Semilore Abiodun-Adeniyi spent two years learning Japanese in hopes of one day visiting Japan. The senior computer science major didn’t imagine he would be testing his language skills so quickly.
This past summer, Abiodun-Adeniyi and Victoria Rapalo participated in a research trip to Japan that was supported by a grant titled “Healthcare AI and Robotics: Improving Patient Outcomes through Collaborative Research,” funded by the Tennessee Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (TLSAMP).
Visiting Japan provided Abiodun-Adeniyi and Rapalo with an invaluable international experience, exposing them to cutting-edge research in healthcare artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. They engaged with leading experts in the field and immersed themselves in Japan’s rich cultural heritage.
“As a computer science major, the trip really opened my eyes to what other what other fields there are,” Abiodun-Adeniyi said. “Prior to this, I’ve mainly just done stuff for cybersecurity and biology. But getting to see the applications of robotics and how it affects people with dementia in a positive way was very rewarding.”
Providing New Experiences
The University of Tennessee is one of six colleges and universities to receive a five-year grant from TLSAMP, which represents one of 41 such programs sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The goal of the TLSAMP program is to increase the enrollment and graduation rate of underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by at least 100% at the end of the five-year period.
MABE Professor Xiaopeng Zhao is the principal investigator (PI) of the healthcare AI and robotics grant. Bryce Bible, a graduate student who is fluent in Japanese and experienced with leading UT academic trips to Japan, was appointed to accompany Abiodun-Adeniyi and Rapalo abroad.
“I felt so blessed to get this experience. Without the grant, this wouldn’t have been possible at all for me,” said Rapalo, a senior chemical engineering major. “I would not have been able to have any of these experiences, especially at my age and as a student, because it can be very pricey.”
During their stay in Japan, Abiodun-Adeniyi and Rapalo visited prominent research institutions, including RIKEN in Tokyo, the University of Hokkaido in Sapporo, and Kobe and Konan Universities in the Kansai region.
“Seeing all the different labs and seeing all the research the students are doing, I realized how diverse engineering is. It’s a global thing, rather than what I’ve only seen in my college in the US,” Rapalo said. “Anytime I want to do research further, I will definitely look at articles that aren’t just published from the US, because what they’ve studied there is so valuable. It just opens your eyes to seeing that they could collaborate with us, as well as us collaborating with them.”
Cultural Awareness
Rapalo was raised in the East Tennessee area by a single mother who came to the United States from Honduras. She developed a love for engineering from a young age.
“I had a rich community of people around me that included elderly people with husbands who had been engineers. I grew up seeing them working in the shop and seeing their grandkids grow up and help in the shop as well,” Rapalo said. “That just trickled down through all the generations of kind of my adoptive family since they were engineers and sparked my interest.”
Given his knowledge of the language, Abiodun-Adeniyi was able to speak with the locals in Japan and gain a greater appreciate for their culture and how they go about their daily lives. He returned to UT with more confidence about his future in the global engineering workforce.
“I’ve been on the pipeline of research since I’ve entered college, and I have a few places in mind that’ll probably go do research once I graduate,” Abiodun-Adeniyi said. “This trip really opened my eyes to how many possibilities are out there. I am excited to explore all those options.”
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey (865-974-0683, rpotkey@utk.edu)