Hewlett Packard Enterprise Data Science Institute

The Hewlett Packard Enterprise Data Science Institute and the University of Houston Department of Computer Science hosted the biannual AI and Data Science Showcase on December 2, 2025. Each year, the event provides a platform for the innovative research of undergraduate and graduate students at UH.  

Presentations by 35 teams at the fall semester event were evaluated by a panel of judges based on innovation, feasibility, impact, and presentation quality. Winning teams received certificates of achievement for their outstanding work. 

The December showcase is part of the HPE DSI’s mission to foster research and cross-disciplinary collaboration in emerging data science fields. It also reflects the University's continued investment in student-led research and its dedication to preparing the next generation of AI and data science leaders. 

First Place 

Team: Dylan Berens, Dominic C. McDonald, Shruthi Yenamagandla 

Project: Bioacoustics: Assessing Ecosystem Biodiversity Using Transformers 

Second Place 

Team: Ayush Gupta, Kosar Rahimi 

Project: Using Deep Learning to Explore How RNA Molecules Fold and Unfold 

Third Place 

Team: Javier Alvarez, William D. Steward, Niket Gupta 

Project: Dual-Pipeline Lung Cancer Detection System: AI-Powered Lung Cancer Detection System 

Fourth Place 

Team: Xinyu Qin, Ruiheng Yu 

Project: Interpretable and Interactive Deep Survival Analysis with Time-Dependent Extreme Gradient Integration 

Fifth Place (Tie) 

Team: Junhee Park, Aryan Prajapati, Nathan Loredo 

Project: Cardiovascular Disease Prediction 

Fifth Place (Tie) 

Team: Siyu Gan, Liang Ma 

Project: A Conditional Diffusion Model for Ocean Wave Height Forecasting 

Judges 

Rohan Chaudhary, Guoning Chen, Ishita Sharma, Jerry O. Ebalunode, Andrew J. Kapral, Pam Qian, Nouhad Rizk, Kishan Yerneni 

Organizing Committee: Claudia Neuhauser, Nouhad Rizk, Andrew Kapral, Ishita Sharma 

The Hewlett Packard Enterprise Data Science Institute at the University of Houston is partnering with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office to unveil a new Data Transparency Dashboard.  

The dashboard provides public access to key data from nearly one million criminal cases in Harris County since 2015, offering detailed information including pending trials, sentencing, dismissals, and more. The goal of the partnership is to give researchers, academics, and the public new insights into the local justice system. 

This is just the first phase of a larger initiative aimed at promoting transparency and fostering public engagement. As part of the next phase, academic researchers will have expanded access to this data for research and public safety improvements. 

The HPE DSI will respond to community feedback as this project continues to grow and encourages citizens to submit their questions about the data through the form on the project webpage.   

"This partnership not only advances transparency between the government and the public but also connects academic research with community impact, giving people a direct role in shaping outcomes that matter to their safety and well-being," said Claudia Neuhauser, director of the HPE DSI. 

Press 

Harris County DA's office launches new dashboard, unveiling trove of criminal justice data 
Houston Chronicle 

Harris County DA Kim Ogg unveils new criminal data dashboard 
Click2Houston 

DA’s Office, UH Institute Partner To Unveil Criminal Data Dashboard Data 
KTRH New Radio 

In a strategic collaboration connecting academia and industry expertise, the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Data Science Institute partnered with University Career Services to host a day-long AI Industry Symposium and Career Mixer at the University of Houston. The event, held on March 1, brought together scholars and professionals from diverse industry sectors.

Claudia Neuhauser, director of the HPE DSI, opened the event with a brief introduction of the institute and set the tone for a day of rich discussions. After the welcome, sector experts gave presentations on AI in research, technological advancements, and industry practices, covering oil and gas, energy, supply chain management and other areas.  

The symposium concluded with a panel on career success in AI-dominated industries, featuring speakers from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Shell, ConocoPhillips, Patterson-UTI, Chevron, Humana and Metegrity.  

The career mixer that followed gave young professionals the opportunity to interact with representatives from ten leading organizations in the field. Recruiters shared insights on career paths and industry demands, outlining potential future collaborations.

Nearly 100 students, alumni, and members of the UH community attended the event. “It shows that we are meeting the interests of our young researchers and providing them with real-world connections to fruitful career paths,” Neuhauser said.  

This event is expected to shape the trajectory of programming, as Neuhauser hopes it will serve as a model for further integration of research, teaching, and career development at the University.