Rising fourth-year student Khanh Linh Nguyen ’25 is spending the summer immersed in real-world research, developing artificial intelligence designed to translate the hand movements of American Sign Language into text.

She is working closely with Associate Professor Vivek Pallipuram as part of the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, a signature program at University of the Pacific in which undergraduate students conduct an immersive research project—often the kind only advanced graduate students would have the opportunity to take on.

Students in the fellowship receive support from a faculty member, a stipend, campus housing and research materials.

“We strongly support undergraduate research at Pacific; it’s hugely beneficial to students’ academic success across all disciplines,” said Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Gretchen Edwalds-Gilbert. “It gives students an opportunity to dive more deeply into a topic they are interested in and can be the missing link that pulls together the concepts they learned in the classroom.”

Nguyen, a first-generation college student from Vietnam, is working to develop machine learning software that will allow American Sign Language to be translated from hand movements into written text.

“I wanted to research something I did not know about so I could learn in the process, and I wanted my research to positively impact society,” Nguyen said. “One day I randomly started looking at YouTube and I saw a video about concerns in the deaf and signing communities. Doing research on this topic resonated with me, so I asked my advisor, and he liked the idea.”

Nguyen is using machine learning to create her software, which is similar to how people who eventually interact with the program will use it.

“They will be sitting in front of a camera and making the hand communications for words,” Pallipuram explained. “Her program will detect the hands and extract the foreground and skeleton of the hand on the computer screen.” 

Nguyen’s work will include a paper with the research results, a presentation to prospective students, their families and others, and sharing the research with the local deaf community.

“It is vitally important to get their thoughts and feedback, especially with the implementation of the program,” Pallipuram said.

Nguyen’s work dovetails with a 2017 senior project by a group of electrical and computer engineering students. They created a special glove that can translate American Sign Language to voice.

“I was the mentor for that group, and it was important work that still makes many of us proud,” Pallipuram said.

Nguyen is hoping for similar results.

“Help and guidance with writing can make the learning process more active and engaging, but that type of help is not always available for the hearing impaired,” Nguyen said. “I want this project to have an impact.

“What we often call machine learning is one way to create solutions, and so is artificial intelligence. So many people are concerned about generative AI, but it can make a positive impact in so many ways.”

Five other students are also engaged in research as part of the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship:

• Electrospinning for corneal tissue. Student: Mackenzie Torbertga ’27. Faculty: Elizabeth Orwin, dean of the School of Engineering and Computer Science.
• Recall order to measure strategy use. Student: Emma Garber ’25. Faculty: Carla Murtaugh Strickland Hughes, College of the Pacific, Psychology.
• Itneg music and dance. Student: Julianna Meneses ’25. Faculty: Kumiko Uyeda, Conservatory of Music.
• Effect of subsurface structure on seasonal groundwater. Student: Olivia Silvestre ’25. Faculty: Laura Rademacher, College of the Pacific, Geosciences.
• Stem cell culture dynamics. Student: Zakary Raymond ’27. Faculty: Atefeh Rabiee, Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy.