A startup company involving Associate Professor Subhadeep Chakraborty and his graduate research assistant, Ani Ramesh (co-founder), has been accepted into the fourth cohort of the Transform accelerator for data science and AI startups by the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Data Science Institute.
Asters is one of six startups selected to receive approximately $325,000 in total investment, including an optional $25,000 in funding, credits for Google for Startups, workspace in Harper Court on Chicago’s South Side, and access to industry mentors, technical advisors, and student talent from the University of Chicago’s Department of Computer Science, Data Science Institute (DSI) and Chicago Booth School of Business.
Asters is a startup that is building smarter, more adaptive virtual environments that move beyond the limitations of traditional simulations to elevate emergency preparedness and homeland security training. Asters focuses on creating AI-powered digital twins that can adapt better to real-world complexities, including in school shooting situations.
The team’s innovative approach blends proprietary reinforcement learning algorithms, seamless data pipelines, and immersive environments built with Unreal Engine, which enables Asters to tailor simulations for specific use cases.
With feedback and guidance from SENTRY, a DHS Center of Excellence, the company’s immediate focus is delivering its first product iteration, tailored for emergency preparedness simulations, to Department of Homeland Security stakeholder partners.
Ramesh, Chakraborty’s graduate research assistant in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering, and Asters co-founder Joshua Waite, a post-doc at Iowa State University, will be spending a month at the Polsky Center to participate in the program.
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey (865-974-0683, rpotkey@utk.edu)