Growing winter school strengthens scientific AI collaboration between Notre Dame and University of Puerto Rico
March 26, 2026
The University of Puerto Rico (UPR) at Mayaguez (RUM) hosted the second annual UPR-University of Notre Dame Winter School for Scientific Artificial Intelligence (SAI) in January 2026, continuing a collaboration that launched with the first edition in 2025 at UPR Bayamon.
Designed as a joint academic program between Notre Dame and the UPR system, the winter school has become a focused venue for developing AI capacity in science and engineering while strengthening institutional ties.
The winter school model, hosted by Notre Dame’s Scientific Artificial Intelligence Initiative within the Data, AI, and Computing Initiative, combines survey-style research talks with hands-on, stand-alone technical training. This year’s program included tutorials in scikit-learn and PyTorch, topic lectures from Notre Dame and UPR faculty, and an applied research focus on how AI methods can be used in scientific and engineering workflows. The event also connects high-performing UPR students to future research and graduate training opportunities at ND.
The Mayaguez program reflected clear year-over-year growth. In addition to two days of lectures and tutorials, the event expanded to include a third day with parallel tracks, including a student hackathon and a faculty strategy workshop on SAI education and research. The student track included four hackathon teams, with mentors from the SAI graduate fellowship program at the University of Notre Dame supporting project development and final presentations. A poster session and reception added another venue for students and faculty to discuss ongoing work.
Notre Dame faculty and SAI fellows delivered ten presentations across the program. Participating Notre Dame faculty included:
- Yamil Colon, associate professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- Meng Jiang, the Frank M. Freimann Collegiate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and associate professor, Computer Science and Engineering
- Tengfei Luo, the Dorini Family Professor for Energy Studies and associate department chair, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
- Brett Savoie, the Coyle Mission Collegiate Professor of Engineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and SAI Initiative director
- Jim Schmiedeler, professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and associate dean for faculty advancement and inclusion
- Alex Taflanidis, professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, director of graduate studies for Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Tiffany Tang, the Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Applied Statistics, Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, Scientific Computing and Statistical Machine Learning
- Tim Weninger, associate professor of Computer Science and Engineering and director of graduate studies for Computer Science and Engineering
SAI fellows Orlando Mendible Barreto, Jichuan Tang, and Hao Chen also contributed to tutorials and technical sessions. The event was organized in collaboration with UPR Mayaguez faculty Ubaldo M. Cordova Figueroa and Hansel Montalvo Castro.
A notable outcome of the 2026 edition was participation from senior UPR leadership in the strategic workshop, including UPR President Zayira Jordan Conde who opened the third day with welcoming remarks, RUM Chancellor Agustin Rullan Toro, UPR Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Research Wilma Santiago Gabrielini, and College of Engineering Dean Cristina Pomales.
The winter school’s momentum also aligns with a broader education pathway between Notre Dame and Puerto Rico, supported by the Kinesis Foundation. Kinesis, a Puerto Rico-based education nonprofit, traces its Notre Dame connection to a scholarship fund established in 1984 by Jose Enrique Fernandez for Puerto Rican students at Notre Dame. Today, that relationship continues through the Kinesis-Fernandez Richards Family Fellowship at Notre Dame’s Graduate School, which supports graduate study for U.S. citizens from Puerto Rico.
Together, the winter school and related talent-development programs are creating a durable bridge between UPR and Notre Dame that links classroom training, research collaboration, and graduate recruitment across institutions.
To learn more about the SAI Initiative’s winter schools, please visit the sai.nd.edu.
Originally published at sai.nd.edu by Brett Savoie on March 20, 2026.