July 28, 2025

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Dear members of the Hajim School community,

A team of researchers from the Department of Computer Science is developing a fast, low-barrier, and accessible way for millions of people across the globe to assess whether they are showing signs of Parkinson’s disease, the fastest growing neurological disability in the world. A study published in the journal npj Parkinson’s Disease by the lab of Professor Ehsan Hoque introduced a web-based screening test that asks users to recite two pangrams—short sentences using all 26 letters of the alphabet. Within seconds, the AI analyzes the voice recordings for subtle patterns linked to Parkinson’s with 86% accuracy.

This could bring access to huge swaths of the U.S. and across the globe where access to specialized neurological care is limited, and the team envisions integrating it with virtual assistants like Amazon Alexa to help people identify if they need to seek further care. Because Parkinson’s is a multifaceted disease, Ehsan and his students have also developed screening tools to detect whether people are demonstrating symptoms through motor tasks or facial expressions.

Learn more about this exciting research at the News Center.

PHD STUDENT BENJAMIN VALPEY WINS BEST PAPER AWARD

Congratulations to computer science PhD Student Benjamin Valpey, who won the “Best Paper Award” at the 17th NASA Formal Methods Symposium held in June in Williamsburg, Virginia. Benjamin wrote the paper, “An SMT Formalization of Mixed-Precision Matrix Multiplication (Modeling Three Generations of Tensor Cores),” with co-authors Xinyi Li of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Ganesh Gopalakrishnan of University of Utah, and Associate Professor Sreepathi Pai.

The work studies and formalizes GPU functional units called tensor cores used primarily in AI applications, enabling automated and rigorous analysis of algorithms that use these cores. Benjamin and his co-authors show that a recently proposed algorithm using these cores and designed to be more accurate than previous proposals but only tested empirically is actually less accurate on some inputs. The prize is accompanied by a €1,500 award sponsored by Springer. Terrific work!

REGISTRATION IS OPEN FOR MELIORA WEEKEND 2025

From celebrity headliners and unforgettable performances to inspiring panels and engaging social gatherings, Meliora Weekend—September 18–21—is packed with experiences you won’t want to miss. A few of the Hajim-related offerings include a 10^th anniversary celebration for the Goergen Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, events to celebrate the 110^th anniversary of the Department of Chemical Engineering, and open houses by several departments. Register today.

NEWLY FUNDED RESEARCH

Congratulations to two faculty members who recently secured funding for new sponsored research projects:

• James McGrath, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Biomedical Engineering, received $769,430 through a subaward with Duke University sponsored by the National Institutes of Health titled “Impact of hypertension and aging on postoperative delirium.”
• Assistant Professor of Instruction Monika Polak from the Department of Computer Science received $94,342 from the National Science Foundation for a project titled “Automated Feedback in Undergraduate Computing Theory Courses: A Multi-Institutional Study.”

Have a great week!

Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman