The first VISHC Summer School 2023 to excel in research activities for VinUni Undergraduates

In this 2023 Academic Summer Break, the VinUni–Illinois Smart Health Center (VISHC) organized the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (VISHC-REU) program to support active research participation by VinUni undergraduate students. The research areas include everything funded by VISHC, from Fundamental Machine Learning, Data Science,  NLP to Biotechnology, Clinical and Molecular Biology. 

VinUni Students shared their research outcomes after 8 weeks of the VISHC Summer School 2023

During the Summer School, students were able to participate in multiple activities, including:

1. Attending the Signal Processing and Data Science for Smart Health Workshop @ VinUni.
2. Attending many plenary and invited talks delivered by experts of the field:

• Neuroengineering Approaches for Stress Detection and Intervention in Low-Middle-Income Countries by Dr. Ha Thi Thanh Huong, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City.
• From research to a spinoff company in AI-driven health technology by Dr. Theerawit Wilaiprasitporn, Ph.D., VISTEC, Thailand.
• ​​Trustworthy and Explainable AI, Assistant Professor Anh Nguyen, Ph.D, Auburn University, AL, USA.
• 3D vision, physics-based vision, and generative models for photorealistic digital avatar creation and human scene understanding by Dr. Minh Vo, PhD, Former Research Scientist Facebook Reality Labs, Research Sausalito, CA, USA.
• Sharing about Research Experience by Professor Minh Do, Honorary Vice Provost, VinUniversity, Professor at UIUC.
• Biomedical Imaging Research: Current Status, Challenges, and Future Perspectives by Assistant Professor Hieu Pham, CECS & Associate Director of the VinUni-Illinois Smart Health Center (VISHC), VinUniversity.
• Advances in Photothermal Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications by Tu Phan, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, VinUni-Illinois Smart Health Center (VISHC), VinUniversity.

3. Enrolling in a short course: Introduction to Biosensors delivered  by UIUC faculty, Professor Brian T. Cunningham, Professor Xing Wang and Professor Enrique Valera.

4. Reporting on Project Presentation Day: 20 posters presented at the end of the Summer School.

Professor Brian T. Cunningham (UIUC) and Professor Minh Do (Honorary Vice Provost, VinUniversity – right side) sharing about undergraduate research, in particular on biosensing research with VinUni students. Professor Xing Wang and our VinUni Undergraduate Students. 

After nearly 2 months of different invited talks, public forums, lectures, and so on, the outcomes of 20 projects were presented by 30 students from 3 colleges – College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS), College of Business and Management (CBM), and College of Health Sciences (CHS). With guidance from VinUni faculty and professors from the US, our undergraduates were able to practice and solve real-world problems through theoretical application while using the latest scientific evidence. From fundamental machine learning research to applications involving novel material structures for developing biometric sensors; from prototyping devices for detecting new infectious disease agents to evaluating the economic viability of medical intervention programs using healthcare applications, all of the projects shared 3 characteristics:

1. Interdisciplinarity – involves participation of all major colleges (business from CBM, technology from CECS and health from CHS);
2. Relevancy – incorporates the latest scientific advancements;
3. Applicability – focuses on addressing real-world challenges.

VinUni & UIUC faculty mentors and 30 students on the Project Presentation Day 

Best Poster Presentation Awards 

Based on the evaluation of a panel consisting of 10 faculty representing three Colleges – CECS, CBM, and CHS – the VISHC Summer School 2023 has chosen to recognize three groups of students with the Best Poster Awards.

1 – “Towards smart air quality control system for healthier and greener buildings” by Luong Thi Ha Thuong, Bui Khanh Nam – Best Poster Award.

Advisors: Jinhui Yan (UIUC), Le Duy Dung, Andrew Taylor Robinson.

2 – “Icanmange: A Smart Mobile Application for Monitoring and Management of Patients’ Symptoms After Cancer Treatment” by Bui Linh Khanh, Tran Ngoc Tran, Nguyen Thi Thuy Ngan, Hoang Phuong Anh, Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, Nguyen Anh Chau, Nguyen Truong Tung, Tu Ngoc Doan Thu – Second Best Poster Award.

Advisors: Nguyen Thi Hoa Huyen, Hieu Pham.

3 – “Perovskite Synthesis” by Chu Ha Linh  – Second Best Poster Award.

Advisor: Le Van Quynh

As the mission of the VinUni-Illinois Smart Health Center (VISHC) is training the next generation workforce to advance the field of smart health, the VISCH Summer School 2023 initiative was a start for VinUniversity to create further research opportunities and practical research experiences. Although the summer school only lasted for 8 weeks, all of the participants were impressed by the level of professionalism, depth of knowledge, and creativity demonstrated by VinUniversity research endeavors.

“At VISHC with the support from the VinUni faculty, we alway encourage our undergraduate students to enter the lab, master true skills, and solve real-world issues through theoretical application: collecting, analyzing, and solving real-world issues based on knowledge and scientific evidence” – added by Assistant Professor Hieu Pham, CECS Faculty Member, Associate Director of the VinUni-Illinois Smart Health Center.

Dr. Hieu Pham discussing with CECS undergraduate student Chu Dinh Bao on his summer research project.

This research opportunity does not only help students to excel in their research experiences, but it also opens the door to the 3+2 and 4+1 integrated programs for any interested students at VinUniversity.

If you want to know more about our program and VISCH, please do not hesitate to contact VinUni-Illinois Smart Health Center through our email at shc@vinuni.edu.vn or via phone at (+84) 987628857.