Five visionary projects seen at Tech Week GR

Grand Valley made a splash at Tech Week GR, which even featured a digital 3D representation of President Philomena V. Mantella as she talked about the goal of Blue Dot. 

"Blue Dot is going to create a space for our students to build their digital literacy as we continue to grow in this region," said Mantella, who also served as co-chair of Tech Week GR's Advisory Board.

Catch up on some of the groundbreaking research and inventive applications from GVSU alumni, faculty and students and Grand Rapids tech firms specializing in AI, software engineering and data science.

As the parent of a son with a rare disease, DeBruine knows first-hand the importance of a strong network of support. DeBruine, assistant professor of computing, has been working with AI as a diagnostic tool in building computing models to analyze billions of points of DNA.

His most recent project, Herd Social, was one of 10 selected to receive $20,000 at Start Garden’s Demo Day. Herd Social is a social platform for the rare disease community to share their similar experiences and connections.

“Herd will give them a place to learn together and to belong,” DeBruine said. “Herd is built around my belief that AI will personalize medicine, that AI will lower barriers to health care literacy and that AI will empower patients to act on their own data."

Joseph Van Harken, ProfAI

When Chandrash Baid, assistant professor of management at the Seidman College of Business, needed help in developing creating content for his students, he connected with Joseph Van Harken, GVSU’s innovator-in-residence.

As a solution, Van Harken and his team developed ProfAI, an AI that condenses hour-long lectures into digestible, 5-7 minute segments. ProfAI also creates a digital avatar of the professor that mirrors their appearance and voice to deliver the segments. Initial trials showed students watched the videos entirely and respected Baid's use of innovative technology.

“Most importantly, their anecdotal feedback was that they weren't afraid of the AI technology, and they had more respect for Dr. Baid that he was leaning into using this,” Van Harken said.

Andrea Wallace, Opnr

Wallace’s company, Opnr, helps musical artists, managers, and promoters book the right opening acts for concerts by using data such as ticket sales, fan engagement, social media presence, and venue details.

“We help concert organizers, from venues to festivals, find the right acts at the right time,” Wallace, ’03, said. “We use a whole lot of data and a little bit of feeling in the background in order to help them do that.”

Opnr’s focus is on enhancing the fan experience, which Wallace emphasized as the driving force behind the success of live music events. “What it really all comes down to is the fan experience,” Wallace said.

A key theme emphasized by College of Computing Dean Marouane Kessentini during Tech Week GR focused on building bridges between industry and academia.

“The College of Computing will bridge the gap between computing and other fields like health care, engineering, arts and so on because we need it,” Kessentini said.

To help facilitate that development, Kessentini unveiled the design and plans for the college’s Center for Innovation and Digital Transformation. In short, the center will be a conduit between local businesses, federal funding agencies and GVSU. Industries will benefit by sharing the cost in research and development while GVSU students will enhance their digital literacy and skills working on real-world projects.

Through X>STUDIO’s innovative, extended reality technology, guests at The Blue Dot Experience could virtually view the future home of the College of Computing, Blue Dot. Through 3D stereoscopic glasses, guests could experience a 3D representation of architectural renderings of the Blue Dot, complete with a 3D version of Mantella, who also served as co-chair of Tech Week GR’s Advisory Board.

X>STUDIO also presented a digital avatar of Mantella who delivered her opening remarks to guests at the event. X>STUDIO’s work within IT Innovation + Research’s Education Futures Collaboratory and Innovation Ecosystem explores teaching and learning technologies and engages with faculty and students to enhance their research and development.