Luther Wins AI Competition
In April, Pi515, a nonprofit in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted the Pi515 Day of Innovation AI Challenge, a statewide event where teams of students compete to solve a data analysis problem using artificial intelligence.
The goal was to “develop an AI solution that leverages big data to address a social issue relevant to the Iowa community.” Students were able to choose from one of the following tracks: Iowa AgTech, Iowa’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Social Impact AI: Supporting Des Moines Public Schools, or Ancient Narratives: AI, AR, and Fashion Fusion.
Luther teams placed first and third at a statewide AI competition last spring. Left to right: Evan Marinov ’25, Luc Vuong ’24, Minh Le ’27, professor Thuy Do, Mateus Rohden ’25, Huy Nguyen ’26, Diep Le ’25, Jibran Khan ’24, Emma Tran ’25, Adam Koller ’24, Nick Drew ’25, and professor Philip Iversen.
Luther teams—coached by Thuy Do, assistant professor of computer science, with logistical support from Philip Iversen ’87, associate professor of mathematics—placed first and third in the competition.
Team Norse—Nick Drew ’25, Adam Koller ’24, Minh Le ’27, Emma Tran ’25, and Luc Vuong ’24—placed first. They developed an AI application that took video of sheep in a pen, identified the individual sheep as they moved around, and measured the total distance covered by each sheep. They paired this with a smartphone app that could alert the farmer to unusual behaviors, such as a sheep showing reduced movement.
Team Viking—Jibran Khan ’24, Diep Le ’25, Evan Marinov ’25, Huy Nguyen ’26, and Mateus Rohden ’25—placed third. They developed an application that makes recommendations to business start-ups regarding potential optimal locations for their new business within a community. It takes many inputs, including population characteristics, traffic patterns, and the location of other businesses, to make its recommendations.
The students had a stellar experience at the event, presenting their work to the judges, interacting with the other student teams, and presenting their award-winning work to a larger audience at an evening dinner.