BridgeUP STEM Scholar Returns as Helen Fellow to Research AI in Mental Healthcare 

Ashley Ni first came to BridgeUP STEM as a high school student, joining in the 2024-2025 academic year. Now she is a computer science student, returning to the program as a Helen Fellow and serving as the first BridgeUP STEM participant to experience the program as both a scholar and a fellow. 

As a high school student at Global Impact Academy in Fairburn, Georgia, Ni worked with four professors, spending about two months with each and exploring different areas of computing. 

“It was really cool being able to experience the different forms of computing and their significance,” Ni said. “One day I would be playing AI literacy games with Dr. Judith Uchidiuno, then the next day I’d be training my own ML model with Dr. Sonia Chernova.” 

BridgeUP STEM is a College of Computing program that guides first-generation and low-income students by moving them beyond the traditional classroom. Funded by the Helen Gurley Brown Foundation, the program provides early, hands-on exposure to coding skills and computing research activities. 

Ni was interested in technology and STEM but planned to pursue a career in healthcare after high school because she considered it a more practical path. However, in her junior year, she stepped out of her comfort zone and chose a path that felt foreign to her. 

“BridgeUP really helped me through my journey. It allowed me to see what computing was all about and made me confident in my choice to switch paths,” she said. 

Now, as a Helen Fellow, Ni continues to explore the intersection of computing and health through research in the lab of School of Interactive Computing Associate Professor Rosa Arriaga. She is working on TEAMMAIT, an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant project focused on understanding how mental health clinicians interact with AI. 

Georgia Tech researchers are developing TEAMMAIT as an AI teammate for mental health work, with the goal of providing insights and feedback to help mental health professionals. 

Along with lab-based research, Ni’s fellowship also connects her with the current BridgeUP STEM cohort. 

“I’d say this role is both a mentorship and a research role because, in addition to the research work, I’ll also be assisting Dr. Arriaga in the spring semester by mentoring her research seminars with the BridgeUP STEM scholars,” Ni said. 

Ni says that returning to the program has already felt nostalgic, especially at the first BridgeUP STEM meeting of the semester. 

“I met Dr. Judith as well as the people from her lab who also recognized me. It made me feel very happy seeing how enthusiastic these new scholars are, and it feels like so much yet so little has changed,” Ni said. 

For Ni, returning as a fellow is an opportunity to share the experience that helped her find a new direction. She hopes it can encourage other students who may be uncertain about their paths. 

“BridgeUP STEM is a program that is near and dear to me. It allowed me to find myself and build a path for my future career goals,” she said. 

“I wanted to return to BridgeUP STEM as a Helen Fellow because I would like to inspire those coming after me and share my story with them. I want to let them know that it’s never too late to go for what they’re truly passionate about even if you feel like it’s a race against time.” 

Her advice to students now beginning their BridgeUP journey is to ask questions, talk to the researchers, and make the most of the experience. 

As she returns to the program with a new perspective, Ni carries one lesson from her time as a scholar: “Time flies and you should make the most of it.”