Diego Barros is among the first graduates of The University of Texas at Austin’s online Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence (MSAI) Program He was drawn to UT Austin for its strong reputation in computer science and AI, and he chose the MSAI program, in particular, for its exceptional faculty and comprehensive curriculum—from Ethics in AI, to Natural Language Processing (NLP), Reinforcement Learning, Deep Learning, and more.
Beyond coursework, MSAI students can also collaborate with researchers, clinicians, and industry partners across campus, turning UT into a living laboratory where students can develop, test and refine AI innovations in real settings, in partnership with experts.
For example, Diego recently used the AI skills he learned in the program to solve a very real problem in healthcare through a campus-wide initiative launched by UT Austin’s School of Nursing – the 2025 NURSING-AI Challenge. Designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration, the initiative paired Nursing faculty with students in AI-related disciplines to co-create technology-driven solutions to real-world healthcare challenges in Nursing Education, Clinical Practice, and Research.
Diego’s project DoseAI earned second place in the challenge. MSAI students Surendra Katari and Srikanth Bharatham earned third place for their project NoteWell.
DoseAI – Medical Instructions For Every Patient in Their Language
DoseAI is an AI-powered platform that enables clinicians to quickly generate customized, easy-to-understand medication guides for patients in multiple languages and tailored to specific clinical contexts.
“I chose this particular challenge because I come from a different country and English is not my first language,” says Diego. “I’ve experienced firsthand how difficult it can be to understand medication instructions when they’re not in your native language. That inspired me to create DoseAI—a tool designed to make medication handouts more accessible and understandable, especially for non-native speakers.”
DoseAI aims to also support medical staff by making it easier to generate reliable medication handouts. It combines FDA drug data with clinician input to create customized, trustworthy, and patient-friendly content.
By combining clinician-provided input with authoritative drug information from the FDA and other trusted sources, DoseAI produces clear, culturally appropriate handouts in seconds. The tool aims to enhance patient understanding, improve medication adherence, and save time for clinical educators.
DoseAI was highlighted for its thoughtful integration of AI with human-centered design, and Diego says the MSAI program played a critical role in shaping it. “Courses on large language models, AI in Healthcare, and real-world applications provided both the technical foundation and the healthcare context I needed to design and build the tool effectively,” he says.
NoteWell: Empower Faculty. Enhance Feedback.
Surendra Katari and Srikanth Bharatham have completed two semesters in the MSAI program. Their project NoteWell, an AI-powered clinical evaluation platform, earned third place in the Nursing-AI Challenge. Designed to streamline how nursing instructors capture, refine, and organize student feedback, the platform enables instructors to speak their real-time observations, which are transcribed instantly using speech-to-text and automatically enhanced into polished, structured clinical notes.
Surendra says the team chose the challenge because it directly addresses a real and persistent problem faced by students and educators. “By leveraging AI,” he says, “we aimed to streamline these processes, freeing time and mental energy for more meaningful teaching and learning.”
With its tagline — Empower Faculty. Enhance Feedback. — NoteWell was praised for its practical design, time-saving potential, and ability to elevate the quality and consistency of nursing student evaluations.
The team says MSAI courses like AI in Healthcare, Euthenics AI, and Deep Learning gave them the foundational tools and frameworks to design and build NoteWell. “We combined the technical skills from the program with our industry experience to create a practical and impactful solution,” says Surendra.
Educating the Next Generation of AI Industry Leaders
The MSAI program is designed to help working professionals develop the technical skills they need to lead AI innovation across industries. The program currently has more than 1,400 students engaged in coursework that covers a range of sought-after skills that will prepare them to lead across a variety of industries, from engineering and medicine to finance and project management. Designed to be flexible, affordable, and rigorous, the program offers a unique opportunity for professionals to prepare for a career in the quickly evolving field of artificial intelligence.
For more information about joining the program, visit https://cdso.utexas.edu/msai.