{"id":2148,"date":"2026-04-02T21:50:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T04:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/caire\/?p=2148"},"modified":"2026-04-02T22:12:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T05:12:42","slug":"dr-peng-he-named-co-pi-on-300k-wsu-presidents-big-ideas-initiative-grant-for-rural-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/caire\/2026\/04\/02\/dr-peng-he-named-co-pi-on-300k-wsu-presidents-big-ideas-initiative-grant-for-rural-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Peng He Named Co-PI on $300K WSU President&#8217;s Big Ideas Initiative Grant for &#8220;Rural AI&#8221;\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\" wsu-font-size--large\">CAIRE Co-director&nbsp;Dr.&nbsp;Peng He&nbsp;has been named co-PI at Washington State University (WSU) President\u2019s Big Ideas Initiative for a $300,000 grant:&nbsp;<em>&#8220;Rural AI: A Translational AI Research Initiative for Rural Communities.&#8221;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\" wsu-font-size--large\">The WSU President\u2019s Big Ideas Initiative is a bold research investment strategy aimed at catalyzing transformational research aligned with Washington state\u2019s most urgent needs.&nbsp;Representing&nbsp;a $2 million annual commitment to provide ongoing support for WSU&#8217;s research priorities, the initiative recently funded 10 standout projects out of 144 applications. Through collaborative efforts like the Rural AI project, the initiative aims to unlock breakthrough solutions and advance WSU\u2019s leadership in using AI for societal good.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3565\/2026\/04\/image.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2150\" width=\"1152\" height=\"760\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3565\/2026\/04\/image.png 936w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3565\/2026\/04\/image-300x198.png 300w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3565\/2026\/04\/image-768x507.png 768w, https:\/\/wpcdn.web.wsu.edu\/wp-labs\/uploads\/sites\/3565\/2026\/04\/image-150x99.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1152px) 100vw, 1152px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\" wsu-font-size--large\">Led by Principal Investigator Ananth Kalyanaraman from the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture, this systemwide initiative brings together a diverse group of experts from across WSU&#8217;s colleges. The &#8220;Rural AI&#8221; initiative is designed to drive real-world impact across four critical innovation areas: agriculture, environmental health, rural healthcare, and&nbsp;<strong>rural education<\/strong>.&nbsp;Representing&nbsp;the College of Education, Sport, and Human Sciences (CESHS), Dr.&nbsp;He\u2019s&nbsp;involvement will be vital in advancing the educational dimensions of this project, exploring how translational AI can be&nbsp;leveraged&nbsp;to support students and educators in rural settings.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\" wsu-font-size--large\">Congratulations, Peng!&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. Peng He has been named co-PI for a $300,000 grant under the WSU President\u2019s Big Ideas Initiative. Led by Ananth Kalyanaraman, the &#8220;Rural AI&#8221; project is one of ten funded proposals aimed at solving urgent state needs. Dr. He will lead the educational efforts, exploring how translational AI can support students and educators in rural settings across agriculture, healthcare, and environmental sectors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44196,"featured_media":2167,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"wsuwp_university_location":[],"wsuwp_university_org":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/caire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2148"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/caire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/caire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/caire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44196"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/caire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2148"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/caire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2168,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/caire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2148\/revisions\/2168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/caire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/caire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/caire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/caire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2148"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/caire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=2148"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/caire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=2148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}