REU site: AI in sensing, robotics, and healthcare (AI-CARE)

The National Science Foundation Division of Engineering Education and Centers awarded The Johns Hopkins University $505,423 on October 15, 2026, under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to operate an REU Site focused on artificial intelligence in sensing, robotics, and healthcare.

During a ten-week summer session, the program will engage undergraduate participants from institutions nationwide in research projects at Johns Hopkins laboratories working at the intersection of artificial intelligence with robotics, sensing, and healthcare applications. Students will be matched with specific projects and work closely with teams composed of faculty mentors, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and peer undergraduates. Research projects target improved patient care outcomes, including work to enhance surgical effectiveness and reduce operative errors, and projects to help individuals with disabilities regain lost function following amputation or stroke. Participants will receive training in technical writing, oral presentations, and research ethics, including AI ethics instruction. The program includes laboratory tours at Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Hospital, the Applied Physics Laboratory, and local robotics and biotech companies, with opportunities to practice laparoscopic procedures at the Johns Hopkins Hospital Minimally Invasive Surgical Training and Innovation Center. The award aims to develop a workforce for the healthcare-engineering sector while building participants' teamwork and collaboration skills.

Place of performance is Baltimore, Maryland. The period of performance extends from October 15, 2026, through September 30, 2029.

Abstract

During a ten-week summer session, undergraduate participants from institutions nationwide will engage in exciting and challenging projects in multiple engineering disciplines. Each participant will be matched with a research project in one of the many laboratories at johns hopkins university (JHU) working at the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) with robotics, sensing, and/or healthcare. These students will work closely with teams composed of a professor, postdoctoral fellow and/or graduate student, other undergraduate students and, possibly, high school students and/or K-12 educators. These research projects aim to help healthcare providers improve patient care, including projects that help surgeons make operations more effective and less error-prone or help individuals with disabilities regain previously lost functions after limb amputation or stroke. Undergraduate participants will also receive training in technical writing, oral presentations, and research ethics, which will include AI ethics. They will tour laboratories at JHU and the johns hopkins hospital (JHH), the applied physics laboratory, and local robotics and biotech companies. They will have opportunities to perform laparoscopic procedures at the JHH minimally invasive surgical training and innovation center. As a result of these activities, this grant will help prepare a workforce for an important sector of the US economy at the interface of healthcare delivery and engineering. This multidisciplinary AI-care REU enables participants to conduct research in multiple engineering fields, while developing strong teamwork and collaboration skills. Faculty mentors offer projects either created specifically for the program or designed to fulfill a facet of ongoing work. Because the laboratory for computational sensing and robotics (LCSR) has close ties with JHH, the malone center for engineering in healthcare, and the new data science and AI institute, participants will experience cutting-edge research that is designed to aid medical diagnoses and interventions, while contributing to ?the future of medicine.? With 25 years of success managing supplemental, lsamp, and site REU programs within LCSR and its parent entity (i.e., the NSF-funded ERC on computer-integrated surgical systems and technology), the AI-care REU will modernize previous approaches by offering a new focus on AI, which now intersects multiple facets of traditional computational sensing and medical robotics training. Participants will be equipped to make ethical judgment calls about the responsible use of AI when engaging in research activities related or unrelated to AI (e.g., when performing literature reviews, preparing presentations and papers, and solving research problems). This training will be tightly coupled with more traditional topics, including computational sensing, medical imaging, medical robotics, prosthetics, computer-integrated surgery, and biologically inspired robotics research. The quality of this programming is assured through mentor training, formative and summative assessments, and longitudinal tracking of students. The broader impact of the AI-care REU focuses on addressing a vital national need to improve the delivery of healthcare by developing new sensing, imaging, and robotic systems, as well as new techniques designed to introduce, plan, and execute medical procedures. The site will help develop a pipeline of qualified individuals who will contribute to the stem workforce, particularly in the multi- and interdisciplinary subjects encountered in technology-enhanced biomedical research, clinical interventions, and basic biological and life sciences. Participants will be well-trained in research communications and ethics (including AI ethics), which are essential skills for success in today?S biotechnology, biomedical science, and healthcare workforce. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.