New AI Graduate Programs Prepare Students for the Future

Complementary graduate programs at the College of Engineering and the College of Business and Public Policy teach students how to develop and implement AI.
By Keenan Britt and Matt Jardin
Computer Science and Computer Systems Engineering Assistant Professor Masoumeh Heidari, Ph.D. (left), and College of Engineering Dean Kenrick Mock, Ph.D. (right), lead the first meeting of the AI Club in UAA’s AI and Robotics Lab.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping industries worldwide, and UAA is ensuring Alaska is not left behind. By launching new graduate programs in the College of Engineering (CoEng) and the College of Business and Public Policy (CBPP), UAA is preparing students to create and apply the technology in ways that address the state’s most pressing challenges — such as energy infrastructure, wildfire risk and health care — while also placing the university among the nation’s early leaders in integrating AI into higher education.

Creating AI

While other UAA programs have integrated the use of AI into curricula, CoEng’s Master of Science in AI, data science and engineering teaches students how to create AI models.

“What we cover in this program is teaching them how to develop models, not just using them,” said Masoumeh Heidari Kapourchali, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer science and computer systems engineering. Along with Masoumeh, the program is the result of efforts by faculty members Caixia Wang, Ph.D., professor of geomatics, and Mohammad Heidari Kapourchali, Ph.D., associate professor of electrical engineering.

According to Masoumeh, students in the CoEng program learn how to “build their own models for their own applications,” as well as the programming and technical skills to build custom models.

Although it may seem like an engineering background is required to start the graduate degree, the instructors designed it for students from a variety of fields, including science and business.

“[The program] is open to everyone with every background to learn how to build their own models for their own applications,” Masoumeh explained. “We’ll have a course in fundamentals of data science and engineering that will cover things like coding and basic mathematics or statistics that they will need to write a program.”

Ultimately, the instructors believe the graduate degree will provide students with the skill sets to tackle real-world problems facing Alaska, from energy infrastructure to health care to climate change.

“How cool would it be if we could develop algorithms and build AI models and then apply [them] to some applications that can really help the state?” asked Mohammad.

Reflecting on the 2019 Swan Lake Fire, which resulted in power outages in different parts of Alaska, Mohammad said the program’s use of AI could help “quantify the risk of wildfires” and “improve the resilience of the state when it comes to natural hazards.”

Better understanding natural hazards like wildfires will require AI models to analyze new sets of big data. Wang, chair of the Department of Geomatics, believes applications in the field of geospatial AI will be able to make use of new forms of data.

“It is going to be very helpful for Alaska, since we have lots of images captured by satellite and now by drone,” Wang said. “How are you going to use that data — that’s math, that’s vast data — to answer those questions?”

In addition to a comprehensive exam option, the graduate degree will offer both a thesis option and a project option for students to develop their own real-world projects. The faculty members intend to help students collaborate with the community to find meaningful projects along with funding sources for their research.

“The goal is to come sit together and see what the current issues are that are unique to Alaska,” said Masoumeh. “That can be an opportunity to collaborate with the local communities to see how AI can be applied in different disciplines in different areas. These can all be opportunities for our students to be involved in projects that are important for the state.”

Applying AI

While the focus on CoEng’s graduate degree is on how to develop AI, CBPP’s graduate certificate in business analytics and AI emphasizes the practical applications of the cutting-edge technology across industries.

Much of the conversation around AI revolves around its ability to generate text, images or videos, but the CBPP program highlights other uses. Digital twins, for example, are 3D virtual replicas of physical systems continuously updated with data from the system, and together with AI can provide predictive maintenance, optimize performance and reduce costs. These tools are already being used in sectors like energy, health care and global supply chain management to monitor systems in real time and anticipate failures.

“Say you get an alert [that] there’s a problem with a part on an offshore oil platform,” said Helena Wisniewski, Ph.D., professor of entrepreneurship. “Previously, you’d have to send somebody offshore to the platform to assess the situation, then return to the platform to place the parts. It’s much more effective to have a digital twin of the platform that allows you to understand what is involved and decide on a course of action in just a few minutes or hours, resulting in greater efficiency and reduced costs. Digital twins with AI are being used not just to fix issues, but predict them before they even happen.”

Wisniewski, who is also chair of the Department of Management, Marketing, Logistics and Business Analytics, developed much of the certificate program. She also built CBPP’s first graduate course in AI, which explores neural networks, machine learning, natural language processing, cybersecurity, robotics, digital twins and ethics, while also teaching business intelligence strategies, business analytics and data-driven decision-making.

Though the course load to understand such a revolutionary tool may appear intimidating, Wisniewski assured that the certificate curriculum was made for working professionals who are looking to maintain their competitiveness in a constantly evolving technological landscape and do not have the flexibility to pursue CBPP’s M.B.A. degree or the new undergraduate degree in business analytics and data analytics — the first such B.B.A. in Alaska.

“People already in the workforce may not be able to come back and get a degree, but they can still hone their skills on AI,” said Wisniewski. “With this [graduate certificate], they can learn key concepts in AI and data analytics while taking full advantage of developing their skills and competitiveness.”

Beyond the classroom, Wisniewski has broadened community engagement through a series of AI seminars offered in person and virtually. Drawing hundreds of participants from Alaska, the Lower 48 and overseas, these webinars offer insights from industry leaders on the latest developments in AI.

Guests and topics have included Colin Parris, chief technology officer at General Electric, who spoke about how his organization implemented digital twins; Dave Johnson, chief data and AI officer at Moderna, who spoke about how AI sped up development of the COVID-19 vaccine; and UAA alumnus Nick Armstrong-Crews, B.S. ’03, B.S. ’04, B.S. ’05, senior software engineer at Waymo, who spoke about advancements in autonom ous vehicles.

In addition to the webinars that started in 2020, the AI course that began in 2019 and the graduate certificate established in 2021 were all years ahead of when other business programs at universities across the country began investing in their own AI offerings, according to a 2024 report by the Wall Street Journal, illustrating CBPP’s commitment to preparing students for the future.

“Our goal is to enable our future decision makers and leaders to be able to understand how to use AI in their organizations to make them more effective and resilient,” said Wisniewski. “Really, it’s about giving students something they can use not just in their assignments, but also in their careers.”

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