2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

1. Zepei Li University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign [biography]

   Zepei Li is a Ph.D. student in Computer Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He holds an M.S. and B.S. in Computer Science from UIUC. His research interests span AI in education, computer science education, and human-computer interaction. His previous work includes assessing student learning in database query languages and examining students' behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs toward generative AI in educational settings. He aims to enhance AI tools to better support educational applications.

2. Dr. Sotiria Koloutsou-Vakakis http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7658-6517 University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign [biography]

   Dr. Sotiria Koloutsou-Vakakis holds a Diploma in Surveying Engineering (National Technical University of Athens, Greece), a M.A. in Geography (University of California, Los Angeles), and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Environmental Engineering (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign). Her interests include air quality, environmental policy, and supporting student learning and professional development.

3. Prof. Tomasz Kozlowski http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9317-5309 University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign [biography]

   Dr. Tomasz Kozlowski is a Professor and Associate Head for the Undergraduate Programs in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He received a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from Purdue University in 2005, where he worked on spatial homogenization methods for neutron transport calculations, multi-physics coupling, and PARCS code development. Dr. Kozlowski has been an instructor in professional workforce development courses and summer schools, including MeV, FJOH, SUNCOP, and NRS-HOT (since 2006). He has been an active member of the American Nuclear Society (since 1997) and the American Society for Engineering Education (since 2016). He is a member of the OECD/NEA Nuclear Science Committee Working Party on Reactor Systems (NSC/WPRS) (since 2010) and is serving on the Scientific Board and Technical Committee of the OECD/NEA Benchmark for Uncertainty Analysis in Best-Estimate Modelling for Design, Operation and Safety Analysis of Light Water Reactors (LWR-UAM) (since 2008). He is an Associate Editor of Nuclear Technology (since 2021) and has been a reviewer for several journals in the fields of nuclear engineering, fluid flow and heat transfer, and uncertainty quantification (since 2006).

4. Ms. Meredith Blumthal University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign [biography]

   Meredith Blumthal has been in the field of international education for 15 years. As the Director for International Programs in Engineering (IPENG) at the University of Illinois, she leads the study abroad initiatives and programming for the college. Ms. Blumthal’s team includes three study abroad advisors, a receptionist and peer advisors. Together the IPENG office provides study abroad advising, expertise, international exchanges, and cultural experiences in over 60 programs throughout 20 countries, with the goal of providing transformative learning experiences that empower students to develop global competency skills. Through partnerships with partner universities abroad, alumni, faculty, staff and student groups, Ms. Blumthal leads the IPENG team to provide study abroad advising, informational events, and class presentations. She works with the 12 engineering departments to develop and grow studying abroad programming with overseas partners to grow connections with universities, and facilitates the study abroad fair. Meredith is responsible for developing faculty-led programing an engagement within the College of Engineering.
   Her areas of expertise include ideation, program development, partner collaboration, faculty training and development, comprehensive program management, marketing and promotion, co-curricular development, study abroad advising, and student development.

5. Dr. Volodymyr Kindratenko http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9336-4756 University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign [biography]

   Volodymyr Kindratenko is the Director for the Center for Artificial Intelligence Innovation (CAII) at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a Research Associate Professor in the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science. His research interests lie at the intersection of AI systems and applications, with a focus on generative AI solutions for science and education. His team is developing the uiuc.chat chatbot platform, which facilitates rapid knowledge distillation.

6. Dr. Abdussalam Alawini University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign [biography]

   Dr. Alawini is a Teaching Associate Professor in the School of Computing and Data Science at the
   University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tripoli
   and master’s and doctoral degrees in Computer Science from Portland State University. His research focuses on data management systems and computing education. Dr.
   Alawini is passionate about building data-driven, AI-based systems for improving teaching and learning.

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026