Story by Kaley LaQuea, Marketing Strategist and Christie Matyola, Health Sciences Senior Communications Specialist

Last week, the 2025 Symposium AI in Action: Navigating Challenges and Opportunities Across Domains brought together thought leaders, researchers and professionals from across West Virginia University to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping the way we work, create and solve problems.

Hosted by WVU Health Sciences and the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at the Erickson Alumni Center, the symposium featured sessions on a wide range of disciplines including health, cybersecurity, biomedical engineering, chemistry and entrepreneurship. Organizers underscored that the symposium’s impact would come not just from presentations, but from the conversations, curiosity and connections sparked between attendees, encouraging participants to make meaningful contacts and a shared commitment to advance WVU’s role as a leader in AI research and innovation.

In his opening remarks, Clay Marsh, MD, chancellor and executive dean of WVU Health Sciences, emphasized how AI has evolved to become a powerful, ubiquitous technology, likening its impact to previous technological leaps like the calculator and the slide rule.

“We now are entering a new world where we have technology that is so powerful and so ubiquitous, so present in everything we do, that we need to not only understand its capacities and capabilities but also control some of the other aspects,” Marsh said. He also highlighted a federally-funded project aimed at developing brain-computer interface tools to help restore movement to individuals with spinal cord injuries or strokes.

William J. Walker, executive director of the National Cyber Defense Center and senior advisor for national security and cyberspace programs at WVU, delivered a powerful keynote linking artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and national defense.

Walker, who spent a decade standing up United States Cyber Command and overseeing global cyber operations, emphasized that AI is already being weaponized by foreign adversaries in efforts to infiltrate systems, steal intellectual property and manipulate public perception through synthetic media. He warned that higher education is one of the most frequently targeted sectors for cyberattacks and stressed that academic institutions like WVU have a vital role to play in both protecting and advancing national interests. Walker pointed to pivotal technological advancements in U.S. history, like defense manufacturing during World War II and the Space Race leading to the birth of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and NASA.

“Mastering AI will require similar vision, ambition and commitment. We are no stranger to these sorts of challenges — we have risen to the task before and we must do it again, but it will take all of us,” Walker stated. “We need your leadership and your vision to ensure we maintain the strategic edge, and we need forums like this one to help us pioneer solutions that will provide for our collective security and advance all aspects of the human race.”

Pedro Mago, Glen H. Hiner dean of Statler College, highlighted the numerous applications of AI across engineering disciplines as well as collaborative efforts like the Bridges in Digital Health program, which aims to train the next generation of professionals on ways to use digital health and AI to address rising health care costs and disparities.

“As Mountaineers, our drive is to push the boundaries for research while also fostering the next generation of experts in this field,” Mago said.

Ming Lei, PhD, senior associate vice president for the Office of Research and Graduate Education at WVU Health Sciences, shared remarks on AI’s promising impacts in health care.

“HSC is committed to advancing the health and well-being of West Virginians through the best health care and purposeful health research that solves real problems through application of cutting-edge technology such as AI,” Lei said. “AI is and will continue to be a key driver of health sciences. This symposium showcases our faculty and students’ efforts on utilizing AI and identifies new areas and directions for collaborations.”

Panelists shared research on cutting-edge applications of machine learning and generative AI and participants engaged in lively collaborations via poster presentations and breakout sessions throughout the day. Xingbo Liu, associate dean for research and professor of mechanical, materials and aerospace engineering at Statler College emphasized the importance of fostering interdisciplinary efforts across disciplines.

“The WVU AI Symposium reflects our commitment to advancing technology, supporting student and faculty excellence and driving economic and societal impact through engineering leadership,” Liu said. “It strengthens our collective capacity to solve complex problems and positions our region as a hub for technological advancement and workforce development.”