Alex Knapp, an undergraduate student in electrical engineering at the University of Cincinnati, was named a 2026 Goldwater Scholar for his research using artificial intelligence and machine learning to advance diagnostic imaging. The announcement was made on May 5.
The Goldwater Scholarship is awarded by the Goldwater Foundation to undergraduates who show exceptional promise in science, engineering, or mathematics. The foundation was established by Congress four decades ago to honor U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater.
Knapp conducts his research at the Artificial Intelligence Imaging Research Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where he completed most of his cooperative education positions. He said that combining math and science led him to study electrical engineering and that he chose the University of Cincinnati for its well-known co-op program, which allows students to alternate between academic semesters and real-world work experience.
“Being able to work — from an experience point of view, a financial point of view — I think it absolutely makes sense,” Knapp said. “The experience of co-op is invaluable and also just incredibly enjoyable.”
His early research included developing machine learning systems for speech therapy in children with guidance from T. Douglas Mast, professor of biomedical engineering. Later projects involved creating methods to test medical imaging AI systems’ ability to identify rare or complex patient cases without relying solely on expert physician data. Another ongoing project focuses on detecting liver cancer in children’s MRI scans by generating synthetic tumors so AI models can learn from more examples.
Knapp encourages other students interested in machine learning because he believes it offers broad career opportunities across industries. “Machine learning can be applied to any field. Right now, I’m working in medical imaging, which is great, but since machine learning is a generalized technology that can be applied to information, you can work in any sector,” Knapp said.
He acknowledged concerns about misuse but emphasized the benefits: “There was a group awarded the Nobel Prize last year for amazing work in protein folding. It’s being used for drug discovery and for medical imaging diagnosis,” Knapp said. “There is a positive impact that technology like machine learning can have if used the right way. There is a lot of good that can come.”
Outside academics and research, Knapp participates in intramural sports at UC as a way to balance schoolwork with physical activity and social connections: “I think it’s critical for people to have some activity that gets them completely away from whatever they’re doing… Keeping active is important… And I’ve certainly met a lot of new people on my sports teams that are great friends now.”
Knapp will graduate with an electrical engineering degree and computer science minor in 2027 before pursuing doctoral studies focused on artificial intelligence applications for medical imaging.
