Clustered and Connected Program

AI is a transformative technology that poses particular challenges and opportunities within education. This was acknowledged in an executive order in April 2025, to "create new educational and workforce development opportunities for America's youth, fostering interest and expertise in artificial intelligence (AI) technology from an early age to maintain America's global dominance in this technological revolution for future generations." We propose a cluster hire that will conduct research with teachers and students in both understanding how to use AI to support foundational learning and in understanding how AI itself works. Our Transdisciplinary Cluster in AI Education will recruit leading scholars, catalyze federally funded research, and position UT San Antonio as a hub for innovative and lifelong AI-integrated learning research and practice.

Individuals advancing the program:

• Priya Prasad, associate professor, mathematics
• Anthony Rios, information systems and cybersecurity
• Kevin Hirschi, bilingual and bicultural education

Colleges: College of AI, Cyber and Computing, College of Education and Human Development, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, College of Sciences

UT San Antonio aims to hire 4 associate or full professors in this cluster.

View the job posting for the Artificial Intelligence Cluster

Texas is exposed to a wide variety of extreme weather events that impact individuals, communities, and the economy. In response to these growing challenges, this cluster will position UT San Antonio as a statewide leader in extreme weather preparedness and resilience. This cluster will establish UT San Antonio as a leading institution focused on extreme weather preparedness and resilience by creating the Weather Ready Texas Center (WeReTex) and by translating research into tangible community-based outcomes that improve weather resiliency & extreme weather preparedness throughout Texas.

Individuals advancing the program:

• Esteban Lopez Ochoa, associate professor, school of architecture and planning
• John Wald, professor and department chair, finance

Colleges: Carlos Alvarez College of Business, College of Literature and Fine Arts, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, College of Sciences

UT San Antonio aims to hire 5 associate or full professors in this cluster.

View the job posting for the Brain Health Cluster

Cyber threats to critical infrastructure systems are growing and jeopardizing the economy and our security across the country, with potentially severe consequences. This cluster will, in collaboration with Federal and State Agencies (i.e., Texas Cyber Command, U.S. Cyber Command), identify key challenges, develop tailored solutions, and recommend courses of action that reduce critical infrastructure vulnerabilities and advance U.S., state, and local economic and security objectives.

Individuals advancing the program:

• Richard Hartley, professor and department chair, criminology and criminal justice

Colleges: College of Literature and Fine Arts, College for Health, Community and Policy, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design

UT San Antonio aims to hire 3 associate or full professors in this cluster.

View the job posting for the Microbiome and Human Health Cluster

This cluster proposes the integration of applications of artificial intelligence, deep learning, and big data analytics in health and disease to better understand complex biological systems and population dynamics and improve disease diagnosis, outbreaks, treatment development and vaccine design. This will meet the scientific urgency to address pandemics and antimicrobial resistance by using interdisciplinary momentum to bridge biology, data science and public health, and will further position UT San Antonio as a significant player at the intersection of infectious diseases & artificial intelligence.

Individuals advancing the program:

• Astrid Cardona, Jane and Roland Blumberg professor and department chair, molecular microbiology and immunology
• Jeffery Howard, professor, public health
• Dhireesha Kudithipudi, Robert F. McDermott chair and professor, computer engineering and MATRIX AI

Colleges: College of AI, Cyber and Computing, College for Health, Community and Policy, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, College of Sciences

UT San Antonio aims to hire 3 associate or full professors in this cluster.

View the job posting for the Space Cluster

AI systems are transforming all sectors of society with their explosive development and have potential for substantial economic growth and innovation. AI-powered communities bring new challenges and opportunities. A few of the vexing grand challenges in advancing AI systems are: an ability to generate human-aware solutions that are inclusive, deployment on untethered platforms for dynamic and rapid decision making, robust learning from new behaviors throughout their lifetime, and solutions that are consumable by all humans. These challenges are further amplified by disciplinary specific approaches to AI development, deployment, and research methods that lack convergent science. AI challenges span all areas of engineering and computing, as well as cognitive science, psychology, biology, ethics, and mathematics to name a few.  

With the MATRIX Consortium’s commitment to nurturing transdisciplinary research and a broader national agency to develop science without walls, we are at a critical juncture to build AI capacity at UTSA. By recruiting strategically in the four core thrusts in MATRIX, each addressing a grand challenge, we provide a fertile ground where scientific endeavors can thrive without disciplinary silos, propelling us towards groundbreaking discoveries and innovations.

