{"690066":{"#nid":"690066","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Professor, Student to Design Collaborative AI Systems Through Microsoft Fellowships","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing professor and his Ph.D. student have been named to the 2026 list of Microsoft Research Fellows and Fellowship Advisors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAssociate Professor Alan Ritter and Ph.D. student Ethan Mendes were awarded fellowships for their work on creating artificial intelligence (AI) agents that function as teammates.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMendes was named a fellow, while Ritter will serve as his fellowship advisor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Microsoft Research Fellowship is open to faculty, students, and postdocs. Ritter said that if Microsoft sees alignment in a project, it gives recipients the opportunity to work even closer with their collaborators by inviting them to join as additional fellows.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat turned out to be the case with Mendes after Ritter listed him as a collaborator in his fellowship proposal.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019m delighted to serve as Ethan Mendes\u2019 fellowship advisor,\u201d Ritter said. \u201cHe is an exceptionally strong researcher, and I\u2019m excited to see his work recognized through the Microsoft Research Fellowship.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThrough the fellowship, Ritter and Mendes will design AI systems that better support collaboration and decision-making within organizations.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe goal is to move beyond AI as a tool for a single user and instead study how AI can help groups make more informed, transparent, and coordinated decisions,\u201d Ritter said. \u201cWe will focus on methods that bring together information from many different sources, help people reason under uncertainty, and generate analyses that support collective problem-solving in complex work settings.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EProfessor Named to Sustainability Cohort\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Purple Mai\u2019a Foundation has selected Associate Professor Josiah Hester to join its Eahou Global Immersion Cohort.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Purple Mai\u2019a Foundation is a technology education nonprofit headquartered in Aiea, Hawaii, that teaches coding and computer science to Native Hawaiian students.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe 29 members of the Eahou Global Immersion Cohort from 15 countries are leaders from indigenous communities recognized for their contributions to sustainability.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHester is a Native Hawaiian whose research centers on sustainable and battery-free technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe cohort will gather on O\u2019ahu May 1-3 for Eahou Fest, where they will share stories and solutions from research around the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019m honored to be selected for the Eahou Global Immersion Cohort and to learn alongside such an inspiring group of resilience leaders who come from around the globe,\u201d Hester said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cParticipants are selected for their significant leadership over the past decade and their ability to bring what they learn back to their communities and integrate it into ongoing work and partnerships. I\u2019m excited to connect these experiences with my work and bring these lessons back into research and teaching at Georgia Tech.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJill Watson Creator Receives AAAI Lecture Award\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProfessor Ashok Goel received one of the most distinguished awards from the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGoel was selected as the 20th recipient of the AAAI Robert S. Engel Memorial Lecture Award. Established in 2003, the award is given to those who have demonstrated excellence in AI scholarship, outstanding applications of AI, and extraordinary service to AAAI and the AI community.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGoel received the award in January during the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Singapore. According to the awards program, Goel was recognized for contributions to biologically inspired design, case-based reasoning, and application of AI in virtual teaching.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGoel is the inventor of Jill Watson, one of the first AI virtual teaching assistants used in higher education classrooms.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAAAI is also the publisher of AI Magazine, which Goel served as editor-in-chief from 2016 to 2021.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI am both honored and humbled to receive AAAI\u0027s Robert Engelmore Award,\u201d Goel said. \u201cBob was a long-time editor of AAAI\u0027s AI Magazine, and many years after he retired, I became the editor of the magazine. This makes the Engelmore Award special to me.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;Associate Professor Alan Ritter and Ph.D. student Ethan Mendes were named as Microsoft Research Fellows and Fellowship Advisors. Associate Professor Josiah Hester has joined The Purple Mai\u0027a Foundation\u0027s Eahou Global Immersion Cohort. Professor Ashok Goel received the Robert S. Engle Memorial Lecture Award from AAAI.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"School of Interactive Computing faculty and students have recently received notable awards and honors, including Microsoft research fellowship awards."}],"uid":"36530","created_gmt":"2026-04-30 10:52:51","changed_gmt":"2026-04-30 20:08:06","author":"Nathan Deen","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-04-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-04-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680119":{"id":"680119","type":"image","title":"2X6A9222.jpg","body":null,"created":"1777546387","gmt_created":"2026-04-30 10:53:07","changed":"1777546387","gmt_changed":"2026-04-30 10:53:07","alt":"Alan Ritter","file":{"fid":"264359","name":"2X6A9222.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/04\/30\/2X6A9222.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/04\/30\/2X6A9222.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":81758,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/04\/30\/2X6A9222.jpg?itok=2h-1p1bj"}}},"media_ids":["680119"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"194606","name":"Artificial Intelligence"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"193157","name":"Student Honors and Achievements"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"9153","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"192863","name":"go-ai"},{"id":"187812","name":"artificial intelligence (AI)"},{"id":"335","name":"Microsoft"},{"id":"14597","name":"MIcrosoft Research"},{"id":"173384","name":"Microsoft Research fellowship"},{"id":"183739","name":"Microsoft Research Ph.D. Fellowship"},{"id":"84331","name":"and sustainability"},{"id":"98401","name":"AAAI"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193655","name":"Artificial Intelligence at Georgia Tech"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}