Advancing AI in architecture – and other undergraduate research projects

Junior Andrei Vince, a computer engineering major, recently collaborated with Assistant Professor of Architecture Sabri Gökmen on a project that blends artificial intelligence with architectural design. Vince, alongside computer science student Aidan Oh, earned a stipend and gained hands-on experience exploring the intersection of engineering and architecture.

Their challenge: use AI to quickly produce a 3D architectural visualization from a verbal description.

“Generative tools frequently lack the precision needed for architectural applications,” Vince noted in the students’ symposium poster presentation.

Using reverse engineering—working from an image backwards—the students “taught” generative AI to recognize text prompts and produce photorealistic renderings of geometric structures.

While manual modeling can take hours, their automation delivers results in just 17 seconds.

Vince, Oh and other students from across campus participated in the 2025 Summer Research Symposium, a showcase of projects completed by students participating in the Office of Undergraduate Research Summer Research Scholars program. In total, 37 undergraduates and 22 faculty in Charlotte’s engineering college participated in summer research programs in partnership with the OUR program.

Projects included challenges such as: build a portable power supply for a glass chipper, create a mathematical model of aircraft wings encountering wind gusts, use deep learning to explore placenta pathology and more.