Three MIT students chosen as first MIT-Pillar AI Collective Fellows

MIT-Pillar AI Collective has revealed the names of the first three fellows who will be part of the program for the fall semester of 2023. These graduate students, who are in their final year of a master’s or PhD program, will focus on research in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science. The ultimate goal of their work is to bring their innovations to the commercial market.

Established in 2022 by MIT’s School of Engineering and Pillar VC, the MIT-Pillar AI Collective provides support for faculty, postdocs, and students engaged in research on AI, machine learning, and data science. Made possible by a generous gift from Pillar VC and managed by the MIT Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, the program aims to advance research that can be commercialized.

The following individuals have been selected as MIT-Pillar AI Collective Fellows for the fall of 2023:

Alexander Andonian SM ’21 is a PhD candidate in the field of electrical engineering and computer science. His research interests revolve around computer vision, deep learning, and artificial intelligence. Andonian is currently working on developing a generalist, multimodal AI scientist based on generative vision-language model agents. These agents are designed to propose scientific hypotheses, run computational experiments, evaluate supporting evidence, and verify conclusions, much like a human researcher or reviewer would. The goal is to train the agent to distill and communicate its findings in the most optimal way for human understanding. Andonian’s work has the potential to lay the groundwork for the next-generation autonomous AI agent for scientific applications. In addition to his research, Andonian is the CEO and co-founder of Reelize, a startup that offers a generative AI video tool. He is also a founding AI researcher at Poly AI. Andonian earned an SM from MIT and a BS in neuroscience, physics, and mathematics from Bates College.

Daniel Magley is pursuing a PhD in the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology. He is dedicated to making a healthy mind and body accessible to all individuals. His cutting-edge research focuses on the development of a swallowable wireless thermal imaging capsule. This innovative technology could revolutionize the treatment and monitoring of inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s disease. The capsule, which eliminates the need for bowel preparation and offers increased sensitivity, has the potential to greatly enhance treatment effectiveness and improve patient experience during routine monitoring. Magley has already conducted animal studies on the capsule and is now moving on to human studies at Mass General Brigham. He leads a team of engineers at the Tearney Lab, the largest translational research lab in the hospital. Once the human pilot studies are completed, the major technological and regulatory challenges will be overcome, allowing Magley to focus on a multi-site study to bring the device into clinics nationwide. Magley earned a BS in electrical engineering from Caltech.

Madhumitha Ravichandra is a PhD candidate with a keen interest in advancing heat transfer and surface engineering techniques to improve the safety and performance of nuclear energy systems and reduce their environmental impact. Leveraging her expertise in integrating explainable AI with high-throughput autonomous experimentation, Ravichandra aims to revolutionize the development of radiation-hardened (rad-hard) sensors. These sensors have the potential to withstand and function in environments with high levels of radiation, unlike conventional sensors. By combining explainable AI with high-throughput autonomous experimentation, Ravichandra aims to iterate designs rapidly, test them under various conditions, and ensure that the final product is both robust and transparent in its operations. Her work in this field could transform rad-hard sensor development, filling a significant gap in the market and setting new standards to make nuclear and space applications safer, more efficient, and at the forefront of technological progress. Ravichandra earned a BTech in mechanical engineering from SASTRA University, India.