ATLANTA — Two Georgia State University graduate students have received 2026 Graduate Awards from the Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA), recognizing their academic achievement, research potential and commitment to advancing science and technology.
Ahanab Hafiz Anab (M.S. '25), a doctoral student in computer science, and Haobo Cui (M.S. '26), a doctoral student in mathematics and statistics, are among only four students across SURA member universities to receive the award this year.
The SURA Graduate Awards recognize incoming doctoral students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields who have demonstrated exceptional academic and research talent.
SURA represents a consortium of research universities working to advance collaborative research and education and strengthen the nation’s scientific enterprise. The organization supports research operations and workforce development in partnership with universities, government agencies and national laboratories.
For Anab and Cui, both students in Georgia State’s College of Arts & Sciences , the recognition comes as they continue research applying advances in artificial intelligence, data science and statistical modeling to complex challenges.
Anab recently earned his master’s degree in computer science from Georgia State and is continuing at the university for his Ph.D. His research has applied data science and artificial intelligence to real-world datasets, including developing webcam-based systems for stress signal detection, emotion recognition and real-time sign language translation.
As a doctoral researcher, he plans to build on that work by developing AI-enabled digital health technologies.
“Receiving the SURA Graduate Award is a meaningful recognition of my research journey and motivates me to continue developing technologies that can have a real impact on human health,” Anab said. “This support will help me advance my doctoral research at the intersection of artificial intelligence, sensing and digital health, with the goal of creating practical tools that improve how we monitor and understand human well-being.”
Cui also earned his master’s degree at Georgia State and is continuing in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics for his doctoral studies. His research focuses on statistical theory and its applications in machine learning and data science.
During his master’s research, Cui developed new multivariate modeling approaches for high-dimensional datasets, work that has resulted in a first-author paper currently under review. He was also one of two students selected for the department’s machine learning concentration.
"What excites me most is building statistical methods that stay reliable when data are high-dimensional and messy, which is exactly where machine learning tools are hardest to trust," Cui said. "The SURA award gives me the support to focus on this research and carry it further during my doctoral studies."
At the SURA Annual Members Meeting, Georgia State University Vice President for Research and Economic Development Donald Hamelberg (Ph.D. '01) attended the ceremony honoring this year’s awardees and accepted Cui’s award on his behalf.
“Having two GSU students among these four awardees speaks to the strength of our graduate research community,” Hamelberg said. “We’re proud to see Ahanab and Haobo’s efforts recognized. They are a great reflection of the talented students who are advancing discovery here at Georgia State.”
The students’ selection also highlights Georgia State’s role in developing the next generation of researchers across disciplines increasingly shaped by data, computation and artificial intelligence.
Each recipient receives $5,000 to support professional development and help reduce financial barriers as they begin their doctoral studies.
“These students were selected for their academic excellence and dedication to advancing research as outstanding members of the next generation of STEM talent,” said M. Omar Faison, chair of the SURA Committee for Collaborative Capacity Building, who led the award selection process. “The SURA Graduate Award offers awardees an added measure of support during a key moment in their research journeys.”
Anab and Cui were among the award recipients recognized at the 2026 SURA Annual Members Meeting at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab), a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory in Newport News, Va.