gathering pictures from individuals at university dining halls.
• Oris: application to provide low-cost and quick oral screening.
• Physio(AI)d: an application that focuses on continued physical therapy care post-surgery.
• Project Riverside: technology that will proactively identify active shooter threats and increase community protection from gun violence.
• SeniorSync: solution that can provide a comprehensive understanding of the health of elderly individuals. 
• Storio: a conversational application designed for children and families.
• Therapeutrack: application that helps therapists and mental health patients in keeping track of their mental health journey.
• TransferMaster: tool to accelerate the transfer credit process at universities by offering an all-in-one platform for students, administrators, and faculty.
• Trinity: a portable modular AI-based smart device that measures, predicts and helps manage the potability of water sources.
• TutorAI: an accessible and affordable tutor to all students.

The selected student teams will move on to the Prototype Phase, where each will be required to present a prototype to a panel of judges on March 15. The panelists will decide which 10 teams will move forward to the next phase of the challenge and present a live pitch about their minimum viable product during the AI for Good Expo on Sept. 7.

To learn more about experiential learning opportunities and AI for Good, visit the Nittany AI Alliance website.

The Nittany AI Alliance is a service of Penn State Outreach.