Chase Hinkle is a CS + Economics major and the first and only researcher from the University of Illinois selected for Cornell University’s pilot program, BURE Next. The Bowers Undergraduate Research Experience for the Next generation of leading technologists in academia (BURE Next) was created to provide an interactive cutting-edge research experience for undergraduates nationwide and broaden participation in the computing field
Written by Bruce Adams
Photo Credit: University of Illinois / Brian Stauffer
"The Quintessential Engineer" sculpture on The Grainger College of Engineering campus at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Chase Hinkle is a CS + Economics major and the first and only researcher from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign selected for Cornell University’s pilot program, BURE Next. The Bowers Undergraduate Research Experience for the Next generation of leading technologists in academia (BURE Next) was created to provide an interactive cutting-edge research experience for undergraduates nationwide and broaden participation in the computing field. Students pursuing an undergraduate degree in the science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) field and taking a core course in computer science, information science, statistics, or data science are eligible to apply for BURE Next.
Hinkle said, “I found it through the university's email channels advertising it and decided to apply. According to the DEI department, I was one of three selected applicants out of 100+ .” Hinkle is a U.S. Navy veteran interested in public policy who, in addition to his computer science and economics courses, is pursuing a minor in legal studies at the University of Illinois. He is a 2021 recipient of the Ronald H. Filler Center Residential Scholarship from the Chez Veterans Center.
Stefan Krasa
It was an economics class in Game Theory with professor Stefan Krasa that first sparked Hinkle's interest in utilizing computer modeling to analyze political behavior. His legal studies further fueled his curiosity, leading him to explore the use of AI in reviewing legal documents. Hinkle is now part of a research team that uses ChatGPT to translate complex legal jargon into plain English, making it more accessible to the public and facilitating their participation in government hearings. His research interests lie in leveraging AI to enhance public interaction with the government and understand the underlying reasons for policy preferences.
This summer, Hinkle is embarking on a ten week research project on policy-oriented LLM development under the guidance professor Qian Yang at the Cornell Bowers College of Computing and Information Science. As a participant in the BURE Next program, Hinkle will be expected to collaborate on this research project, attend professional development enrichment talks, engage in interactive social activities with the Bowers CIS Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team, and present his findings at the end-of-summer research symposium.