About The Lab | The Team

The TRAILblazer Lab is a team of scholars and students who advance research on how people learning with AI and computing. We are applied researchers who design systems that amplify people’s thinking and learning, while maintaining what it is to be human in a digital world. We are centered at the University of Illinois Chicago, but collaborate with institutions, school districts, organizations, and other partners from around the world.

Director

Jeremy Riel, PhD
jriel2@uic.edu
Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology
University of Illinois Chicago

Affiliate Scholars and Partners

Ying Chen, PhD
Senior Research Associate
Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC)

Danna Dotson
Associate Director, Teacher Education
Discovery Partners Institute (DPI)

Rocco Catrone, PhD, BCBA-D
Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor
University of Illinois Chicago

Rob Monahan
Owner & Founder
STEM Passport

Graduate Students

Jie Xu
PhD Student
Educational Psychology

Raúl Figueroa-Rivera
PhD Student
Educational Psychology

Ruiping Huang
PhD Student
Educational Psychology

Hasti Mehta
MS Student
Computer Science

Kanika Chitnis
MS Student, Computer Science

Undergraduate Students

Trenton Coleman
Computer Science

Jacob Alamon
Computer Science

Vinuthna Depala
Computer Science

Folake Oluewu
Computer Science

Alumni

• Paul Harris (undergrad, computer science)

Executive Assistant

Daisy Dog
All lab appointments are first routed by Daisy, but only if you have treats!