Individuals advancing the program:

• Dhireesha Kudithipudi, Robert F.McDermott Chair in Engineering, electrical and computer engineering
• Paul Rad, associate professor, computer science

Colleges: Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, College of Sciences, College of Liberal and Fine Arts

UTSA aims to hire 5 associate or full professors in this cluster.

This cluster is a combination of Brain Health and Trauma Research that responds to the key cross-cutting priority areas that promote brain health across the life span. This cluster hire seeks to capitalize on the existing strengths of faculty within the four colleges while expanding key faculty positions to fill critical gaps that will propel scientific knowledge.

Individuals advancing the program:

• Jenny Hsieh, The Semmes Foundation Endowed Distinguished Chair in Cell Biology, neuroscience, developmental and regenerative biology
• Nancy Cheak-Zamora, professor, public health

Colleges: College of Sciences, College for Health, Community and Policy, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, College of Education and Human Development

UTSA aims to hire 5 associate or full professors in this cluster.

The human microbiome is the microbial community that lives on and in the human body, composed dominantly of bacteria, but it also includes fungi, protozoa, archaea, and viruses. Recent research has made it clear that the microbiome plays a role in many disease conditions that previously were somewhat mysterious, including neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease and autism spectrum disorder, and cancers such as colorectal cancer. Understanding exactly how the microbiome contributes to neurological and gastrointestinal disorders, cancer, and the antibiotic resistance crisis is a grand challenge that requires transdisciplinary collaboration among microbiologists, immunologists, neurobiologists, biochemists, computer scientists working with Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI), and exercise physiologists (Kinesiology) who work with distinct populations.

Individuals advancing the program:

• Karl E. Klose, Robert J. Klebert, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg College of Sciences Endowed Professor, molecular microbiology and immunology

Colleges: College of Sciences, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, College for Health, Community and Policy

UTSA aims to hire 3 associate or full professors in this cluster.

Now is the time for UTSA to deepen its investment in space sciences and technology and establish itself as a key leader in South Texas and beyond. On March 26, 2024, Governor Abbott challenged academic institutions in Texas to create a space degree to help prepare the workforce in Texas. We’re proposing a Space Science & Technology, and Human Performance Cluster to address national needs and Gov. Abbott’s call to "strengthen Texas’ proven leadership in civil, commercial, and military aerospace activity and enhance the state's position in aeronautics R&D, astronautics, space commercialization, and space flight infrastructure."

Individuals advancing the program:

• Christopher S. Combs, Dee Howard Memorial Endowed Faculty Fellow in Mechanical Engineering
• David Silva, professor, physics and astronomy
• Sandor Dorgo, professor, kinesiology

Colleges: Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, College of Sciences, College for Health, Community and Policy

UTSA aims to hire 5 associate or full professors in this cluster.

UTSA requires educational excellence in STEM fields (e.g., climate change, artificial intelligence, advances materials, biomedicine, and data science among others), this cluster hire proposes to optimize graduate programs in interdisciplinary STEM education to ensure STEM success in higher education.

Colleges: Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, College of Sciences, College of Education and Human Development

UTSA aims to hire 3 associate or full professors in this cluster.

UTSA continues to grow its reputation as a Tier 1 Research Institution. Assessing aspirational peers, a strategic imperative for growth and with high potential for success is in the area of Materials Science and Engineering. Recognizing this need, there is a team of faculty across COS and KCEID aiming to make transformative progress by establishing connections in Materials Science and Engineering. This initiative signifies a critical step towards standalone Ph.D., M.S. and bachelor’s degree programs in Materials Science and Engineering at UTSA. The spirit of the cluster is to bring faculty members to UTSA who research cross-disciplinary materials and materials phenomena. The new faculty hired on this cluster will complement existing Materials Science and Engineering efforts at UTSA and bolster UTSA’s capabilities and readiness to develop interdisciplinary degree programs in Materials Science and Engineering.

Individuals advancing the program:

• Elizabeth Sooby, associate professor, physics and astronomy and mechanical engineering
• Shrihari Sankarasubramanian, assistant professor, biological and chemical engineering
• Ruyan Guo, Robert E. Clarke Endowed Professor, electrical and computer engineering

Colleges: Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, College of Sciences

UTSA aims to hire 5 associate or full professors in this cluster.