“The research explores how artificial intelligence can use multimodal smartphone data to better understand and predict stress,” said Sahoo. “We aim to develop AI models that can identify behavioral patterns associated with stress using everyday smartphone sensing data.”

In addition to the beneficial health outcomes of this research, the data will also help scholars understand a new use for AI.

“This research could contribute to future digital health tools that help detect changes in stress earlier and more objectively. It also advances AI by developing machine learning methods for analyzing complex, real-world multimodal data,” said Sahoo.

The grant provides cloud computing credits for Sahoo and the students involved in her research.

“Cloud computing credits provide access to powerful computing infrastructure without purchasing or maintaining hardware. They allow researchers to run computationally intensive AI workloads efficiently,” said Sahoo.

In addition to the $8,000 in credits, Sahoo and her team also have been given access to Unity, a regional high-performance computing (HPC) platform that provides access to graphics processing unit (GPU) accelerated computing clusters designed for AI, machine learning and large-scale data analysis.

“Training modern AI models requires substantial GPU computing power. These resources will enable us to train larger, more sophisticated models, process larger datasets and complete experiments much faster than on standard computers,” said Sahoo.

This recognition highlights Quinnipiac's growing research efforts in AI, digital health and high-performance computing while creating research opportunities for students.

“Graduate students will participate in collecting and analyzing multimodal data, developing and evaluating AI models using GPU-enabled high-performance computing resources and contributing to research publications and presentations,” said Sahoo. “The project is designed to provide students with hands-on experience in artificial intelligence, machine learning and scientific research.”

This project showcases Quinnipiac’s commitment to advancing artificial intelligence research and expanding student involvement in high-performance computing and digital health initiatives. The awarded computing resources will also foster collaborations within Connecticut's growing AI research ecosystem for faculty and students.

“This award strengthens Quinnipiac's AI research capabilities and will provide students with valuable opportunities to gain hands-on experience in GPU computing, high-performance computing and artificial intelligence research through a nationally supported research initiative,” said Sahoo.