Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Professor Tian Lan has been named as a 2026-2027 awardee of the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program.
Founded in 1946, the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program provides more than 380 awards in over 120 countries for U.S. citizens to “teach, conduct research, and carry out professional projects around the world.” Fulbright Scholar Awards, like the one Prof. Lan has been awarded, provide opportunities for professionals, artists, and scholars at all levels.
Lan’s award period will begin in July 2026 and will conclude in September 2027. The award will send him to Brazil, where he will spend two two-month periods collaborating with colleagues at the University of São Paulo Institute of Mathematics and Computing (ICMC) on a project to facilitate human-artificial intelligence (AI) teaming.
“Human intention when it comes to teaming is often not fully defined. An AI agent needs to learn from communication and various cues in order to better understand and support humans in the teaming process,” Lan explained.
Lan and his collaborators will work to develop new AI tools to support human-AI teaming in disaster recovery and emergency response – high-stakes, dynamic environments where efficient teaming is critical to solve problems effectively and quickly.
Lan’s expertise centers on exploring fundamental challenges in AI/ML and re-examining standard assumptions that may not hold in complex, open-world environments. His research group consists of nine PhD students and one postdoctoral researcher, supported by nine active grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Army Research Office (ARO), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and the United States Military Academy (USMA). At the upcoming International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML 2026), the group will present 4 accepted papers, including one spotlight paper (out of only 536 selected from 23,918 total submissions).
Although he hasn't yet visited the country, Lan selected Brazil for its strong mathematics and engineering background and for the recent presence of several notable conferences, such as the Fourteenth International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR) 2026.
“I’ve always been excited about exploring different adventures. I have never been to Brazil, so this will be a cultural experience for my family and me,” he shared.
Lan credits GW Engineering's support as integral to his achievement. “I would like to acknowledge the support from the school and the department chair, Tarek El-Ghazawi. It would not have happened without all of their support,” he said.