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Artificial intelligence (AI) has led to rapid advancement and curiosity in the field. For students entering a highly competitive job market, it is vital for them to develop AI literacy and understand where the technology can be applied responsibly.

The (AIRS) at the University of Ģ����ý is an annual summer program championed by , PhD, an assistant professor, and Dr. Farnaz Sheikhi, PhD, a postdoctoral associate, both from the . AIRS is open to all students at the University of Ģ����ý, regardless of major or coding experience. Since launching in 2023, it has welcomed around 100 students.

“It doesn’t matter if your area of expertise is not AI,” says Maleki. “No matter what you do, if used properly, AI can help you succeed and unlock more capacity in your field.”

During the program, students learn about fundamental concepts in AI, develop specialized AI expertise, get assigned mentors, and build a capstone project that applies AI to real-world problems.

“The capstone is an open-ended final project, so students can focus on areas that interest them and address needs they identify in the market,” explains Sheikhi, who is preparing for the 2026 cohort. 

One pair of students from last year’s cohort chose to improve accessible transit.

“Some of my family members work in health care,” says Nikki Kim, a fourth-year computer science student, “and their clients sometimes experience difficulties using Ģ����ý Transit Access.”

Adds Priya Tiwari, Kim’s capstone partner and a fourth-year computer science student: “Ģ����ý Transit Access is the paratransit version of our city buses and trains. There’s an app for regular transit users, but the paratransit users don’t currently have one. They need to call ahead to book a ride, and there isn’t any live tracking for them to know where the bus is. If they miss their pickup, that’s it.”

Last summer, the duo developed ARide, which uses AI voice recognition.

“What we were thinking was, ‘What if there was an app for Access users, kind of like Uber,’ so these individuals can book a ride using the app and track where the buses are,” says Kim.

The prototype, which was tested by a handful of Ģ����ý Transit Access users, addressed both those issues, as well as one more: “The voice component of the app allows for translation into different languages too,” Kim adds.

Test audiences really liked the prototype, says Tiwari. "And now we’re pitching it to people in the city to see if it can get adopted as part of their customer service suite. We’re hoping to do a pilot after we graduate through the Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking.”

As AIRS enters its fourth year, the organizational team is optimistic about the initiative shown by their students.

“We wanted to increase students’ exposure to real-world examples to prepare them for the job search, so our teaching philosophy has always been based on mixing faculty and industry,” Sheikhi says.

Adds Maleki: “Our students are very excited about learning AI and AIRS is a great opportunity for them. They learn things very fast, make new friends and really keep raising the bar as high as it will go."

The program has developed a reputation amongst students who have completed it. Many have secured internships and co-op opportunities at internationally known tech companies. 

is now open to undergraduate students across all disciplines. There is no cost for participants.