UH Hilo computer scientist Winston Wu selected AI Education Fellow at National Science Foundation
As an AI Education Fellow, Assistant Professor Wu will pilot courses using NSF AI resources, support faculty nationwide in integrating these materials into courses, and help shape strategic direction national project.
By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.
An assistant professor of computer science at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo has been selected to join the inaugural cohort of the National Science Foundation’s National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) AI Education Fellows.
Winston Wu is one of 25 national ambassadors representing 23 states who will serve to advance AI education through a pilot classroom project, namely the NAIRR Pilot Classroom and the NAIRR Pilot Classroom Expansion AI EDU Research Coordination Network (RCN), “a national initiative dedicated to building a sustainable community of practice for advancing AI education for all.”
As a fellow, Wu will pilot and adapt courses utilizing the NSF NAIRR resources, support faculty nationwide in integrating these materials into courses, and help shape the strategic direction of the national project.
“I’m honored to be selected as an NSF NAIRR AI Education Fellow,” says Wu. “This opportunity will help expand awareness of NAIRR’s resources across campus and support our growing AI initiatives, such as the new AI concentration in our Computer Science degree program. Access to NAIRR resources will prepare our students for an AI-driven workforce, giving them hands-on experience and skills developing their own AI models on large-scale computing platforms.”
The AI education fellowship announcement was made March 18 by the Computing Research Association. The fellowship runs March 2026 through February 2027 and includes a $5,000 stipend and national visibility as a leader in AI education.
Assistant Professor Wu’s area of expertise and research is in developing natural language processing and machine learning methods for multilingual and low-resource applications, with a current focus on supporting language revitalization and education efforts in the local community.
“I’m also excited to apply [NAIRR’s] resources to support locally impactful research, including my ongoing work to develop AI tools for the Hawaiian language,” he says.
“I aim to build technologies that benefit the local community,” Wu says on his website.
Wu arrived at UH Hilo in the fall of 2023 and teaches a wide range of courses from introductory programming to advanced undergraduate courses on natural language processing and deep learning. He also coaches UH Hilo competitive programming teams.
- UH Hilo students place first in ACM Intercollegiate Programming Site Contest (Dec. 6, 2024, UH Hilo Stories)
Wu received undergraduate degrees in computer science and Latin from the University of Texas at Austin, his doctorate in computer science from Johns Hopkins University, and was a postdoc at the University of Michigan.
Story by Susan Enright, public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
